Fatwa #4632112 October 2020Pakistan
Working for American Express - Is it permissible for me?
Question
I am an engineering student from India, and I have got an offer to work as a software engineer in American Express. I have heard that American Express credit card doesn't involve interest, but they charge a fine if not replayed. Should I accept the offer?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, there are two aspects which are considered before determining the Shari’ah Compliancy of a job profile.
1. The nature of the job profile/description itself.
2. The major source of the funds from which the employees of the company/bank are remunerated.
The majority of conventional bank’s financial earnings are derived from bank deposits which are permissible and lawful. [1]
Software engineers are computer science professionals who use knowledge of engineering principles and programming languages to build software products and run network control systems among other things.
If your role as a software engineer will not bring you into direct contact with Haram activities such as interest, it will be permissible to work as a software engineer.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Bilal Yusuf Pandor
Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
اسلام اور جدید معاشی مساءل، ج۴، ص۱۳٦، ادارۃ اسلامیت