Halal Careers in Accounting and Finance

**Bittersteel** · 09-23-2013

I was researching about interest payments in Islam, halal and haram careers in accounting and finance, and then came across this:

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/103181

here the following was mentioned.

Working in the company mentioned, which takes loan with interest from the bank, and recording them in the company’s ledgers, is not permissible, because that is recording riba, and it is proven in Saheeh al-Bukhaari that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the one who consumes riba and the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and the two who witness it, and he said: they are all the same.

This has created a dilemma for me.I was planning to start my Chartered Accountancy articleship after finishing my Business administration degree in finance and accounting soon , and if I ever pass all the exams, I want to work as an accountant or a finance manager and that would eventually involve dealing with loans.

So my question is, should I pursue this line of work or not? What if I work in non-financial services companies, will that be okay or would that be still haram? What are some of the halal careers in accounting and finance?

**islam10** · 09-27-2013

This depends on partly where you plan to work. If it is in a western country and not an majority muslim country then it will be difficult to find work that is completely halal. Most careers in accounting and finance are riba based. What you will find is the riba based companies pay good/better salaries than the non riba based companies. Non financial service companies are generally ok to work for. I have read many ruling on this and one of them is that is if over 50% of a companies earnings are from a halal source i.e. normal trade, then it is permissible to work there. It is always worth asking a scholar if you are not sure. I am not a scholar or financial person.

Halal careers include working for an islamic bank, charity or other muslim institution. As you have already completed a business degree, I would first try to find halal jobs in Chartered Accountancy, if you can find some, then it is worth doing, otherwise it is worth avoiding and try finding work in the degree that you have completed.

**Bittersteel** · 09-29-2013

Thank you for your reply. Some other scholars have commented that it is alright to being an accountant or an external auditor since they are just reporting the interest payments not advocating it, or guaranteeing it. It's the witnessing that is bothering me most.