Is it haram to work in a factory that produces wine/alcoholic drink? If it is haram, is it necessary for a Muslim to give up that job?

Is it haram to work in a factory that produces wine/alcoholic drink? If it is haram, is it necessary for a Muslim to give up that job?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is not permissible to work in afactory that produces alcoholic drinks and the money obtained from it is haram. It is haram to produce, buy, sell, carry and serve alcoholic drinks. Therefore, it is not permissible to work in such places.

The religion of Islam did not prefer the way of abolishing certain widespread bad habits suddenly; instead, it used a method that started from the minimum level and that led the people to development in a certain direction. For instance, the prohibition of interest is one of the last decrees of Islam. This wound in the commercial life was treated after people reached a certain level with the method of the Quran. Gradualism was essential.

One of the issues in which gradualism was used in prohibition was alcoholic drinks. Alcohol was not prohibited at once; it was prohibited after three verses that were sent down at certain intervals, after the believers were made ready for it. As soon as the Muslims heard that alcoholic drinks were prohibited, they overturned all wine barrels and poured them into the streets. (Muslim, Musaqat: 67)

Not only drinking but also buying and selling alcohol were rendered haram. The Messenger of Allah stated in a hadith that alcohol was cursed in ten aspects:

«Wine is cursed from ten angles: The wine itself, the one who squeezes (the grapes, etc.), the one for whom it is squeezed, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried, the one who consumes its price, the one who drinks it and the one who serves it.» (Ibn Majah, Ashriba: 6)

(Mehmed PAKSU, HELAL – HARAM)

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