The Ruling on Employing Non-Muslim Workers
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
What is the ruling on employing workers and maids from among non-Muslims, given that some people argue that they are people of protection (dhimmis) who are trustworthy and have good morals in their work?
Answer:
Employing disbelievers is not permissible as private servants for a person in his home, his car, or his shop, because they are hostile, and because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that disbelievers be kept away from the Arabian Peninsula. Employing disbelievers is not permissible except in work that is done away from the Muslim’s home and his place of work, such as in roads, buildings, or apartments that are far from the family’s environment and the Muslim person’s environment, on the condition that there are no Muslims available to do this work. And praise be to Allah, Muslims, experience, and Islamic competencies are now abundant. Therefore, it is obligatory to employ Muslims as workers, engineers, and teachers. Muslims are, praise be to Allah, numerous and possess great competencies. So the Muslim should import from Muslims; this is what is obligatory. Yes.
As for the claim that they are more trustworthy, some people say that the disbeliever is more trustworthy. This is a great calamity. This statement is dangerous. If one says that the disbeliever is more trustworthy in work than the Muslim, this implies apostasy, because it implies that disbelief is better than Islam, because he made a general statement. However, if he says that a specific disbeliever is better than a specific Muslim, meaning a particular person, this is a mistake, even though the Muslim is respected. But this is a mistake. However, if he says that the Muslim in general is worse than the disbeliever in work, this entails apostasy, because it gives preference to the disbelievers over the Muslims. He must repent to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. But if he said this about a specific person, this is considered a sin, because he preferred the disbeliever over the Muslim, but it does not reach the level of apostasy. Yes.
What is the ruling on employing workers and maids from among non-Muslims, given that some people argue that they are people of protection (dhimmis) who are trustworthy and have good morals in their work?
Answer:
Employing disbelievers is not permissible as private servants for a person in his home, his car, or his shop, because they are hostile, and because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that disbelievers be kept away from the Arabian Peninsula. Employing disbelievers is not permissible except in work that is done away from the Muslim’s home and his place of work, such as in roads, buildings, or apartments that are far from the family’s environment and the Muslim person’s environment, on the condition that there are no Muslims available to do this work. And praise be to Allah, Muslims, experience, and Islamic competencies are now abundant. Therefore, it is obligatory to employ Muslims as workers, engineers, and teachers. Muslims are, praise be to Allah, numerous and possess great competencies. So the Muslim should import from Muslims; this is what is obligatory. Yes.
As for the claim that they are more trustworthy, some people say that the disbeliever is more trustworthy. This is a great calamity. This statement is dangerous. If one says that the disbeliever is more trustworthy in work than the Muslim, this implies apostasy, because it implies that disbelief is better than Islam, because he made a general statement. However, if he says that a specific disbeliever is better than a specific Muslim, meaning a particular person, this is a mistake, even though the Muslim is respected. But this is a mistake. However, if he says that the Muslim in general is worse than the disbeliever in work, this entails apostasy, because it gives preference to the disbelievers over the Muslims. He must repent to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. But if he said this about a specific person, this is considered a sin, because he preferred the disbeliever over the Muslim, but it does not reach the level of apostasy. Yes.
Source
استقدام العمال والخادمات من غير المسلمين — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.