Is Affiliate Marketing Halal?
As more and more religions, countries, and industries begin adopting affiliate marketing, a lot of questions arise about how ethical the business practice is. While across nearly all of the world affiliate marketing is completely legal and ethical, some parts of the world want to know how halal or haram it is.
Let’s walk through quickly what affiliate marketing is, and then we can discuss whether or not is it completely halal. Affiliate marketing is the practice of selling another businesses products or services in exchange for a commission. You sell this product or service direct to the consumer in hopes that they will enjoy and get results from using them.
Let’s get to the main question at hand now.
Is Affiliate Marketing Halal?
Yes, affiliate marketing is halal as long as the products and services you are promoting are not haram. So long as you promote halal offers as an affiliate marketer, you are performing halal services. As well, it is halal to do affiliate marketing as long as you personally would use the products or services you are offering to any given audience.
You must have belief in what you are selling as an affiliate, and not just sell a product or service just in hopes to receive a commission.
If you were simply selling a product or service to make money, or to get someone else to also sell that product or serviced, that would be a pyramid scheme. And pyramid schemes are haram. While they utilize referral marketing like affiliate marketing does, the structure of the business is different.
What Kinds Of Affiliate Products Are Not Halal
There are many common affiliate marketing products and services that are haram. Be careful promoting any offer as an affiliate and refer to this list to see if they are safe to sell. Here is a list of affiliate offers that you can not promote if you are Islamic or Muslim.
- Forex
- Gambling
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Adult Content
- Forex or Forex related content
Other related products and services may be syubhah (doubtful)
Selling Product And Services You Have Not Used
It is perfectly okay to sell products and services that you have not used. So long as you have full faith in what you’re selling as an affiliate marketer. If you do not believe that they products are of a good quality however, and you’re just selling them because you desire compensation, then this is haram. However, it is okay to receive a profit so long as it is not the only goal.
You should not try to convince any person or community to buy a product or service you wouldn’t use yourself. Doing so would be haram.
Even if you have used a product or service you’re selling but wouldn’t advise others to use it, selling that product or service would also be haram.
Always make sure you affiliate related activities and related actions are halal. It is okay to even sell products and services in a saturated market as long as the market is not haram.
Final Thoughts
Affiliate marketing is a service that is halal. You’ll find that it is permissible in Islam and Muslim practices. However, an affiliate marketer or affiliate program should only offer halal offers to their marketplace or audience. You must believe it brings a true benefit to the end user and be sold on shariah compliant platforms.
Thank you so much for reading through this brief article, you are appreciated very much.
With our kindest regards,
Jon Weberg
Richard Weberg
