I am seeking guidance regarding my work situation:
I am employed as an automation associate in a company. My role is to set up automations, funnels, and webinar systems for various clients using the GoHighLevel (GHL) platform.
The company has multiple clients from different industries (such as restaurants, retail, services, coaching, etc.). Their projects are distributed among employees like myself.
Recently, I was assigned a project for a client whose business involves loans and mortgages. My task is to build and automate a webinar system and lead follow-up process in GHL to help this client interact with potential leads.
I do not have ownership of the client, nor do I directly profit from the loans. I am a salaried employee; my income does not depend on whether this client closes deals or earns interest.
However, I am concerned because these loans/mortgages appear to be conventional (interest-based), which I know involves riba. I fear that by setting up these webinars and automations, I may be assisting in something impermissible.
At the same time, I cannot always choose which projects I am assigned, since work is distributed by the company. Other projects I handle are in halal industries, but some assignments may involve such doubtful cases.
My questions:
- Is it permissible for me, as an employee, to work on such a project where I am not directly engaging in the loan contracts but building the automation system that promotes them?
- Does the ruling change if I cannot avoid such assignments due to company policy?
- What should I do in such situations — should I refuse the project, ask for reassignment, or continue since my salary is not directly tied to riba?
- Is my overall job halal, considering that most clients are halal but sometimes projects may involve businesses connected with riba?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah,
Answers to your questions are presented hereunder:
1. Is it permissible to work on such a project?
If an assignment directly promotes riba (e.g., building funnels, ads, or automations that explicitly market interest-based mortgages), this falls under direct assistance in sin and is impermissible (See Fatwa.ca: Job in a Software Company Whose Main Clients are Banks).
If the work is content-neutral (generic CRM structures, pipelines, calendar integrations), then it is not the sin itself but rather a close facilitation. While this is technically tolerated, it remains undesirable. Mufti Taqi Usmani has explained in Fiqh al Buyu’ that jobs that combine permissible and impermissible tasks contaminate the wage and render the contract defective (fāsid) unless the halal portion is separated (Hotels and Restaurants where Alcohol is Sold). Thus, even tolerated involvement falls short of the ṭayyib standard.
(We have previously explained elsewhere that ṭayyib refers to income and work that is not only technically halal (Sharʿan permissible) but also pure, wholesome, and free from doubtful or impermissible contamination. It represents the higher prophetic ethos of seeking livelihoods that are clean in both source and spirit, beyond mere legal permissibility and full of barakah.)
This principle is further reinforced by his citation of Fiqh al-Buyūʿ: when halal and haram are inseparably mixed, the Ḥanafī view is that one may benefit only to the extent of what is halal, regardless of whether the halal portion is small or large (Fiqh al-Buyūʿ). Thus, if an employee’s work or wage is mixed, their permissible share is valid, but the impurity cannot be ignored.
2. Does the ruling change if assignments cannot be avoided?
Company policy or managerial assignment reduces personal intent, but it does not make prohibited work permissible. If compelled, you should formally request accommodation by explaining that the task conflicts with your sincerely held religious beliefs. Under Canadian law, employers are required to accommodate religious beliefs up to the point of undue hardship (See Canadian Human Rights Act; Ontario Human Rights Code).
At the same time, you should propose practical remedies. This includes suggesting that the riba-related work be reassigned to a fellow coder or another team member, or requesting that your contribution be limited to neutral components. This cooperative stance is part of the legal expectation in Canada, where both employer and employee must work in good faith toward a solution.
If the employer demonstrates that accommodation is impossible without undue hardship, then the refusal may not be legally upheld. In that case, you could continue under necessity, while actively preparing to transition to another job that provides such accommodations from the outset.
3. What should I practically do?
Draw clear red lines: Do not design, copywrite, or configure systems that explicitly promote interest loans.
Offer cooperative alternatives: Suggest that specific coding or campaign tasks be delegated to other developers, while you manage neutral infrastructure. This fulfills both the Shariah duty to avoid assisting in sin and the Canadian legal duty to cooperate in accommodation.
Formally request reassignment: Document your request for religious accommodation in writing, so it is clear you are not refusing out of convenience but on creed grounds.
Treat necessity as temporary: If you must proceed under compulsion, limit yourself to technical, content-agnostic tasks. But continue searching for employment where such conflicts will not arise.
This fulfills the Shariah principle of avoiding iʿānah ʿalā al-ḥarām where possible, and where not, limiting involvement and seeking cleaner alternatives.
4. Is the overall job halal?
Yes, the overall job remains halal if most assignments are with halal clients and you conscientiously avoid direct riba projects. However, Mufti Taqi Usmani highlights that when duties are mixed and inseparable, the wage becomes mixed and defective, thus no longer fully ṭayyib.
Therefore, while your employment contract is valid and your income is halal in principle, the Islamic ethos calls you to seek what is also ṭayyib—clean and untainted. If avoidable, do not engage in riba-linked projects at all. If unavoidable, limit your role and treat it as a stopgap while searching for employment that does not compromise religious dictates or the ṭayyib character of your income.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi