Can One Give Cigarettes as Part of Their Duties at a Care Facility?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I work as a Support Worker in a residential house where I provide care support for mentally ill people, called “Service Users.” Part of my job is to give them their cigarettes when they come to ask for them. The cigarettes are kept in the office, and Support Workers (like myself) manage the cigarettes for the Service Users.
Am I being sinful for giving them cigarettes as part of my job in this company? Also, is it permissible to serve the Service Users food such as pork which is also part of the job? Please provide evidence in light of the Quran and Sunna.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
As part of your job, you would be allowed to give the client cigarettes upon their requests and routines. One can talk indirectly about the harms if the discussion comes up, as directly talking about it would go against work and company policy.
As for serving pork, it would be disliked for you to serve them pork if the task can be delegated to someone else. The rule is “that which is impermissible to acquire is impermissible to give.” Therefore actively giving some haram food, like pork, to someone is not permissible. [Ali al-Nadwi, Sharh al-Qawaʿid al-Fiqhiyya]
Alternatively, what one can do is help out with all food preparation, which includes halal and general food. However, during the serving out, it can be delegated to others, and one can make up for that by clearing and cleaning up after, etc.
Related:
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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.
