Am I Accountable for Clients’ Social Media Immodesty?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

As a Muslim copywriter, can I work with clients who sell halal digital products but post immodest photos on their personal social media? I only write for their business pages and avoid linking to or using any immodest content.

Would this still be considered sinful, and does it affect the permissibility of my income?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

It would be permissible to work as a copywriter with clients who sell halal digital products, despite them posting immodest photos on their social media posts.

In your case, you are not the person directly engaged in adding the haram content to their social media.  Instead, they are or a third party is. Thus, your work as a copywriter is permitted in itself, and your income is valid.

Degrees of Assisting Another in Sin

In the Hanafi School, this has levels:

• It is haram to do that which is a direct cause for sin;
• It is disliked doing that which is an indirect cause for sin;
• It is better to avoid that which could be a cause for sin. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Zayla‘i, Tabyin al-Haqa’iq; Nahlawi, Durar al-Mubaha; ‘Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu’]

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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.