Is Using Terms Like “Prayers” and “Senate” in Software Development Permissible?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I am a software developer for an ed-tech company in my home country. One of the projects we are working on is software to assist the university board (known as the “university senate” in my country) in scheduling meetings and managing the institution’s business.
They use specific terminologies like requests from departments that the Senate will review are called “prayers.” Also, words like “senate” and “senators” are often used in a democratic government setting, even though the software is not for a democratic government. What is the ruling on using these words, and will it make my work haram?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
These are just catchy terms, and it is not uncommon for software companies to use words like that, as you are aware. These words may have different meanings depending on the context in which they are used. Rest assured, ignore, and please do not worry. Your work is permissible, and the income you generate will also be halal and permissible.
Nevertheless, the permissibility of income is based on the work itself; as long as it is permissible, one’s income will be halal. [Zayla‘i, Tabyin al-Haqa’iq]
Related:
Key Principles Relating to Certainty, Doubt, and Baseless Misgivings (Waswasa)
A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings)
Provision and Work: A Reader
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
