Is it Islamically permissible to establish an online network marketing project that relies on paying symbolic annual registration fees, where marketers achieve multiple profits from selling goods or bringing in new companies or recruiting other marketers, while receiving commissions from the website's profits and not from the commissions of those they recruited, with free renewal for those who did not earn the value of their subscription, along with the commitment to sell only permissible (halal) products?
The marketing system mentioned is not permissible because it involves (excessive uncertainty) and qimar (gambling). This is because participants are required to pay annual subscription fees in anticipation of profits from marketing the company. If they succeed in attracting customers, they profit; otherwise, they lose what they subscribed with. To correct this, one could hire brokers for a known fee for a known service, or offer a reward to anyone who brings a specific number of customers, and similar permissible methods that are free from gharar, jahalah (ambiguity), and (gambling). It is not permissible to determine the fee as a portion of the website's profit or based on the number of people who subscribe under the first participant's slot.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 111012
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy