Is It Permissible to Charge a Commission for Advertising a Product Online?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

This is a follow-up question to my previous one about marketing with the commission. To summarize, can I earn a commission by marketing a product online for someone who lives in a different city, with his consent and agreement? I will add extra money to the price he tells me, and gain profit to earn a commission.

So, my question is, if I make a post and ask my friends to share it on their social media accounts and stories, and maybe their friends share it on their stories, is this type of advertising commission halal?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I hope you are well, amin.

It will be permissible to market products online and share them with others with the owner’s consent, as long the products are not impermissible and you do not use any haram methods in your advertisement.  Hence, any commission you make will be permissible. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

I hope this helps.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete hifz of Quran in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.