To work as estate agent is permissible as long as the deals are lawful from Islamic point of view. If the work may lead to something forbidden but the majority of agency business is lawful an exception has been made. 

Working as an Estate Agent

Similar Questions

• Working in the property market;

• Marketing properties.

The Issue

A Muslim living in non-Muslim countries may work in the field of real estate, in which there are permissible elements and prohibited ones. He may function as an estate agent or as an employee in a firm of estate agents.

Ruling

Under normal circumstances, working as an agent or acting as the middle man on a commission basis is permissible and legitimate, as long as the activities in which one works are of a lawful nature. Acting as an agent when one is certain or nearly so that the ultimate purpose is to use whatever is being bought for a forbidden purpose is not lawful from the Islamic point of view. This is the view expressed in Decision 10-5 of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America. The decision adds: ‘If a member of staff in a firm is asked to be the middle man working to conclude a deal and he is almost certain that the property being bought will be used for a forbidden purpose, and he cannot refuse to complete the contract and the majority of the functions of his firm are lawful, then he may complete this work as a necessity, because such forbidden activities are infrequent in his work. However, he should always be keen to avoid what is forbidden or reduce it as much as possible. It is also permissible for estate agency firms and individuals to write the contract of sale, even though the buyer may have obtained the funds for the purchase through a usurious loan, since the Muslim member of staff is not accountable for the method by which the buyer has secured his funds. He may not, however, participate in facilitating usurious loans, whether by providing information about the companies providing such loans, or by completing their application forms.’

Evidence

The basic rule regarding estate agency work is that it is permissible as long as the activities are lawful. Such work becomes forbidden if it leads to what is forbidden, because it then becomes helping to further evil and aggression.

Moreover, estate agency work that may lead to something forbidden is given an exemption in cases where the majority of the work of the estate agent is of a permissible nature. Such a concession is given in cases where one has to comply with instructions and the firm rarely takes up such forbidden deals. However one should always try to avoid what is forbidden or keep it to a minimum.  

Sources

• Decisions by the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America.

• Decisions by the European Council for Fatwa and Research.