I am working as I.T Support Officer with in a bank, I have no direct interaction with customer, i work in a secondary office, and only look after ATMs, branch connection to head office, & other I.T related issue & computers. Is my job coming under the definition of haram/interest based job?
All praise be to Allah, and may His blessings and peace be on His last messenger, Muhammad,
Here is part of the declarations of the Fifth Conference of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA) Manama, Bahrain 14 – 17 Dhul-Qadah 1428 | November 24 – 27, 2007:
“VII: Working at interest-based financial institutions
The basic principle on working for interest-based financial institutions is that it is unlawful, due to the curse of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) on the one who devours interest, the one who pays it, the one who writes [the contract] and both witnesses, and his saying, “They are all alike.” However, exigent needs are to be considered, as long as they are judged according to their extent and steps are taken to bring the condition to an end.
Fiqh councils have granted license for anyone who does not find lawful employment to work in places where lawful and prohibited are mixed, as long as one does not deal with prohibited acts directly and that one exerts his every effort to search for another job free of doubtful matters. AMJA does not see anything to prevent this ruling from being applied on employment in interest-based financial institutions. Exemption is therefore granted to work in fields that are not directly related to interest, in writing the contracts, witnessing them or providing any direct or intentional assistance for any of that.”
Based on the above, and according to the majority of scholars, if your work involves direct assistance to the bank in delivering their usurious contracts, then it is not permissible to stay in this job without trying to find a comparable haram-free one. For those more directly involved in those transactions, they may not keep the job, as long as you are able to sustain themselves without it. If your work does not involve direct assistance to the bank in delivering their usurious contracts, then it is permissible to keep it, though it is preferable to find one in an institution whose main business is halal.
Allah knows best.