Many of us have seen the movie “The Devil’s Advocate” which stars famous actors Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino.
In this movie, we can see how a young, ambitious lawyer, who has never lost a case, slowly begins to lose his soul.
Is this also the case with all lawyers and is this occupation wrong in the eyes of religions, especially the Islamic faith that rules the entire lives of its believers?
Many would say that this is not the case and that the world of lawyers is so far from the idea that you can lose your soul if you act according to those rules. On the contrary!
You need your soul to work well it is said by some lawyers who have dedicated their lives to the people and to the process of helping them to achieve success and rights in their lives.
Of course, there are various cases, but lawyers are defending people not the deed.
There is a lawyer’s code that speaks of honesty, honor, and all that is relevant for people to do the professional work of a lawyer.
Now, what many have a problem with is this – how to act, and is it according to the religious beliefs of a certain faith to defend someone you know that person guilty?
It would be immoral for a lawyer to do something to the detriment of his client. That would be immoral behavior.
And the lawyer must provide an adequate defense even in the most difficult cases, and our question here is – what kind of view does the Islamic faith has regarding this issue?
Are people who belong to the Islamic faith have the right to become lawyers and practice right?
Is Being a Lawyer Haram or Halal In Islam?
Having said all of this, it is truly important to see that the Islamic religion in some general sense does not oppose its believers to become lawyers.
And there is nothing wrong in being one, as long as you perform that duty according to Islamic laws.
So it is halal to study law and to engage in the legal profession is an activity permitted by Sharia law.
Why this is the case, when we know that at times being a lawyer may be tricky and in conflict with some beef, not just in Islam, but regarding some common human beliefs?
First of all, we must say that there is not any explicit Shariah proof that this profession is prohibited, and therefore it is seen as a halal profession. Lawyer work is a type of representation of a client in a legal case, providing legal advice, drawing up and certifying contracts, etc., all of which are undoubtedly Sharia-permitted jobs.
If the lawyer acts in such a way that is helping a person to restore some rights that were taken away from him, then this is completely an occupation that is permitted.
But, one thing must take care of – a lawyer by Islamic rules must always conduct himself in a way that he is abiding by Islamic laws.
There are those Islamic schools, that are for some others, actually extremely unreasonable, that claim that all people of the Islamic faith could only work as servants to other people.
They could work in communal work, service activities, agriculture, and crafts, and they cannot work as part of some occupations like this one.
But this is not the opinion of many other Islamic teachers.
And this is not what the majority of Islamic teachers are saying regarding this topic, as Muslim believers should strive to help their community, and being a lawyer is just one piece of this puzzle, as they can assist people who have been wronged.
So, we could say that a specific lawyer’s engagement, as well as other similar jobs, can be a sin if it leads to a prohibited goal, e.g. an attempt to take away, violate or threaten someone’s legitimate right, to knowingly misrepresent or conceal facts, falsify a document, induce a client to testify falsely, etc.
A lawyer is also not permitted to speak any lies, in any deliberate way, when he speaks in the name of others, since this is seen as a major sin for them and it is haram.
In other ways, there is nothing wrong with the person who is acting as a representative for someone who must fight for their rights.
He must base his case on the facts, and he cannot do anything that implies lying, or any perjury.
According to Islamic law, a lawyer must rigorously represent that person, to give some explanation and proof as to the truth of his claim or to guard him, and this is seen as halal.
Is being a lawyer ever haram?
It is, in the case, when a certain conflict implicates some false declaration or speaking on behalf of a person who is wrong, and it makes a certain sin.
This is haram then, and being such a lawyer is not then permissible.
It is known that in the holy Book of all Muslim people, Quaran, Allah has said to its Prophet that a true believer must not ever be a petitioner for the treacherous.
He, as a lawyer, must not perform any lying, and this is particularly the case when a person in question is frail and cannot protect himself or demonstrate his assertion of what is his right.
And in this sense, when you have someone who is stronger than that person then it is allowed to have someone who will fight for your rights when you cannot do it, and when you are too weak or you cannot watch after yourself…
Being a lawyer for someone who is weak, and speaking in the name of that person, so that that person has all rights on his side, and you ensure that that weak person always obtains what is truly and by the law, his or hers is allowed.
