Question:
Assalamualaikum ustaz,
I work in a hypermarket. Sometimes, people would come and ask for directions to me regarding where the section selling alcoholic beverages is located. My question is, am I considered sinful if I tell them where it is?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam wrt. wbt.
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Two matters that Islam emphasized the prohibition are:
- Alcoholic beverages
- Usury
For the prohibition of riba, from Abdullah bin Mas’ud, the prophet PBUH said:
لَعَنَ اللهُ آكِلَ الرِّبَا، وَمُوكِلَهُ، وَشَاهِدَيْهِ، وَكَاتِبَهُ
“Allah SWT cursed the one who consumes Riba, the one who pays it, the one who witnesses it and the one who writes it down,”
Musnad Imam Ahmad (3809) in Musnad
While pertaining to the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, Anas bin Malik RA said:
لَعَنَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الخَمْرِ عَشَرَةً: عَاصِرَهَا، وَمُعْتَصِرَهَا، وَشَارِبَهَا، وَحَامِلَهَا، وَالمَحْمُولَةُ إِلَيْهِ، وَسَاقِيَهَا، وَبَائِعَهَا، وَآكِلَ ثَمَنِهَا، وَالمُشْتَرِي لَهَا، وَالمُشْتَرَاةُ لَهُ
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed ten involved in wine: The one who presses it, the one who has it pressed, its drinker, its carrier, and the one it is carried to, its server, its seller, the consumption of its price, the one who purchases it and the one it was purchased for."
Sunan Imam al-Tirmidzi (1295) in Sunan
Hence, the prohibition of usury and alcoholic beverages is not limited to their consumption only, but to all other activities related to them. This is in line with other hadiths that warn against helping in transgressions and sin.
Abu Hurairah RA narrated that the Prophet PBUH said:
مَنْ دَعَا إِلَى هُدًى، كَانَ لَهُ مِنَ الْأَجْرِ مِثْلُ أُجُورِ مَنْ تَبِعَهُ، لَا يَنْقُصُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ أُجُورِهِمْ شَيْئًا، وَمَنْ دَعَا إِلَى ضَلَالَةٍ، كَانَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْإِثْمِ مِثْلُ آثَامِ مَنْ تَبِعَهُ، لَا يَنْقُصُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ آثَامِهِمْ شَيْئًا
“If anyone summons other to follow right guidance, his reward will be equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without their rewards being diminished in any respect on that account; and if anyone summons others to follow error the sin of which sins being diminished in any respect on that account.”
Sahih Imam Muslim (2674) in Sahih
Furthermore, the Prophet PBUH also said:
وَمَنْ سَنَّ في الإسْلامِ سُنَّةً سَيِّئَةً كَانَ عَلَيهِ وِزْرُهَا وَوِزْرُ مَنْ عَمِلَ بِهَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ ، مِنْ غَيرِ أنْ يَنْقُصَ مِنْ أوْزَارِهمْ شَيءٌ
“…and he who sets in Islam an evil precedent, there is upon him the burden of that and the burden of him also who acted upon it subsequently, without any deduction from their burden.”
Sahih Muslim (1017) in Sahih
The Prophet PBUH said:
إِنَّ الدَّالَّ عَلَى الخَيْرِ كَفَاعِلِهِ
Whoever leads to good, he is like the one who does it.
Sunan Imam al-Tirmidzi (2670) in Sunan
Hence, through contrary understanding (mafhum mukhalafah), whoever leads or shows to transgression or sin, then his sin is like the one who does it.
However, the equivalence of a person who does and follows the sin is only on the sinful part and not on the degree of the sin committed. This is as said by Syeikh Mula Ali al-Qari in al-Mirqah Sharh al-Misykah, when he commented on the above hadith regarding usury: “They are the same in terms of sin but not in terms of the degree of the sin.”
Thus, in the case of the questioner, we suggest that the questioner answered politely even if in the form of a trick in order for the customer to ask another non-Muslim worker, protecting himself from being involved with anything related to alcoholic beverages.
May Allah SWT give us the strength to continue our daily lives with taqwa.
Wallahua’lam.