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 liquor and pork. Is it permissible
for a Muslim student to be employed in such hotels?
Q. 2. Running a distillery or merchandizing liquor 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 liquor and other
forbidden things to non-Muslims, For, mak- ing 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 ( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam ) said :
Allah has cursed liquor and its drinker, its server, its buyer, its
squeezer and who so it has been squeezed for, and its carrier and who
so it has been carried to
. In Tirmidhi, a narration from Sayyidna Anas ibn Malik says:

The Holy Prophet ( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam ) has cursed ten persons
connected with drinking: The squeezer of liquor and the one for whom it
has been squee 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:

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) :

She said : "When the concluding verses of Surah al-Baqarah were
revealed, the Holy Prophet ( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam ) 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 ( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam ):

The one who has made drinking of liquor unlawful is the one who has
also made its buying and selling unlawful.
And Imam Ahmed has reported the following narration in his Musnad :

This is a report from 'Abd al-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
( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam ) and presented a leather bag full of liquor
as a gift for him. Then, to him, the Holy Prophet ( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam
) 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 transport- ation 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 prac-
tice, still, there too, it will not be lawful for a Muslim to adopt dealing
in wine as a means of this livelihood. And as far as I know, no Faqih
from among the Muslim Jurists has ruled it as permissible.
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