What is the ruling on studying or teaching business that includes prohibited subjects such as interest (riba), insurance, English law, and taxes, given that studying these subjects is obligatory for success?

There is no harm in studying commercial accounting subjects that include prohibited matters such as usury (riba) and taxes, provided that the student or teacher believes in the prohibition of what Allah has forbidden among them. The purpose of the study should be to understand the evil and falsehood within them, or to benefit from them in ways that do not contradict Islamic law.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz was asked about the ruling on studying man-made laws, and he replied that whoever studies them to understand their reality, or to recognize the superiority of Islamic Sharia over them, or to benefit from them in ways that do not contradict Islamic law, there is no harm in it for him; rather, he may even be rewarded. His ruling is like that of someone who studies the rulings on usury and types of intoxicants to understand them and to know Allah's ruling concerning them.

It is a condition that the student possesses knowledge and insight into the rulings of Islamic law to be safe from being deceived by falsehood and influenced by specious arguments.

It is stated in the fatwas of the Permanent Committee: "It is not permissible to learn man-made laws for the purpose of applying them if they contradict the law of Allah. However, it is permissible to study them to expose their deviation and the justice found in Islam. It is not permissible for someone who is not capable of distinguishing their truth from their falsehood to study them, for fear of temptation. It is permissible for someone who understands them after studying the Qur'an and Sunnah to distinguish their evil from their good, and to establish the truth and refute falsehood, provided that this does not distract him from what is more obligatory in Islamic law."