Halal Business and Living Abroad
I am going to start a business in partnership with someone. The business is perfectly Halal, but the finances my partner is going to commit in the business is not legitimately earned by him. Can I go ahead with this partnership? Again the business I’m going to do is Halal, and I have had nothing to do with the way my partner has earned the money he’s contributing to the business.
Also, I’m finding it very difficult to decide whether to stay in Pakistan or return to Canada from where I returned to Pakistan some 3 years ago. Whatever I plan to do in Pakistan, I find involves indulging in bribery in one form or the other. Don’t know what to do? Can you help tell me how to seek God’s help in making a decision? You may recommend Istikhara, but I’ve done that already, nothing has come out of that.
Answer
I recommend that you do more istikhara. As they say, the solution to failed democracy is not military coup but more democracy. Please read what I have recommended for doing istikhara: “Procedure and supplication of Istikhara”.
The reason I am recommending it is that I have no concrete answers in response to both questions. You will have to come to your own conclusions and my experience is that istikhara might give delayed clarity but it does help.
As a matter of principle, you can go ahead with your business partnership. You can only counsel others; you can’t do anything on someone else’s behalf. If you refuse to do business on those grounds, it can be a better – but not binding – option. After all, a shopkeeper wouldn’t investigate if the customer’s income was legitimate before selling his product to him.
If you have options, you should decide to live at a place where you and your family have better chances of living as good Muslims. For some people, that could mean living in Pakistan instead of some Western countries; for others it could mean a completely opposite strategy.