Bangkok,,Thailand-,10th,August,2019,:,Hands,Of,Islamic,Woman

Can I Start a YouTube Channel as a Female Muslim?


Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

 As a Muslimah, I would like to start a YouTube channel for my poems and other similar videos (true stories, etc.) and want to know if it is halal. I would like this to be a source of income to work from home and not have to go out for work.

Answer

Assalamu alaykum,

Thank you for your question.

Gray areas

Starting a Youtube channel can be tricky for a Muslimah, and there are many gray areas that you should consider. Naturally, one would have to make sure that nothing haram is involved in your channel, such as being dressed inappropriately, wearing make-up, or playing music in the background.

Profit-sharing

But there are other things to consider, such as profit-sharing from ads that may have questionable content. I have read that one can turn off ads of their choice on their channel. Another option is not to put yourself in your videos, but only your voice, so that the audience can concentrate on the content. Many Youtubers zoom in on their written poetry, storybooks, or even show an Islamic image while speaking in the background.

Modesty

A woman’s identity in Islam is centered around modesty, shyness, and concealment, and this does not preclude her from running a business or serving the ummah. Consider this Prophetic hadith, “There is never any obscenity in a thing, but it mars it, and there is never any modesty in a thing, but it adorns it.” [Ibn Majah]

All things considered

Consider the centrality of modesty for Muslim women, do all of your research on this, explore your options for there are many types of work to do from home, examine your intentions, and of course, pray istikhara.

Istikhara Prayer

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next. 

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad  

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, Tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.