Short answer
You may work there if your own job does not involve alcohol or pork, for example cooking halal dishes or cleaning, though it is better to find a place that does not serve them. Serving, pouring, carrying or selling alcohol is haram, and so is selling, cooking or serving pork.
Pouring, serving or selling alcohol, and preparing, serving or selling pork, is haram. A job in such a restaurant that avoids both is permitted with dislike. Imam Abu Hanifa held that wages for only carrying alcohol for a non-Muslim are not unlawful, but his two students held it makruh, and Hanafi muftis advise against it.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Wages for carrying, serving or delivering alcohol are haram, whoever the customer is; there is no exception for a non-Muslim.
- Maliki
- Wages for carrying, serving or delivering alcohol are haram, whoever the customer is; there is no exception for a non-Muslim.
- Hanbali
- Wages for carrying, serving or delivering alcohol are haram, whoever the customer is; there is no exception for a non-Muslim.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ cursed alcohol and the people around it: the one who drinks it, the one who pours it, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who carries it, the one it is carried to and others in the chain. A Muslim waiter who brings drinks to the table, or a bartender, is in that chain whatever the customer's religion.
Pork is similar. The Prophet ﷺ forbade selling alcohol, dead animals and pork, and said that when Allah forbids a people to eat something, He forbids them its price. Cooking or serving pork for customers means selling it and helping them eat it. If you touch it, wash the spot, since pork is impure (najis).
How muftis usually treat common roles:
- Bartender, wine waiter, or server who brings alcohol: haram.
- Cook who prepares pork dishes: haram.
- Cashier who rings up alcohol: avoid; it is part of selling it.
- Cook who only makes halal dishes, dishwasher, cleaner: permitted with dislike.
- Server who brings food but never alcohol or pork: permitted with dislike, if the employer agrees to that split.
Many employers will accommodate a religious request, so ask to be kept away from alcohol and pork before assuming you must quit. Keep looking for a better job, and see why Muslims do not drink alcohol and why Muslims do not eat pork. For delivery work, see Is being an Uber or delivery driver halal?.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
Alcohol is forbidden, and so is helping others to it.
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:2
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُحِلُّوا۟ شَعَٰٓئِرَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا ٱلشَّهْرَ ٱلْحَرَامَ وَلَا ٱلْهَدْىَ وَلَا ٱلْقَلَٰٓئِدَ وَلَآ ءَآمِّينَ ٱلْبَيْتَ ٱلْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًۭا مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَٰنًۭا ۚ وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَٱصْطَادُوا۟ ۚ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَـَٔانُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ أَن تَعْتَدُوا۟ ۘ وَتَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْبِرِّ وَٱلتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ ﴿٢﴾
O you who have believed, do not violate the rites of Allah or [the sanctity of] the sacred month or [neglect the marking of] the sacrificial animals and garlanding [them] or [violate the safety of] those coming to the Sacred House seeking bounty from their Lord and [His] approval. But when you come out of ihram, then [you may] hunt. And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.
Serving what is haram is helping in sin.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3674
Graded sahih... لعن الله الخمر وشاربها وساقيها وبائعها ومبتاعها ...
"Allah has cursed wine, the one who drinks it, the one who serves it, the one who sells it and the one who buys it."
Serving and selling alcohol fall under the curse.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2236
Sahih... حرم بيع الخمر والميتة والخنزير والأصنام ...
"Allah and His Messenger have forbidden the sale of wine, dead animals, pigs and idols."
Selling pork and alcohol is forbidden.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, on carrying wine for a non-Muslim. Records Abu Hanifa's view and the disagreement of his two students.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha, Fasl fi al-Bay'. What a Muslim may and may not sell or serve.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.