Asked whether money earned by selling bidis and cigarettes is lawful or unlawful in the view of Islam, the noted Islamic speaker Sheikh Ahmadullah has said that the buying and selling of anything Islam has forbidden people to eat, drink or use is also not permissible.
Answering a follower’s question recently, he said that even if a person does not smoke or follows religious observance, that alone does not make money from selling bidis and cigarettes lawful. In his words, even if someone prays, has performed the hajj or wears a beard, if they sell bidis and cigarettes the income from that sale will not be lawful.
Explaining the matter further, however, he said that if both lawful and unlawful goods are sold in a shop, the income of the whole business does not become unlawful. The profit earned from selling goods that are permissible in the view of Islam remains lawful. Only the income from that portion whose sale is not permissible is counted as unlawful.
Giving an example, Sheikh Ahmadullah said money earned by selling rice, pulses or other permissible goods is lawful. But if goods are sold with deception or adulteration, that income too will not be lawful.
He said that mixing lower-quality pulses with local pulses and selling them amounts to deception. Money earned from such a business is also not lawful in the view of Islam.
In Sheikh Ahmadullah’s view, it is not only the permissibility of the goods that matters in Islam: honesty in business and following the correct method are also important conditions of lawful earning.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report