What is the ruling on working with a network marketing company that has free entry, sells a healthy juice package, and generates earnings through various methods including: direct sales (50 riyals per sale), a binary system (300 riyals upon achieving 600 points in each leg), ranks (prizes like a car upon achieving a certain number of steps), and a generational plan (5% of the income of members in the binary system for the leader), in addition to the possibility of free subscription to a Mobily package with monthly service fees, and access to a hotel reservation service, knowing that the company places a portion of the profits from selling each juice package into a financial pool from which commissions are distributed, and pays 300 riyals for each achieved step weekly, with a different system for steps exceeding five steps?
The aforementioned system is fraught with many Shariah-prohibited elements, including: the merchandise is often not the primary intention, but rather the buyer's aim is to participate in the system and what he hopes to gain in rewards and commissions, which leads to prohibited gambling. Furthermore, making the participant's commission a percentage of what his team achieves or what he himself achieves involves an unknown ( جهالة ) element in the wage, which invalidates the contract.
It is not permissible to deal with the company according to this system except under three conditions: 1. There are no subscription fees or amounts for upgrading membership and the like. 2. The merchandise is genuinely intended, so the participant buys it out of desire for it at a price equivalent to its value. 3. The participant has a known commission, and it is not permissible to link his commission or part of it to what his team achieves.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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