I remember many years ago I was seriously considering leaving the charity sector. We all heard many stories whether it was lack of transparency, incompetency or even malpractice. 

I then asked Shaykh al-Judai’ and sought his advice of whether to leave based on a specific issue. He responded;

‘If you are in a position where you can change things, then you should try to stay. If not, then see (I assume here he meant to consider leaving)’. 

I felt it was interesting advice, but it’s a dilemma which spans across a number of fields and jobs. One could argue however, more so for the charity sector as the level of amānah is so high.

In any case I think it depends on the individual and what they are being faced with. For some, certain jobs require that people try to stick through it to enact change even if it means they come across things which are questionable e.g. working for an Islamic bank which may not be entirely sharī’ah compliant, or a charity which doesn’t manage its finances well, but is actively trying to change etc. For others, the safest way would be to leave in entirety avoiding the burden and find a new organisation or field (which is the position of some of my teachers).

People will argue both ways and to be fair, this isn’t to suggest a correct way as it’s situation specific. I have my own thoughts of what I could accept and what I can’t, but the point is that it isn’t always black and white. I also think that intention has a big part to play and there many good people in the sector working tirelessly to raise the bar.

In any case, I do firmly believe though in the need to refer back to scholars and people of knowledge when making these sorts of choices. This is because there are a myriad of things to consider – level of influence, personal circumstances, severity of the sin, religious fortitude etc etc.

May Allah assist us to do what is right and most pleasing to him.