But, being a lawyer to someone who is in the iniquity or supporting malfeasance or using faulty evidence, and the associate or voice knows that the case is fundamentally wrong, such as describing a person concerning something haram such as riba, then it is not permitted.
It is not acceptable for a Muslim person to serve as a helper or agent concerning misconception or to act as a lawyer in trades that concern riba because then he is assisting in the taking of riba and so the condemnation involves him.
More about lawyers
What is a lawyer?
Advocacy is the professional practice of law, and it is very relevant that is seen as a profession or a service that is independent and autonomous.
A lawyer is a person who has graduated from such school and who has taken the lawyer’s oath and who practices law following the Law on the Law on Lawyers.
That person must be a member of the joint legal profession that will look into his or her work and will expel it if there is something that is not ethical in his or her work.
Joint legal practice is any form of joint, partnership, or other legal and contractually regulated joint work of lawyers.
Since they are independent they must control each other in the community, and expel anyone who is not obedient to their rules.
Representation is the entire professional activity of a lawyer, including representation in civil and administrative proceedings, defense in criminal, misdemeanor, trade-criminal and disciplinary proceedings, mediation, counseling, and all other types of legal assistance in the realization and protection of freedoms, rights, and interests of citizens and legal entities.
There are many forms of their work, and the basis must be to help people, just like we have said that doctors are doing, in the same way, lawyers must do.
They must be ethical, and always try to restore some taken rights from their clients.
Conclusion
So, as we have said, being a lawyer is permitted according to Islamic practice.
And, as lawyers would say it, just as doctors are saving lives of the people, in the same way, lawyers are helping people and can also save their lives to a certain extent, get them out of trouble, and in the end fight for their rights, and this is truly important.
And what happens when someone who has committed perhaps the most serious crime, in the same way, it is the obligation of the lawyer, regardless of what their private opinion is, to save their lives, to make sure that things are working out, and that that person has its right in front of the world, and if charged that the trial is fair and by the law.
At the end of this story, it all boils down to the Law and the Constitution, which guarantee certain rights to the defendant.
Those rights and the lawyer who defends them are the only things left to a citizen who has committed a criminal offense or has not.
According to the Islamic religion – being a lawyer is halal -when you are a lawyer you are working as someone who is speaking in the name of a person.
But, according to the Islamic religion, a person who performs such work must careful when performing such an occupation.
It must take a look at all that is in that case, before he gets connected to that case.
So, it is allowed for a lawyer to fight for some rights that were taken from his client.
What is not allowed according to the Islamic tradition is for a person to act to take away some rights from a person, then its doing is seen as something very sinful.
Islamic rules are applied to all – and this is moved to everything that is involved in the world of believers, and this also includes laws that are made by the hand of humans, not Allah.
But this does not mean that it is haram to be a lawyer when there is a clear intention to acquire rights and correct any wrongdoing for the person who has been wronged, and who cannot take care of himself.
The individual who has been wronged is driven by the essential to refer to these rules to gain his rights, and in any other way, people would wrong one another with immunity and confusion would surpass humanity.
But if the law offers people more than he is allowed to, then it is not halal for them to take it.
He should only accept what he is permitted to.
If he guides for determination to these laws to achieve his rights and to make sure that anything wrong that happened to him is not there, then there cannot be any sin in lawyers and their pursuit for justice and making things right again.
Instead, the sin drops on the one who substituted Allah’s laws with these regulations and pushed the people to direct to them for appraisal. In some Islamic teaching, there are some words precisely regarding this topic.
It is not advisable for lawyers if they ever feel like they are in some kind of doubt, to stop working and leave their beloved work.
They should opt for working but reading and studying, and to obtain as much knowledge from older workers lawyers, as people, not in Islamic religion but any other, must work hard to help others, and always to advance.
Humanity in general, and also in the Muslim world, all people, especially those who are underprivileged, need dedicated lawyers who will protect them and repair their rights. This is such an important job.
All Muslim people who want to work as lawyers must strive should always be to sustain and support those who have been taken away from their rights, and who are in some problem and cannot deal with it themselves.
Those who do it in such a way will always be at the mercy of Allah Almighty.
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