Company and work with non-Muslims

Economic cooperation with non-Muslims has a textual base: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died while his armour was held in pledge by a Jew (al-Bukhari 2068): trade and pledge with the People of the Book were part of his practice.

The base of cooperation

• Kindness with the just non-belligerent: "Allah does not forbid you from being kind and equitable towards those who did not fight you over religion... Allah loves the equitable" (Quran al-Mumtahana 8): the rule of the pluralist city.
• Partnership with a non-Muslim: valid according to the majority (sharika is a property contract, not an act of faith); the manuals report the companions' partnerships with dhimmis; the sharing clause follows the contract.
• Salaried work for a non-Muslim: lawful under the same rule: loyalty of work, respect of the contract, no participation in manifest unlawful matters.

Firm limits

• Not cooperating in sin and aggression: "do not help one another in sin and aggression" (Quran al-Ma'ida 2): no partnership whose object is unlawful (alcohol, gambling, unlawful weapons, exploitation); no work that directly serves harm to people.
• Rites and festivals: not taking part in the acts of worship of another religion; commercial politeness, neutral gifts and meals containing lawful food: admitted (the Prophet received and gave gifts, reported).
• Inheritance across religions: no mutual succession (see the special cases page): lawful tools (insurance, donations, a civil will within the third) organize providence between partners of different religions.

Practical cases

• Lease and rental: renting from or leasing to a non-Muslim: lawful (the manuals detail it); leasing premises that will serve the unlawful: no.
• Commercial export/import partnership: lawful under the same rules of loyalty and lawful content.
• Work in a company with mixed activities: the Egyptian Dar al-Ifta addressed serving in restaurants that sell alcohol in a non-Muslim country (fatwa No. 10761), relying on the old Hanafi position: selling an unlawful object to a non-Muslim, in his own country, is not unlawful for him; the admissible degree of participation is then judged function by function.

Practical note

The golden rule of the chapter: honest cooperation is lawful and praiseworthy, complicity in the unlawful is not. The Muslim businessman is held to even more integrity, since he carries the name of his religion in the market.