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Doing business with computer parts

Question

I want to do business with a partner. My partner is expert in computer hardware. He wants to do business with computer parts imported from abroad. As I have seen most of the users of our country badly use this product, listening to song, porn movies, porn Internet and many other items. And also many do good works with computer. So now, is it permissible to do business with computer parts? Will the sins go to my account of Hereafter? Kindly answer with Qur'an and Sunnah.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. These computer sets in themselves are not, regarded as lawful or unlawful. It is their usage that determines their lawfulness or otherwise. If you know that the buyer is going to use this computer in an unlawful way, it is forbidden to sell it for him because, this is tantamount to helping the sinner to commit sins. There is an established rule that means leading to forbidden things is also forbidden. That is why the scholars forbid selling a weapon to someone who wants to kill a Muslim with it, or the grape to someone who produce wine out of it, or rent a shop to someone who brews wine there. Selling weapons and grapes, and renting out shops are not in themselves forbidden. They are rather permissible. They are only forbidden if that leads to committing an unlawful act. If you know that this computer is to be used in a lawful way, it is lawful to sell it. But if the intention of the user is unknown, you look at what most people do with it. If most people use it in unlawful ways, selling it in that case is forbidden, you should therefore look for another way of earning your livelihood and abandon this dubious one. And you should know that whoever abandons something for the sake of Allah, Allah gives him a better substitute. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {…And whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine….}[65: 2-3]. As long as the transaction is lawful, you will not be held to account for that on the Day of Resurrection. Rather you will be rewarded if the transaction is done with a good intention like spreading good among Muslims and benefiting them. But if the transaction is unlawful, you will be called to account for that and you will be rewarded accordingly on the Day of Resurrection unless Allah decides to forgive you. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) was authentically reported to have warned against taking unlawful earnings for granted when he said, "Any part of a human body that grows (or nourished) by an unlawful earning, the Fire is worthier of it" [Reported by At-Tabarani and Al-Bayhaqi ]. Allah knows best.

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