Withholding partially relevant information to get a job
17-11-2014 | IslamWeb
Question:
Salaam, I have question about halal earnings. I was unemployed for a long period and it was causing me heavy mental stress, depression and hopelessness. Also, I had to lower my dignity and borrow from people as a result. I applied for a job at a food factory. When asked whether I had any allergies, I admitted nut allergy. However, I did not disclose my allergy fully and downplayed it as much as possible [which is correct, as I can even touch the nuts without adverse effects, although some sufferers cannot even be in the same room] Here in the West, companies would be wary of such a thing, in case of accidents and claims. Otherwise, this condition does not affect a person's ability to do the job. In my zeal to get the job, I correctly stated that the allergy does not have any serious impact on my life. However, there is a chance that I may not have got the job if I had told them about my first and only serious attack 4 years ago. I decided to withhold this information because I did not feel it would affect the vacancy they had advertised. I have been working now in this job for several weeks, with no effects from working with nuts. However, I am wondering if such an action of withholding information is okay, considering my role wouldn't have been & hasn't been affected & my mental state was very dire. Also, I have worked to their expected & desired standard consistently. So, in this sense, I am earning halal but I am doubtful about my previous actions. I am also fearful that leaving or disclosing the fact that has proved not relevant may cause me to lose good mental health &may cause to, in effect, beg from people Jazakallah
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The ruling on the salary that you get from this job depends on the nature of this job and whether or not it is permissible.
If the work is permissible, then the salary that you get from it is permissible, even if you were wrong in the way you got this job.
Now, we should look at the ruling on informing them about the allergy and downplaying your condition. If the matter is as you mentioned - that the allergy that you have is not to that extent it would affect your job, then this is what the employer wants, as it appears, so we hope that there is no harm in informing them that the allergy that you have is not serious.