Economics as a Muslim

I have an intense passion for Economics and would love to take it as a degree but the career prospects seem to delve in Interest (which is haram/forbidden in Islam).
Is there any jobs globally available that do not focus on the financial side, but can also earn me a decent wage?
I know consultancy is an option, but is it actually a widely available job in firms (?) and not a niche career which is hard to get.

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

There are plenty of options in academia or e.g. in the economic service of the Civil Service. There are also an increasing number of Islamic finance roles coming up, due to Islamic corporations/individuals investing in the UK (or other overseas territories) who likewise need to adhere to those rules, and so they need people who can administrate and manage those.

Besides that, you can go into a wide range of roles with an economics degree outside of financial services in e.g. media, general business, civil service (outside of economic/financial roles), law (with a GDL, or by taking the new SQE when that goes live), etc, etc. Most people don't have jobs which use the subject content of their degree directly, usually they will instead be using the transferable skills the developed on those degrees.

Reply 2

Ali.maxwell

11

Ik quite a few muslim ppl that do an economics degree. I never considered in the Islamic sense. There r acc alot of muslim economists

Reply 3

-Quava-

20

Original post by amal99

Ik quite a few muslim ppl that do an economics degree. I never considered in the Islamic sense. There r acc alot of muslim economists

Just because a lot of Muslims choose to sin, does not then make that sin permissible. :smile:

@m31adam having no money is better than haram money. :rolleyes:

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 4

Ali.maxwell

11

Original post by -Quava-

Just because a lot of Muslims choose to sin, does not then make the sin permissible. :smile:

@m31adam halal money is better than no money. :rolleyes:

True I was never interested in economics so I never even thought abou ti being haram or not

Reply 5

PriceMechanism

8

Original post by m31adam

I have an intense passion for Economics and would love to take it as a degree but the career prospects seem to delve in Interest (which is haram/forbidden in Islam).
Is there any jobs globally available that do not focus on the financial side, but can also earn me a decent wage?
I know consultancy is an option, but is it actually a widely available job in firms (?) and not a niche career which is hard to get.

Glad to hear you are taking your religion seriously!

Take an example of working at Tesco. You stock shelves, and man the till. Is this haram? I think you would say no. What if a customer is buying alcohol or haram items, or you are asked to stock alcohol? Would you quit your job, or just do as your told? In this situation, you are working for a Western company in a Western country. You are not endorsing the consumption of the items, but are just following orders for your employment. You aren't telling anyone to buy haram items, as they have their own agency and can choose to buy or not buy it. If you don't stock them, then ultimatley someone else will... So pragmatically, why create a fuss?

A job in finance is similar to the example above. I would perhaps avoid Commerical Banking and Insurance as interest is literally how banks make money in those parts, and potentially trading too (Short selling requires usury - borrowing shares from a brokerage for a fee etc.)

The safest place would be Private Equity, and as you said Consulting. However, consulting can often explore a company's funding styles which may explore how a company would use interest of RCF to fund their operations. PE is better, but you can have debt based raises as an example.

IB suprisingly isn't actually that bad, as it would be M&A, IPOs, and Advisory.

As other commentators have alluded to, there are other places you can explore - Equity Research is a big one, as well as any corporate/managerial business role - sales, PR, marketing, policy making, etc.

You have options!

Reply 6

verycoolperson

14

there are many options from studying economy and not all of them are necessarily haram as i have been told, perhaps consult a muslim who is studying economics or has studied economics and ask them about halal opportunities

Reply 7

Abz231

14

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXBptkhl5A0

Islamic finance guru are a useful source to learn from - they are quite easy to get in touch with so you can get specific advise.

I'm in a similar situation and I'll probably go into consulting as you mentioned, but will have to do more research as to what it entails

Reply 8

Rida2004$

8

Original post by m31adam

I have an intense passion for Economics and would love to take it as a degree but the career prospects seem to delve in Interest (which is haram/forbidden in Islam).
Is there any jobs globally available that do not focus on the financial side, but can also earn me a decent wage?
I know consultancy is an option, but is it actually a widely available job in firms (?) and not a niche career which is hard to get.

Hi, I am a second year economics student do you have any halal job advice for me ?*

Economics as a Muslim

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