Internet network chain commission systems : working in internet pyramid-chain commission companies

Fatawa Question

[Question One] : Assalamu Alaikom, I am involved in Quixtar business that I read your Fatwa about in 2003. I understand that many Muslims have questions and many, many Muslim are building it. In this business I do not buy nor sell non-Shari’ah compliant commodities. What I sell is an opportunity to make money and to be successful. When I sponsor someone, I ask him to not buy or sell non-Shari’ah compliant products. My income is dependent on how much business point my group generates, and points are based on the monetary value plus other components, such us the exclusivity of the product. To sum what I am doing I can put it in few bullet points : * I buy, sell, use and market only Halal products. * I generate income from what I sell to my clients, buy from the company, what my group sells or buy, and bonuses and incentives from the company * I discourage anyone in my team and I advice them for the sake of Allah to not buy or sell non-Shari’ah compliant products, Muslim or non Muslims. * We are working toward making some products Halal certified and we have succeeded in doing so with some products * I introduce people to this business and I am selling an opportunity and not Haram products. What people do is up to them but I advice them not to market Haram products because their income and use will be directly resulting from Haram. I generate money from the opportunity I am selling. Could you advice. Azakum Allah Kul Khair. Assalamu Alaikom [Question Two] : I was very happy to read your email back. I ask Allah to enrich your wealth of knowledge. Jazakum Allahu Kul Khair. I would like to show you the plan the way I show it to prospect who are looking to make extra income. If I can have half hour I can show you the plan. I tried to be as detailed as possible to give you an idea about what I am doing. I really appreciate your time and may Allah reward for your Ijtihad. The business that I am building consists of buying, selling, and marketing some companies’ products using word-of-mouth. I buy products and retail them or use them and market them to clients. Every product has a point value (PV) associated to it. If your total purchase, business volume (BV), is $ 250 the company associate to it 100 PV. Your bonus is in direct relation with your PV. Here is the bonus chart : For 100PV business (approximately $ 250 worth of product purchased under your name from the company)-----> you receive 3 % back : 3 % * $ 250 = $ 7,5 For 300 PV ($ 750) -----> 6 % bonus = 6 % * $ 750 = $ 45 bonus. 600 PV-----> 9 % 1000 PV-----> 12 % 1500 PV------> 15 % 2500 PV-------> 18 % 4000 PV--------> 21 % 6000 PV--------> 23 % 7500 PV--------> 25 % You can sign up clients under your ID so that when they buy products the total BV will be added to your own business. The real growth comes by signing up new businesses (people who are interested and looking to start a business and become Independent business owner IBO) under your numbers, without limitation, also any IBO is free to either use the products only, signing clients and selling, or signing up also unlimited number of IBO with him or her. The company looks at your total PV and reward you based on that. As you may have noticed, the 25 % bracket means almost $ 18750 * 25 % = $ 4700. This bonus will be divided between my team based on the volume of the business we created. There is no limit for growth and a down-line can generate more money that his up-line. So it is not that if you come last you will make the least. Regarding the products, our business is mainly on the Internet. We have thousand of products, almost everything but perishable food. Few foods, like meal replacement bars, protein bars, vitamins are made with pork gelatin, some are make with fish gelatin. Also, some breath fresheners have some alcohol. Also this company partnered with big names company to market and distribute their products, such us circuit city, IBM, office max,... Also, they partnered with Omaha steak house which probably sells pork. Now even though my business depends on my personal BV added to my down-line BV, I can not control what they buy, it is their business and they can build it as they may wish, I can not fire them or impose nothing on them, they are Independent Business Owner. All I did is show them what I am doing, advice them on not to buy or sell non-Shari’ah compliant goods and services, and help if they need help : remember my business growth depends on them. On total, a very small portion of the products have gelatin. The company does not sell liquor. With regard to my activities, I buy, sell, promote and market only Halal products. I discourage everyone in my team from buying the products that contain pork gelatin. Also I look for people who want to build this business and sign them up. The products that we buy and promote can be seen at www.quixtar.com [Question Three] : How about the part where people who are in the business who buy non-Shari’ah compliant commodities and I get a bonus from the company for the total purchases they make. Again they are independent in their decisions. I only introduce them to the business. I make commission on the total products I buy (only Halal) added to the total products the other independent business owner buy from the company (may include Haram products). This is the most important point in my question. Secondly, can I share your answer with Muslims in this business ? If you don't mind.

Fatwa

Click hereto view more

Publication Date

2006-09-11

Main Subjects

Economics & Business Administration
Islamic Studies

No. of Pages

4

Data Type

Fatawa

Language

English

Record ID

BIM-788565

• APA
• MLA
• AMA