Working in an alcohol factory
Question

                An inquirer from Gambia is asking, what is the ruling on a Muslim who sells alcohol or drugs, can we call him a Muslim or not? What is the ruling on a Muslim who works in an alcohol factory, does he have to give up his job if he cannot find any other job?
Praise be to Allah.Selling alcohol and other 
          intoxicants is a grave evil, and working in alcohol factories is haraam 
          and is an evil, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):  
          
“Help you one another in Al Birr and At Taqwa (virtue, 
          righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression”[al-Maa'idah 5:2]   
Undoubtedly selling alcohol, 
          drugs and cigarettes constitutes cooperating in sin and transgression, 
          and working in alcohol factories also constitutes cooperating in sin 
          and transgression. And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):  
          
“O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds 
          of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al Ansaab [stone altars for 
          sacrifices to idols, etc.], and Al Azlaam (arrows for seeking luck or 
          decision) are an abomination of Shaytaan’s (Satan’s) handiwork. So avoid 
          (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful.
Shaytaan (Satan) wants only to excite enmity and 
          hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, 
          and hinder you from the remembrance of Allaah and from As Salaah (the 
          prayer). So, will you not then abstain?”
[al-Maa’idah 5:90]  
It was narrated in a saheeh 
          report that the Messenger of Allaah 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed alcohol, the one 
          who drinks it, the one who pours it, the one who extracts the juice, 
          the one for whom it is extracted, the one who carries it, the one to 
          whom it is carried, the one who sells it, the one who buys it and the 
          one who consumes its price.  
And it was also narrated 
          in a saheeh report that he 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has made a 
          covenant that whoever dies drinking alcohol, He will give him to drink 
          of the mud of khibaal.” He was asked, “O Messenger of Allaah, what is 
          the mud of khibaal?” He said, “The juice of the people of Hell” or “the 
          sweat of the people of Hell.”  
With regard to the ruling, 
          the one who does this is a sinner and an evildoer by so doing; he is 
          lacking in faith and on the Day of Resurrection he will be subject to 
          the will of Allaah. If He wills, He will forgive him and if He wills, 
          He will punish him, if he dies before he repents. This is according 
          to the Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah, because Allaah says (interpretation 
          of the meaning):   
“Verily, Allaah forgives not that partners 
          should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives except that 
          (anything else) to whom He wills”
[al-Nisaa’ 4:48]  
This ruling applies if he 
          does not regard that as being permissible. If he does regard it as being 
          permissible then he is a kaafir by doing so, and if he dies he should 
          not be washed or the funeral (janaazah) prayer offered for him, according 
          to all the scholars, because by doing that he is disbelieving in Allaah 
          and His Messenger 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). 
 The same ruling applies 
          to one who regards as permissible zina (adultery), sodomy, riba (usury) 
          and other things which are unanimously agreed to be haraam, such as 
          disobeying one’s parents, severing ties of kinship or killing a soul 
          unlawfully. 
 But if a person does 
          that or some of that knowing that it is haraam, and knowing that he 
          is disobeying Allaah, then he is not a kaafir; rather he is an evildoer 
          who will be subject to the will of Allaah in the Hereafter if he does 
          not repent before he dies, as stated above concerning the ruling on 
          one who drinks alcohol. And Allaah is the Source of strength.