Is earning money from electronic games considered permissible, even though the developing companies prohibit selling accounts to other players?
The Mufti answers the questioner according to their query, and the Mufti, like a judge, rules based on what he hears. The fatwas issued by the website regarding games and trading them were based on what the questioners mentioned. The issue of the game-owning company prohibiting the sale of an account within it involves a detailed explanation, depending on whether the company sold the account and stipulated its non-resale, or if it did not sell it but merely enabled the player to play, thus permitting them to utilize it. The difference between owning usufruct and merely owning the right to benefit is: granting the right to benefit (tamleek al-intifaa') means that only the individual themselves can directly use it, whereas owning usufruct (tamleek al-manfaa') is more general and comprehensive, allowing the individual to use it themselves and enable others to benefit from it, with or without compensation. Therefore, accounts in those games are considered a form of usufruct (manaafi'), and selling them is a form of ijarah (leasing/renting).
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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