Network marketing

20-9-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

Please give us your opinion about Network Marketing is it Halal or Haram?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. There is nothing objectionable in working in shopping and marketing through the Internet in itself unless something Haram (unlawful from the Islamic point of view) is involved. The Internet owner in this case acts as a broker or commissioner who facilitates the sale process between the seller and the buyer in return for a certain fee to be taken from one or two of the parties, or whatever way agreed upon. As for the condition that the company sets for the broker to buy some of its products which it sells regardless of whether he needs them or not, but just to grant him membership in the marketing, then its prohibited since it involves gambling, which is something Islamically agreed upon as Haram (unlawful). The broker, in this case, may profit or lose, depending on the number of the conscriptions (buyers) he collects. If he collects enough buyers, he will profit, but if he fails to collect enough buyers he will lose what he paid. Muslim jurists ruled that such kind of dealing that involves the element of chance in loss or profit is gambling. For this reason a Muslim must not work in such companies since its business is based on gambling. To deal with this kind of companies is, from an Islamic perspective, encouraging evil and sin. [See Qur'an, Surah 5, verse: 2] Allah knows best.