WORKING IN HOTELS SERVING LIQUOR AND PORK

Q: 1. Muslim students who go to non-Muslim countries for higher education generally find out that the money sent to them by their parents is insufficient for their many needs. Thus, they take up jobs to stay even. Some times they find jobs in hotels which sell liquour and pork. Is it permissible for a Muslim student to be employed in such hotels? Q. 2. Running a distillery or merchandizing liqour or pork in non-Muslim countries are open businesses. Can Muslims also do so? A: 1. & 2. A Muslim is permitted to take a job in hotels run by non-Muslims subject to the condition that this Muslim employee does not take up the duty of supplying pork or serving liquour and other forbidden things to non-Muslims. For, making others drink or serving it to them is forbidden. According to a narration from Sayyidna 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar, may Allah bless them both, the Holy Prophet (SAW) said: لعن اللہ الخمر وشاربھاو ساقیھا وبائعھا و مبتاعھا وعاصرھا ومعتصرھا و حاملھا والمحمولۃ الیہ Allah has cursed liquor and its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, its squeezer and whoso it has been squeezed for, and its carrier and whoso it has been carried to. In Tirmidhi, a narration from Sayyidna Anas ibn Malik says: لعن رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم فی الخمرعشرۃ : عاصرھا ومعتصرھا وشاربھا وحاملھا والمحمرلۃ الیہ وساقیھا وبائعھا وآکل ثمنھا والمشتری لھا والمشترۃ لہ The Holy Prophet (S.A. W) has cursed ten persons connected with drinking: The squeezer of liquor and the one for whom it has been squeezed, its drinker and its carrier and the one for whom it is carried, its server and its seller and the consumer from its sale proceeds, its buyer and the one for whom it is bought. The words of the hadith narrated by Sayyidna Anas (R.A) appear almost identically in Ibn Majah as well: عاصرھا، ومعتصرھا والمعصورۃ لہ وحاملھا والمحمولۃ لہ وبائعھا والمبیوعۃ لہ وساقیھا والمستقاۃ لہ The squeezer of liquor and the one who orders its squeezing and the one for whom it has been squeezed, and its carrier and the one for whom it is carried, and its seller and the one to whom it is sold, and its server and the one who has been served with it. Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim; (R.A), have narrated the following hadith from Sayyidna 'A'ishah (R.A): قالت : لما نزلت الا یات من اخر سورۃ البقرۃ خرج رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم فاقتر اھن علی الناس ، ثم نھی عن التجارۃ فی الخمر She said: "When the concluding verses of Surah al-Baqarah were revealed, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) went out of the house and recited those verses before people present there. Then, he prohibited trading in liquor.” Imam Muslim has reported the following saying of Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas (R.A) as attributed to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W): ان الذی حرم شربھا حرم بیعھا The one who has made drinking of liquor unlawful is the one who has also made its buying and selling unlawful. And Imam Ahmad has reported the following narration in his Musnad: عن عبدالرحمن بن وعلۃ، قال : سالت ابن عباس فقلت: انا بارض لنا بھا الکروم، وان اکثر غلاتھا الخمر، فذکر ابن عباس ان رجلا اھدی الی النبی صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم روایۃ خمر، فقال لہ رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ان الذی حرم شربھا حرم بیعھا This is a report from 'Abd aI-Rahman ibn Wa'lah. He says: 'Once I asked Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas: "We live in an area where we own vineyards and the major source of our income there is nothing but liquor.' To this, Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas replied, 'A certain person came to the Holy Prophet (S.A. W) and presented a leather bag full of liquor as a gift for him. Then, to him, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said: 'The one who has made the drinking of liquor unlawful is the one who has also made its buying and selling unlawful. " In the light of the ahadith quoted above, it becomes clear that the business of liquor is also unlawful, as is its transportation from one place to the other, or its offering for consumption. The ruling given by Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas (R.A) also provides a clear answer to the situation in which the distilling, and buying and selling of liquor may be common local practice, still, there too, it will not be lawful for a Muslim to adopt dealing in wine as a means of his livelihood. And as far as I know, no Faqih from among the Muslim Jurists has ruled it as permissible.