Is It Sinful to Use Reddit Because Its Points Are Called “Karma”?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

Reddit calls its reputation points “karma,” though the religious concept of karma is not recognized in Islam.

Is using the app disliked (makruh) or forbidden (haram) because of the name?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

There is no issue. Using Reddit is permissible, and the name of its points system carries no religious weight.

Names Are Judged by Their Intended Meaning

Words take their meaning from convention and usage, not from their origins. Scholars express this in the principle that there is no quibbling over terminology (la mushahhata fi al-istilah): once the intended meaning is sound, the label does not matter.

Reddit’s “karma” is simply a tally of upvotes; neither the platform nor its users intend the doctrine of rebirth and cosmic recompense, and no one using the app is affirming it.

Our own everyday speech is full of words with pagan origins, such as the names of the days and months, and the Sacred Law has never taken issue with their use.

What Islam rejects is the belief itself: that an impersonal system rewards deeds across lifetimes.

Reward and recompense belong to Allah alone, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “Actions are only by intentions.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Your intention in pressing an upvote is to approve a post, and that is all it is.

Practical Guidance

Use the app without hesitation on this account, and let your care go instead to what actually carries weight there: what you read, post, and spend your time on.

And Allah (Most High) knows best.

[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.