Fatwa n° 522

Category: Fatwas about financial transactions

In the ruling concerning benefitting 
from the phone of a company for a personal purpose

Question:

Is it permissible to use the phone of a company for personal purposes? May Allah reward you.

Answer:

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Peace and blessing be upon whom Allah sent as a mercy to the Worlds, upon his Family, his Companions and his Brothers until the Day of Resurrection:

One has to ask for the administration’s permission concerning using the company’s phone in personal calls that are beyond the administration’s interest. So, if it forbids him, it is therefore not permissible to act freely in the property of others except under permission, according to his saying صلَّى الله عليه وآله وسلَّم:“The wealth of a Muslim is not permissible except when he gives it whole-heartedly himself.”⁽¹⁾, and his saying صلَّى الله عليه وآله وسلَّم: “All things of a Muslim are inviolable for his brother in faith: his blood, his wealth and his honor”⁽²⁾. And the moral person (i.e. the company or the institution) is concerned by the same ruling as the natural person. However, if one has an urgent need and has no other alternative except it (the company’s phone); so in this case it is permissible for him to use it according to the need and without transgression, pursuant to the jurisprudential rule that says: “Need is considered as necessity”.

The perfect knowledge belongs to Allah عزَّ وجلَّ; and our last prayer is all the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and prayers of Allah are to Muhammad and his Family, Companions and Brothers until the Day of Resurrection.