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Fatwa CenterDealing with untrustworthy businessmen
Question
A dear brother of mine (I'll call him Ali) has a business decision to make but I am not sure as a Muslim if he should do it or not. I don't trust my Islamic knowledge so I need to get an opinion from a Knowledgeable Muslim before I can advise on the Islamic merits of the business decision. The business decision is profitable no doubt. These are the details:An Arab radio show host (I'll call him Abdullah) in the US had a program on a an American radio station. Abdullah reported on the Aqsa Intifada in Palestine and the suffering of Palestinians under Zionist occupation. Abdullah's show was terminated by the American owner of the radio channel (I'll call him Steve) because Steve claims many people in the area complained about Abdullah's programs. Steve then went to an Israeli Zionist paper to denounce Abdullah and accused him of all sorts of untrue thing to hurt his reputation.Abdullah lost his radio programs and his radio business. Abdullah is taking legal action against Steve in American courts because Abdullah has a contract that is still valid for a few more months.Steve offered my friend Ali to take over Abdullah's program. Should Ali do so? Will Ali be profiting from the misfortune of Abdullah? If Ali introduces Muslim shows like Qur'an and Hadith on the radio will that make it Halal for Ali to take over Abdullah's radio programs and hours? Is it acceptable from a Muslim point of view or is it Haram to do business with Steve after Steve went to the Zionist press to attack Abdullah?I need your guidance to help us decide if Ali's decision to do business with Steve is Halal or Haram.
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The Muslim should know that these people are not trustworthy. Allah Says about them (interpretation of meaning): {With regard to a believer, they (the disbelievers) respect not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant! It is they who are the transgressors.}[9:10]
No doubt the story you mentioned is an example to their bad behaviour and there are numerous other such examples.
We advise the brother who wants to work with these people to replace the other brother, who was fired, to do two things before deciding to take this job.
First, he should talk to the friend who formerly worked there to see if his working in his place would cause any harm to him. He should make sure that his taking the job will not adversely effect his friend's case against the owner of the Radio station.
Second, if this brother decides to work in this place, he should take his precautions to protect himself from these people and perform his duties sincerely and truthfully, leaving no possibility of the Radio's owner preventing him from propagating the truth. If he fears failure of doing so, he should not work with this man or cooperate with him in any way.
Allah knows best.
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