Is It Permissible to Audit Company Accounts in Which There Is Interest?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Is it permissible to audit company accounts in which there is interest? The auditor only checks the accounts and budgets. He does not write or partake in the interest transaction but only checks whether the accounts are correctly recorded. He is not present when the usury (riba )transaction is signed.

Answer: assalamu `alaykum

This would be permitted.

The prophetic tradition cursing the one who records an interest transaction refers to an individual who does so as an actual party to the transaction. The auditing you describe is simply recording an event retrospectively. This is the explanation provided by Mufti Taqi Usmani and others, which is supported by a number of classical texts commentating upon the tradition in question.

Therefore, as long as the primary business of the company an auditor works for is permissible, there would be no harm in auditing their accounts even if it involves recording such interest transactions.

Please see: Is It Permissible to Work on the Projects of a Riba (Usury) Based Bank?

Please see also: How to Avoid Riba (Usury): A Reader

Salman

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani