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What is the ruling on working in a place where alcoholic beverages are sold, given the unavailability of any other alternative employment?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Working in a place where alcoholic beverages are sold is forbidden and a grave evil, based on the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Allah has cursed alcohol, its drinker, its server, its seller, its presser, its extractor, its carrier, the one to whom it is carried, and the one who consumes its price."

The worker must repent and leave this job, seeking permissible work. Allah the Almighty says: "And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him a way out And will provide for him from where he does not expect."

It is not permissible to work in such a place in any capacity (guarding, cleaning, etc.) because it is a place of curse and wrath. The one who remains silent about evil or sits in its place is like the one who commits it, based on Allah the Almighty's saying: "And He has already sent down to you in the Book that when you hear the verses of Allah being denied and ridiculed, do not sit with them until they enter into another conversation. Indeed, in that case, you would be like them." And in the Hadith: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not sit at a table where alcohol is circulated."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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