Working as a Baker in a Restaurant that Serves Alcohol: Permissible?

25 April, 2017

Q As-Salamu alaykum. I have an interview for a baker position in a restaurant which has a bakery. I'm sure the restaurant being in a non-Muslim country sells alcohol. My question is: Is it Okay to work in the bakery and not in the restaurant itself, since I won’t be serving alcohol and pork, I’ll just be making the bread?

Answer

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

In this fatwa:

There is nothing wrong with working in the bakery referred to, so long as your work is limited to making bread only.

In his response to the question, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, the prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and author, states:

There is nothing wrong with working in the bakery referred to, so long as your work is limited to making bread only, and you do not take part in preparing, carrying or serving alcohol.

I put this question to our Sheikh, ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Barrak (may Allah preserve him), and he said that there is nothing wrong with that, if it is in a non-Muslim country.

But if that is in a Muslim country, and the bakery and restaurant belong to the same person, then you should not work with him, by way of objection, shunning and denunciation.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Source: www.islamqa.info.