Can an Affiliate Marketer Market a Product without Researching?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I would like to know if an affiliate marketer can market the product without researching whether it is genuine, a scam, or something.
What if he cannot find any reliable source to confirm genuineness, or if he finds some articles or videos but needs to verify whether the articles/videos are genuine or not (as they may also be affiliate marketers or sponsored by competitors)?
Also, what if he is sure it’s ingenuine?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are well.
Affiliate marketing involves referring a product or service by sharing it on a blog, social media platform, podcast, or website and gets a commission. If the product or service is permissible and halal, in other words, sharia-compliant, it would be allowed to market it.
The scholars of Hadith and jurists (fuqaha) have dealt with the issue of brokerage (samsara) and taking a commission in great detail in their respective works. [Ibn ’Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
Assist in Righteousness, Not in Sin
Before starting to work as an affiliate marketer, one must always keep the following verse in mind. “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.” [Quran, 5:2]
Start with Risk-Free
Like with any type of business and investment, one needs to study the platform properly, its pros, and its cons, with other local scholars and finance Muslim professionals for sharia compatibility and finance know-how, then make a decision.
There are three types of affiliate marketing: unattached, related, and involved affiliate marketing. You can start off with the lower end, see how you get on, then move on to the next type.
Bear in Mind
Also, remember that you will have to do your best to avoid promoting non-shariah compliant products.
Sometimes you will have to mention in the description the halal services you think this company or person is good for, simply to avoid people misjudging you and believing you are involved in haram. As many products or services the company or the person might be offering may be haram.
The income is permissible if no haram methods are used to achieve this.
A lot of the time, an automatic video opens up which has music and women, people are unaware, so one will have to take this into consideration and inform them of it.
I advise you to consult local scholars and Muslim finance professionals.
Related:
12 Best Tips: How To Start A Halal Affiliate Marketing
Is Affiliate Marketing Halal Or Haram In Islam? The Honest Truth [Video]
What Are the Principles of Work and Assisting in Sin? [Video]
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the 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 several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught 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 the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
