Mosque administration member accused of alcohol trade involvement

14-7-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

I found out that one of our Mosque's board member has a business which involves selling alcohol, Kindly answer if such a person should be allowed to be in such a leading position.

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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 ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

In principle, religious leadership positions are to be assigned to the trustworthy and competent, those who are qualified and able to carry out the assigned duties as well as honor their trusts. Allaah The Exalted says (what means): {Indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong and the trustworthy.} [Quran 28:26] Please refer to Fatwa 91299.

If you have verified that this man trades in alcohol, then he is a person of bad moral character (Faasiq) and should not be trusted with running the affairs of the mosque. He should be advised so that he repents from such a sin. If he repents, there is no objection to keeping him in his position. However, if he persistently commits this sin, he should be kept away from the position in the mosque's administration and his post should be assigned to another trustworthy person, unless this would cause a more prevalent evil, such as the occurrence of Fitnah (dissension) among those who attend the mosque or the like. Needless to say, his case must first be investigated so it is known with certainty that his business really involves selling alcohol.

Allaah Knows best.