Asalam alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. I hope you are doing
great. Let's continue our talk on mlm business. As you may have guessed I'm
into network marketing, among other things. So there I was, last Sunday,
thinking about what to do this week, when I got a BBM chat from a sister
telling me to research something. I have found out that there are different
views with regards mlm business and I will share with you what I’ve found out.
May Allah guide us to make the right decision. Amin.
Some scholars are of the view that mlm business is fraudulent and has an
element of gambling;
“……
it is haraam to deal with multilevel marketing schemes (or “pyramid schemes”)
that charge a fee for joining or stipulate that one must buy a certain product
in order to be able to engage in marketing and take commission, because that
involves ambiguity and gambling, and because in this case the item or product
is not what is sought; rather the aim is to join the marketing scheme in hopes
of getting a lot of commission.
The
reason why it is gambling is that the participant pays a joining fee or pays the
price of the product in the hope of being able to attract customers and get
commission, which may or may not happen, hence this is gambling.
With
regard to permissible brokerage or agency services, that does not involve
stipulating a condition that a joining fee must be paid or an item must be
purchased before agreeing to act as a broker or agent. 1
However, other scholars
disagree with the statement above. They concluded that the business is not
haram as long as the following conditions are met:
i.
It is not haram to
pay a joining fee, so long as you receive products worth the same amount at the
time of registration and if the products are not available, a specific date
should be given to fulfill the back order items.
ii.
The transaction
must be documented. Applicable terms and
conditions of the business should be clearly stated leaving no room for
ambiguity, which may be loop holes for deceit.
iii.
The company must
have a clearly stated policy on return of items where applicable and office(s)
and contact address(es) where the officers can be found.
iv.
Products sold to
the public should not be harmful and should be halal 2
As always, God
knows best.
In summary I can
say in deciding a course of action whether in business or life issues always
remember:
1. Leave the doubtful
things.
On the authority Abi Ab’dillahi al-Nu’man ibn Basheer
(ra) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: “That
which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear and between the
two of them are doubtful [or ambiguous] matters about which not many people are
knowledgeable. Thus, he who avoids these doubtful matters certainly clears
himself in regard to his religion and his honor. But he who falls into the
doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful like the shepherd who
pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Verily every king has a
sanctuary and Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibition. In the body there is a
morsel of flesh which, if it be sound, all the body is sound and which, if it
be diseased, all the body is diseased. This part of the body is the heart”.
[Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim]2
I think one of the
worst things you can do to yourself is to copy someone without knowing if the
motivations for their actions are in sync with your own ideals.
2. Always say the truth no matter what you think the recipient's reaction
may be.
My friend and sister who inspired this piece said she wasn’t sure how I
would take the information as I was already in the business (and even
prospected her to join one of my networks). May Allah bless you for your effort
and may He help us all to make the right choices. I have learnt a lot and I’m
still learning.
3. Be open to ideas and always make your own findings before you take a
final decision. No one knows it all and it’s our responsibility to keep
learning and never assume we know it all.
Please join the conversation. I would very much love to your thoughts on
this matter.
I'll be back soon, in sha Allah.
Sources:
2. Phone conversations with Mu’alims
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