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The question:
The first question: the workers in an air transport company,
whether they are among those who serve in the plane or the pilot who leads the
travelers, all who may drink wine or other prohibited things as it is known in
the air services, or are among those who prepare that such as the engineer
working in maintaining planes, are they among those who help one another in
sin?
The second question: the same content of the first question,
but it concerns a man working with a ship crew. Some of them drink wine, and
though he admonishes them, they do not respond to his admonishment. So, is this
man considered among those about Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:
﴿كَانُوا لاَ
يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ﴾
[المائدة: 79].
The meaning of the verse:
﴾They
used not to forbid one another from Al-Munkar (wrong, evil-doing, sins,
polytheism, disbelief) which they committed. Vile indeed was what they used to
do﴿ [Al-Mâ'ida (The Table Spread With Food):
79]; this is in fact the malediction incurred by the disbelievers among the
sons of Israel. In this case, this man admonishes them and still deals with
them, as he serves the crew.
Is he also considered among those about Allah سبحانه
وتعالى says:
﴿وَلاَ
تَرْكَنُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ
دُونِ اللهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ثُمَّ لاَ تُنْصَرُونَ﴾ [هود: 113].
The meaning of the verse:
﴾And
incline not toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire should touch you, and you
have no protectors other than Allâh, nor you would then be helped﴿ [Hûd: 113]?
Is he among those who follow their passions? In addition, if
some wine is carried on this ship, who will incur malediction? Please give us
an explanation.
The answer:
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Peace
and blessing be upon whom Allah sent as a mercy to the Worlds, upon his Family,
his Companions and his Brothers till the Day of Resurrection.
Know that as long as the Muslim is able to accomplish his
duties and bear the consequences of his acts, he is allowed to gain his
sustenance through the work that is given to him if he can do it, on condition
that the work should not inflict harm to Muslims, bring injustice such as usury
or include prohibitions such as working in a club, which contains forbidden acts
such as dancing, gambling, wine selling and other interdictions; whether the
worker does it himself or takes part in doing it materially or artistically,
practically or verbally; if he does this, he will be – then – considered to be
helping and taking part in sin as it is mentioned [in the rule], “Whatever
leads to the establishment of a prohibition is itself prohibited”, though
the degree of sin differs from one person to another commensurate to their
participation.
For this reason, when the Sharia forbids fornication, it
forbids all that may lead to it i.e. all the means, introductions and motives that
drive to it such as shocking pictures, immoral way of dressing, blameworthy
mixing (between men and women), insecure and sinful seclusion (between men and
women), immoral singing that stimulates desires and others. Also, the Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم
cursed those who take part in usury with the one who practice it i.e. the
scribe and the two witnesses, and cursed those who are involved in bribery i.e.
the briber, the venal and the intermediary. In the same context, malediction is
stated against the one who extract wine, the one asking for its extraction, the
drinker, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried, the server, the
seller, the one who takes its price, the buyer, the one to whom it is bought;
everyone of those mentioned incurs malediction commensurate to their
involvement, because every participation in sin is a sin; Allah تعالى said:
﴿وَتَعَاوَنُوا
عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلاَ تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ﴾
[المائدة :2].
The meaning of the verse:
﴾Help
you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwâ (virtue, righteousness
and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression﴿ [Al-Mâ’idah (The Table Spread with
Food): 2].
All this if there is not a dire necessity that pushes one to
do that thing. If there is a real necessity or need, scholars say that it is
permissible to resort to it, on condition that this necessity or need be
determined in a proper way, i.e. when one misses his main needs such as food,
dress and cure that prevent his perish; without even searching and seeking for
pleasure nor transgressing the limits of necessity, while disliking that work
and searching another one until Allah bestows upon him licit sustenance and
dispenses him with evil forbidden gain.
Having said that, it seems to me that, as a rule, working in
a sea or in an air transport company is permissible; only there are some adventitious
prohibitions to this rule (the state of original permissibility). In fact, the
prohibition does not annul the allowed, and the branch does not annul the rule.
Therefore, one can work in the two said companies but far
from where the prohibitions are committed, even if he is not satisfied with the
situation as a whole; he should advise these people to refrain from committing
prohibitions and interdictions, which are perpetrated openly, and this
according to the degrees of reprobation, lest he should fall in what they
committed. In addition, he should abandon people of sins and perversion and
keep away from them lest he inclines to them, except in case of necessity and
need, according to the two verses stated in the question; Al-Qurtubi said
concerning the saying of Allah تعالى:
﴿وَلاَ
تَرْكَنُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ﴾ [هود:
113].
The meaning of the verse:
﴾And incline not toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire should touch
you﴿ [Hûd: 113] “…and it (the
verse) indicates that it is obligatory to abandon people of disbelief and sin
among people of heresies and others, because befriending them constitutes a
kind of disbelief or sin, as friendship could not be founded except on love. In
fact, a wise man said:
Inquire not about the man but inquire about his friend
Indeed, every man imitates and copies his friend
…however, frequenting an unjust man out of fear of his
injustice makes an exception in case of constraint”.
This is my answer globally to the tree questions as their
contents are similar. Our last prayer is all praise is due to Allah, the
Lord of the Worlds.
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