Working as ethical hacker for interest-based banks
31-1-2016 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. Respected Shaykh, I wanted to clarify that my fiancé is a certified ethical hacker and that he works for Aujas Network (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aujas_Networks ,http://aujas.com/) as an associate consultant. His work is to overcome security issues for big companies or banks through ethical hacking. Sometimes he also needs to work on conventional bank projects. He said that before entering this field, he asked scholars and they have given him a hadith and they deduced from it, and he says that it is okay because his work is in IT and is not directly involved in money. So he took that job. Still, he is taking an exam - OSCP: Offensive Security Certified Professional - now so that he can work in the Middle East, and in case that he needs to work for a bank then he will do so for an Islamic bank only. However, he is still working on one bank project and after October or November things will be decided; whether to stay in India or in the Middle East. Allaah willing, like if he clears this exam, then there is a chance that he may get a job in Islamic countries. However, I now came across an answer in Dr. Bilal Philips' lecture, and he said very clearly that it is not halal to work for a bank! So now, please clarify this with proofs as I have to tell him about this. So for that I will require all the proofs and everything given that one shaykh (I do not remember his name) already told him that it is halal. Now, suppose that - because I know this - he will learn the truth and leave the haram and go with what is halal (work for an Islamic bank) because he is hardworking, honest, and very sincere in his job, then what about the money that he earned till now while working on bank projects? Is it allowed to use it? 1. Is such job halal, and if not, then can we use that money given that he has worked on a few bank projects in the last three years? I await your reply.
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 view we adopt here in Islamweb is that it is absolutely forbidden to work in interest-based banks even if one is working in a field that does not have any relation with interest because the worker in such banks is helping in the prohibited matters that they gain and the interest that they deal with. Also, working for these banks is approving what they are doing while it is an obligation to deny it.
The curse that is mentioned about interest is not restricted to the one who consumes it alone, but it also includes the one who is helping in it by writing it or witnessing it.
Jaabir 
narrated that the Prophet 
said, “Allaah has cursed the one who consumes interest, the one who gives it to others, the one who records it, and the two who witness it (its transaction).” He said, “All of them are equal in sin.” [Muslim]
Also, Allaah prohibited cooperating with sinful people in His Book; as Allaah said (what means): {And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allaah; indeed, Allaah is severe in penalty.} [Quran 5:2]
For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 100314.
However, if your fiancé worked there based on a fatwa from a scholar who issued a fatwa to him that it is permissible and he did not work there out of his own desire or following concessions but believing that the fatwa was correct and in compliance with the sharee'ah, then he is excused, regardless whether the mufti was right or wrong. The Prophet said, “Whoever issues a fatwa without having sound knowledge, then the sin of the person who acts according to the fatwa is upon the one who issued the fatwa to him.” [Abu Daawood, Ibn Maajah, and Ahmad - Al-Albaani graded it hasan (good)]
As regards the salary that he gained from his previous work while he did not know that such work was forbidden or due to him acting according to the view of the scholar who issued him a fatwa that it was permissible, then there is nothing wrong in benefiting from it.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz
was asked about the earnings of someone who worked in an interest-based bank while not knowing that this was forbidden, and he answered: "... the salaries that you got are lawful for you if you did not know the Islamic ruling, as Allaah says (what means): {But Allaah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allaah. But whoever returns to [dealing in interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein. Allaah destroys interest and gives increase for charities. And Allaah does not like every sinning disbeliever.} [Quran 2:275-276]"
Your fiancé should stop working on interest-based bank projects, as the possibilities for lawful earnings are so many, and Islamic banks are available in the Muslim world and in non-Muslim countries as well. Indeed, whoever leaves something for the sake of Allaah, Allaah will compensate him with something better.
Allaah knows best.