Question Summary:
Aspects which are considered before determining the Shari’ah Compliancy of a job profile

Question Detail:

 I might have asked this question before but never got a reply. I used to work in the financial aid department of a community college. The department offered pell grants (which are government grants for low income families) but they also offered loans. I specifically worked in the poll department in our office to avoid working in the loan department. My job was secretarial (mailing, filing and such). Mainly it was to inform students who received poll grants, but on the letter it also informed them about loan options.
Even though I worked in the poll department and not the loan, now I am having second thoughts about the income I earned from that job. (I no longer work their). I worked their for about 2 years,, and the income I earned I invested with some other people. Was that income halal? If not what should I do about the iincome which I already invested in? which was on land so it's increased) Please help, I feel like these things are the reason I havnt gotten married yet.

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh
 
In principle, there are two aspects which are considered before determining the Shari’ah Compliancy of a job profile:
 
1. The nature of the job profile/description itself.
2. The major source of the funds from which the employees of the company/bank are remunerated.
 
The majority of the company’s earnings are derived from bank deposits which are permissible and lawful.
 
The issue of working for a conventional institution falls under the purview of assisting in sin in Shariah. You state that you worked in the poll department (Government Grants) of your employer and your job profile was that of a secretarial nature. The job profile of secretarial agent is not directly related to any conventional financial activities, therefore your salary earned in permissible and Halal.
 
Kindly refer to the following Fatawa for more details: http://www.askimam.org/public/question_detail/23092
 
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
 
Ismail Desai,
Darul Iftaa
 
Checked and Approved,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.