Question Summary:
What is the islamic view on working for an investment bank or other financial institutions? is it haraam? are there any acceptabe roles in finance such as accounting? which i think does not involve interest. but i am not too sure.

Question Detail:

1.What is the islamic view on working for an investment bank or other financial institutions? is it haraam? are there any acceptabe roles in finance such as accounting? which i think does not involve interest. but i am not too sure.
2.  When i was at university one day i had an exam which began 20 minutes before asr time, and by the time it was finished it was within the half an hour before maghrib namaaz. was it permissable for me to read Asr before hand, or under such circumstances can one read Asr within the half an hour period before Maghrib?
Under similar circumstances can you only join zuhr and asr namaaz or maghrib and isha.. but not asr and maghrib?
3.  Is ir permissable to work in a job, such as boots or super drug store, who sell haraam food, even though you are not in contact with preparing it but just selling it to the customerS?

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
If the investment Bank is run on Shariah principles of finance and economics, it will be permissible to work for such an institution. However, if the investment bank is based on the conventional principles of finance, it will not be permissible to work for such a bank.
The role of an accountant is to merely record a transaction conducted by the bank. Since the finalization of the bank’s Riba (interest) transaction is not dependent on the services of the accountant, he is not directly related to the interest transaction and therefore permissible for him to offer his services at such an institution (Fathul Baari Hadith Number 2085-4/364; Sharhul Ubbi Ala Sahih Muslim 4/279; Contemporary Fataawa-Mufti Mohamed Taqi Usmani 1/160)
The time for Asr Salaah lasts until sunset. Therefore, if there was half an hour remaining for Maghrib Salaah after your examination, you should have performed the Asr Salaah immediately. It was incorrect for you to delay the Asr to after Maghrib. It is not permissible to join Zuhr and Asr under such circumstances. Every Salaah should be performed in its prescribed time (Nurul Iddah Page 70 Beirut)
Your question is unclear. We do not know what you mean by boots. However, by super drug store we understand you work in a pharmacy or a store that dispenses drugs for medical purposes. If our understanding is correct, it is permissible to work in such a store that dispenses drugs based on medical prescriptions.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Muhammed Zakariyya Desai,
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah