Working in Islamic banking institutions : Halal careers in finance : [1]

Fatawa Question

Assalamu Alaykum Dr. Monzer Kahf : I kindly seek your opinion regarding HALAL CAREERS, In sha’Allah : Is it permissible to work for a Bank (I. e. CIBC, RBC, HSBC, ING, etc.) with the intention to go into Islamic banking (I. e. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Shuaa Capital, Kuwait Finance House) ??? The reason I ask is because most banks in the Gulf require you have previous banking experience and the amount of vacancies and training with Islamic institutions in North America is limited (Ittihad, ISNA). Furthermore, what is the opinion of the scholars regarding working for a firm (I. e. Shell Oil and Gas) who has raised money using bonds and currently has long-term debt, which it is paying interest on ??? I ask this question because most firms today exist because of debt-financing. That is money raised through fixed-income instruments (interest / Riba). The government also sometimes builds infrastructure / services (I. e. Roads, Highways, Bridges) using government bonds, which also work off interest. I have a Business degree in finance which i would like to utilize. However, I do not know if it is better for me to work at Non-Halal career temporarily and In Sha Allah eventually move into Islamic banking, whereby I am in a Muslim country and helping a Muslim economy ; or, is it better that I work for an engineering firm in their accounting dept. whose business has been partially built by interest-type instruments. Jazaka Allahu Kheir,

Fatwa

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Publication Date

2008-06-16

Main Subjects

Economics & Business Administration
Financial and Accounting Sciences
Islamic Studies

Topics

• Banks
• Islamic jurisprudence
• Labour

No. of Pages

1

Data Type

Fatawa

Language

English

Record ID

BIM-730814

• APA
• MLA
• AMA