In my inbox a few days ago, I came across a curious question – the kind of thing people rarely think about. A dear follower asked whether earning money online (by blogging, etc.) was haram (prohibited by Islam). Since this issue has so many implications, we decided to write a blog post about it, since it not only applies to Muslim fellows, but also to bloggers in general, since it isn’t just about religion, but about blogging ethics.
I would like to make it clear that I do not claim to be a religious scholar. With a little domain knowledge, I will attempt to discuss a few issues that are primarily related to ethics and morality, and not specific to religions. As this post applies to the blogging community as a whole, everyone can benefit from reading it.
Some people worry that their online earnings may not be lawful for them from a religious perspective, since money made online can come from a wide variety of sources, legal or illegal.
‘Haram’ refers to anything that is unlawful, prohibited, whether it is food, clothing, or deeds. Therefore, anything unethical, immoral, or obtained through illicit means is haram.
Is blogging illicit in any way?
There has been a lot of discussion of blogging ethics, but now’s a good time to wrap things up. I want to make one thing clear – earning money online (e.g. through blogging) is not wrong or ‘haram’. It’s how you do it that matters. Here are some examples.
Violations of plagiarism and copyrights
Today, people often ‘autoblog’ content from other blogs. They copy the entire contents of a page, and pass them off as their own. Some might copy content partially, but that’s almost the same thing.
Quoting a source is one thing – but copying it? That’s another story entirely. Without giving credit where it’s due, you’re actually stealing from the originator. The revenue generated by that content and any accompanying traffic is yours – but did you earn it honestly? In all religions, stolen money is considered illicit – and adhering to copyright laws goes a long way in showing respect for the creator.
SEO using black hat methods
Black Hatters might defend their strategies by saying they just want to use their knowledge to find a faster way through, but it’s still unethical. These SEO techniques use loopholes to gain a higher ranking in Google Search results; achieved by over-optimizing, which leads to spammy outputs. This is unfair to honest folks who comply with the regulations while creating good content. It’s like jumping ahead of everyone else in a long and tedious line – although it sounds trivial, the consequences become more serious when we’re talking about high volumes of traffic and revenue.
Scams in publishing
Tricking people into traps with irresistible offers? Sounds like a thrilling tale. Unfortunately, it is an all too common one for unsuspecting readers of many blogs. Take for example the offer of a ‘free iPhone’ to anyone who clicks on it as the 1000,000th visitor. It’s enticing but obviously too good to be true! This scenario often occurs when users search for items to download and then unknowingly install malicious software instead. Sadly, this can lead to cyber attacks and safety breaches.
You defeat the purpose of blogging if you trick your customers into doing business with you. Would you set up a shop in your neighborhood and cheat people out of money? The next time they see you, they’ll make sure to avoid you. Blogging is no different. It’s about socializing and making connections. And you can’t build a reputation for yourself by publishing scams. In addition, it is illegal to steal money from others, as we just discussed.
Content intended for adults
Pornography is banned in Islam and frowned upon in society. If you are running a website that distributes or involves adult content, it ought to be removed immediately! Earning money off such material is prohibited and should be strictly avoided. Even if your own content seems harmless, a third-party ad-network might still serve up objectionable ads. To prevent this from happening, double check that your advertiser isn’t sneakily inserting any explicit images into their advertisements without your knowledge.
The spammer
It may seem weird, but bloggers are the source of most online comment spam. Generating backlinks and amplifying traffic to their blogs is a key goal, since blogging is all about creating social connections. Commenting on other sites helps build an online presence, yet irrelevant posts made only to increase traffic will damage your reputation.
As a matter of fact, leaving irrelevant comments just wastes other people’s time. In addition, such comments can account for illegal backlinks. Even Google doesn’t like such comments.
What do you think?
Is it licit to use these unethical practices to earn money? What other unethical practices can you think of? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
