Lying about age to secure job to repay debts

17-3-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. There is this job online where you get paid money to test websites, but you have to be 18 years old to be able to test them, and I am only 16. If I lie about my age and start doing these tests, does that make the money that I would earn haram? The reason I want to do this job is because my family owes a 30,000 dollor debt and I was hoping that this could help, but I need to know whether the money is halal or not.

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 ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Lying about your age is forbidden, as is the principle with lying in general. So it is not permissible for you to evade this requirement to get the job that you mentioned. Rather, you should say the truth, and if they accept it, then all the better, and if not, then the means to earn a lawful living are available for whoever seeks them. What you mentioned in the question is not a sound reason for lying and cheating the employer. You must respect the conditions of work and abide by them pursuant to the general meaning of the hadeeth of the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) who said, “Muslims must honor their conditions.” [Ahmad]

It has also been confirmed that Abu Hurayrah  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him narrated that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said, “Whoever cheats us is not one of us.” [Muslim] In another narration, “Whoever cheats is not one of my followers.At-Tabaraani also narrated the hadeeth with the wording, “Whoever cheats us is not one of us, and deceiving and cheating are in Hellfire.

We ask Allaah, the Almighty, the Lord of the Mighty Throne, to facilitate the repayment of your debt  for your family and to provide you from sources that you would never have expected.

A person who asks Allaah is never let down; it is to Him that we must turn to and rely on.

There are some supplications to say so that one can be helped to repay his debt, among which is what at-Tirmithi reported from ‘Ali ibn Abu Taalib  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him that a mukaatab (a slave who pays a sum to be a free man) came to him and said, “I am unable to pay for my freedom.” Thereupon 'Ali  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him said to him, “Shall I not teach you some words that the Prophet, sallaallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, taught me, and even if you have debts as huge as the mountain of Thabeer, Allaah will help you pay your debts? Say, 'Allaahumma ikfini bihalaalika 'an haraamika waghnini bifadhlika 'amman siwaak. (O Allaah! Give me of what is lawful what makes me in no need of what is unlawful, and spare me by Your Grace of the need for others.)” [Ahmad, At-Tirmithi, and al-Haakim. Al-Haakim graded it  saheeh (sound) and Al-Arna’oot and Al-Albaani graded it hasan (good)]

Also, the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) used to supplicate with the following supplication when he went to bed:

O Allaah; Lord of the seven Heavens and Lord of the Earth and Lord of the Magnificent Throne, our Lord, and the Lord of everything, the Splitter of the grain of corn and the date stone, the Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel and the Quran, I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything You are to seize by the forelock. O Allaah, You are the First, there is naught before You, and You are the Last, and there is naught after You, and You are Evident, and there is nothing above You, and You are Innermost, and there is nothing beyond You. Remove the burden of debt from us and relieve us from poverty.” [Muslim]

Furthermore Anas  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him narrated that the Prophet, sallaallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to Mu'aath  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him:

Shall I not teach you a supplication because of which, if you have debts as large as the mountain of Uhud, Allaah will help you repay them? O Mu'aath, say, ‘O Allaah, Possessor of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will. In Your Hand is goodness, and indeed You are able to do all things. You are the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful in this life and in the Hereafter. You bestow Your Mercy on whomever You will and You withhold it from whomever You will, bestow on me from Your Mercy what will render me not in need of the mercy of others.’” [At-Tabraani in as-Sagheer with a good chain of narrators according to Al-Munthiri - Al-Albaani graded it hasan (good)]

Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him narrated that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) entered the mosque one day and found a man from the Ansaar called Abu Umaamah. So, he said to him, “Abu Umaamah, what’s the matter with you? I see you sitting in the mosque at a time other than the time of prayer.” Abu Umaamah replied, “It is worries and debts that made me sit here.” The Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) then said to him, “Shall I not teach you some words, if you say them Allaah will take away the worries from you and help you repay your debts?” Abu Umaamah said, “Please do, O Prophet of Allaah.” The Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said, “When you get up in the morning or when you go to sleep, say 'O Allaah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, from weakness and laziness, from miserliness and cowardice, from the burden of debts and from being overpowered by men.'” Abu Umaamah  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him said, “I did so (said the supplication) and Allaah took the anxiety away from me and helped me repay my debts.” [Abu Daawood]

Allaah knows best.

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