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What is the ruling on the work of a certified public accountant in accrediting and reviewing budgets of businesses involved in prohibited activities? What is the ruling on his accreditation of budgets for companies with permissible activities but that engage in usurious bank dealings? What is the ruling on his work as an agent for the establishment in all matters related to taxes? What is the ruling on seeking to learn this field and obtaining specialized certificates in it? And what is the ruling on working as an employee for certified public accounting firms?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The science of accounting is important and beneficial for both this world and the religion. Its benefit for this world is clear. As for its benefit for the religion, its importance becomes evident in the jurisprudence of inheritance, where Ibn Arafa said: "Knowing what is due of right to each rightful heir in the estate depends on the science of accounting." It is a collective obligation (fard kifaya), like other sciences such as medicine and agriculture, and Muslims must master it. Its use is limited to what the Sharia permits. Calculating usury (riba) is forbidden, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Allah has cursed the one who consumes riba, the one who feeds it, its scribe, and its two witnesses." As for calculating taxes, it depends on the ruling of the tax itself. If the tax is unjust and illicit, then aiding in its calculation is not permissible.

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

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