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Is it permissible to accept a Referral bonus?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Fatwa-TT.com
Question:

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu,

Few months back i moved to USA for my Studies. My questions are –

  1. Regarding Credit Card referral bonus. If i refer any friend for a credit card, we both would receive a 50$ referral bonus from Credit card provider. Can i accept that bonus amount? I wan’t to clarify whether this involves any kind of interest money given as bonus.
  2. Similarly for various other services there is a “Refer a friend” bonus like for electricity, internet, Calling Cards, etc., Can we accept that referral amounts or is it better to avoid it? 

Jazakallahyu Khayran

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Referral bonus is a bonus specifically set up for current users who successfully refer a friend to sign up to that particular service/company. Whenever a friend successfully signs up through your referral, your account will be deposited with such a referral bonus.[1]

It is permissible to accept such referral bonuses. The bonus will be categorized as a conditional goodwill (Tabaaru-e-Mashroot) by the company. This type of a conditional goodwill (Tabarru-e-Mashroot) is permissible in Shari’ah[2], as it does not entail any form of Qimaar (gambling) or Riba (interest).

A credit card can be used in a Shari’ah compliant way and it can be used in a non-Shari’ah compliant way by taking an interest loan. If the card holder used the card in a wrong and non-Shari’ah compliant way, the card holder will be responsible for the sin, not the person who made the referral.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Arshad Ali

http://fatwa-tt.com


Trinidad

Checked and Approved by,


Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_referral

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/referral-faq-outside

 

[2] وَيَصِحُّ تَعْلِيقُ هِبَةٍ وَحَوَالَةٍ وَكَفَالَةٍ وَإِبْرَاءٍ عَنْهَا بِمُلَائِمٍ { الدر المختار، ج 5، ص 255، دار الفكر-بيروت }

 

(وَمَا) يَصِحُّ وَ (لَا يَبْطُلُ بِالشَّرْطِ الْفَاسِدِ)…. كَوَهَبْتُكَ هَذِهِ الْمِائَةَ أَوْ تَصَدَّقْت عَلَيْك بِهَا عَلَى أَنْ تَخْدُمَنِي سَنَةً نَهْرٌ، فَتَصِحُّ وَيَبْطُلُ الشَّرْطُ لِأَنَّهُ فَاسِدٌ وَفِي جَامِعِ الْفُصُولَيْنِ: وَيَصِحُّ تَعْلِيقُ الْهِبَةِ بِشَرْطٍ مُلَائِمٍ كَوَهَبْتُكَ عَلَى أَنْ تُعَوِّضَنِي كَذَا، وَلَوْ مُخَالِفًا تَصِحُّ الْهِبَةُ لَا الشَّرْطُ. { رد المحتار على الدر المختار، ج 5، ص 249، دار الفكر-بيروت }

 

رَجُلٌ قَالَ لِآخَرَ : مَنْ أَكَلَ مِنْ مَالِي فَهُوَ فِي حِلٍّ ، الْفَتْوَى عَلَى أَنَّهُ يَحِلُّ ، كَذَا فِي السِّرَاجِيَّةِ { الفتاوى الهندية، ج 5، ص 345} .

 

إذا وضع الرجل مقداراً من السكر، أو عدداً من الدراهم بين قوم، وقال: من شاء أخذ منه شيئاً، أو قال: من أخذ منه شيئاً فهو له، فكل (من أخذ) منه شيئاً يصير ملكاً له، ولا يكون لغيره أن يأخذ ذلك منه؛ لأن هذا بمنزلة الهبة منه { المحيط البرهاني، ج 5، ص 353/354، دار الكتب العلمية، بيروت – لبنان } .

 

احسن الفتاوي، ج 7، ص 259/260، ايج ايم سعيد كمبني

 

جامع الفتاوي، ج 9، ص 223، اداره تاليفات اشرفيه

 

فتاوي دار العلوم زكريا، ج 5، ص 485-496، زمزم ببلشرز

This answer was collected from Fatwa-tt.com, which is operated by the Darul Iftaa of Jaamia Madinatul Uloom (Trinidad and Tobago) under the advice and guidance of Mufti Ebrahim Desai (Daamat Barakaatuhum) of South Africa.

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