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Can New Muslims Work Somewhere That Sells Pig Meat?

08 January, 2020
Q I am a new Muslim. Can I work in a place that sells pig meat?

Answer

Dr. Jasser Auda
08 January, 2020

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:

1- If selling pig meat is something that is common and it is part of a grocery in places where Muslims are a minority, this is a small issue that you can overlook.

2- However, if the main or the only activity of the store is selling pig meat, you are not allowed, as a Muslim, to be involved in this.

Answering your question, Dr. Jasser Auda, Professor and Al-Shatibi Chair of Maqasid Studies at the International Peace College South Africa, states:

Whether you are a new Muslim or a born Muslim, the issue of working in a place that sells pig meat is the same issue.

It really depends on where you are, i.e. geographically. If it is something that is common in the land where you are and it is part of a grocery store that you work in and it is an integral part of grocery stores in places where Muslims are a minority, then in this case it is a small issue that you can overlook.

That is different from a store where the main or the only activity is selling pork, in this case, you are not allowed as a Muslim to be involved in this.

But individually every person is aware of the necessities. If there is a necessity if you are already working in a place and you make a living out of this place, you can continue until you find another place. The matter of necessity is individualistic and it is up to the assessment of every Muslim.

Almighty Allah knows best.

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About Dr. Jasser Auda
Jasser Auda is a Professor and Al-Shatibi Chair of Maqasid Studies at the International Peace College South Africa, the Executive Director of the Maqasid Institute, a global think tank based in London, and a Visiting Professor of Islamic Law at Carleton University in Canada. He is a Founding and Board Member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, Fellow of the Islamic Fiqh Academy of India, and General Secretary of Yaqazat Feker, a popular youth organization in Egypt. He has a PhD in the philosophy of Islamic law from University of Wales in the UK, and a PhD in systems analysis from University of Waterloo in Canada. Early in his life, he memorized the Quran and studied Fiqh, Usul and Hadith in the halaqas of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo. He previously worked as: Founding Director of the Maqasid Center in the Philosophy of Islamic Law in London; Founding Deputy Director of the Center for Islamic Ethics in Doha; professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, Alexandria University in Egypt, Islamic University of Novi Pazar in Sanjaq, Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, and the American University of Sharjah. He lectured and trained on Islam, its law, spirituality and ethics in dozens of other universities and organizations around the world. He wrote 25 books in Arabic and English, some of which were translated to 25 languages.