Q 1: We are preoccupied with some issues, including studying law at the Faculty of Law. The Muslims strongly disagree on this issue. I ask that Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) guide you to clarify this issue for us, which includes: (1) The ruling on studying positive (man-made) laws. (2) The ruling on working as an attorney or a judge.

A: If the person who wants to study man-made laws possesses the intellectual and academic capacity to distinguish truth from falsehood and is guarded by his Islam against deviation from truth and attraction towards falsehood, and his intention for studying them is to compare the laws of Islam with man-made laws in order to show the advantages of Islam and its encompassment of all that people need to correct their worldly and religious affairs, standing as entirely sufficient, and by way of upholding truth and negating falsehood, and to refute the claims of the uprightness, perfection and sufficiency of man-made laws - if this is the case, it is permissible to study them. Otherwise, it is impermissible and one must dispense with it by studying Islamic rulings derived from the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah, treading the path followed by the eminent Muslim scholars and the Salaf (righteous predecessors) in studying them and deducing from them. Second: If working as an attorney or a judge is a means to establish truth, refute falsehood, return rights to their owners and help the oppressed, it is permissible as it is a form of cooperation in righteousness and piety. (Part No. 1; Page No. 793) Otherwise, it is impermissible, because it involves cooperation in sin and transgression. Allah the Exalted says (what means), Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwâ (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. (Surah Al-Ma’idah, 5: 2)May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.