Question:  Salam, I need to ask a question where my wife insists on doing vlog, posting photos of herself on social media telling that it is productive and will make her earn money in Future. Despite me telling her its haram to earn like this or expose your body. What if she doesnt listen to me? what is the way forward on it, I dislike what she wants to do and fights argues with me on this. Any hadith or ruling on this?

    _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer

Vlogging or any kind of exposure on the internet means she would have to compromise her hijaab. Not observing hijaab for women is haraam and not permissible in any way. So, when the foundation of an action is based upon haraam, any income or earning through that will also be haraam and illegitimate.

Allah almighty has clearly prohibited the women, Surah Nur 24:31, from displaying their beauty in front of the stranger men. Not Covering themselves from stranger men is a major sin, and refraining from that is fardh.

If husbands or other men of the house don’t stop them, they will also be a party to the sin committed by the women, as mentioned by Hadeeth Shareef.

عن عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول يكون في آخر أمتي رجال……. نساؤهم كاسيات عاريات على رؤوسهن كأسنمة البخت العجاف العنوهن فإنهن ملعونات

Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (radiyallahu ‘anhuma) reported that he heard Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) say: “In the latter days of my ummah, there will emerge men ….their women, though clothed, will be unclothed [in essence], their heads resembling the humps of lean camels. Curse them, for they are cursed…”

(Musnad Ahmad, vol. 2 pg. 223, Hadith: 7083.)

Also, that the men are meant to be the guardians for their household, and will be questioned about their actions.

وعن ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏ ‏ ‏ كلكم راعٍ، وكلكم مسئول عن رعيته، والأمير راعٍ، والرجل راعٍ على أهل بيته؛ والمرأة راعية على بيت زوجها وولده، فكلكم راعٍ، وكلكم مسؤول عن رعيته‏ ‏(‏‏(‏متفق عليه‏)‏‏)

Ibn ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “All of you are guardians and are responsible for your subjects. The ruler is a guardian of his subjects, the man is a guardian of his family, the woman is a guardian and is responsible for her husband’s house and his offspring; and so all of you are guardians and are responsible for your subjects.”

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Additionally, obedience of husband, as long as he is not telling her to do anything against the religion, is also fardh upon her.  It is mentioned in Fatawa Radhawiyyah, that if a woman will not listen to her husband, she will deserve the wrath of Allah. As long as the husband is displeased with her, no prayer of hers will be accepted, and Allah’s angels will curse her. (Fatawa Radhawiyyah, 2/217)

It is mentioned in Hadeeth shareef:

If a woman leaves the house without a Sharaee need and the husband doesn’t like it, until she returns, she will be cursed by every angel of the heavens and everything she passes by, except the humans and jins.

Similarly, showing herself off to strangers to attract them will earn her the wrath  of Allah, as mentioned in Hadith Shareef.

عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم صنفان من أهل النار لم أرهما قوم معهم سياط كأذناب البقر يضربون بها الناس نساء كاسيات عاريات مميلات مائلات رؤوسهن كأسنمة البخت المائلة لا يدخلن الجنة ولا يجدن ريحها وإن ريحها ليوجد من مسيرة كذا وكذا، رواه مسلم وغيره

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “There are two types of people who will be punished in Hell and whom I have not seen: men having whips like the tails of cows, and they will be beating people with them, and, women who will be dressed but appear to be naked, inviting to evil; and they themselves will be inclined to it. Their heads will appear like the humps of the Bactrian camel, inclined to one side. They will not enter Jannah and they will not smell its fragrance, which is perceptible from such and such a distance.” (Riyad As Saliheen 1633)

Thus, it is of utmost importance that women remain inside their house unless necessary. If they show off their beauty and attract other men with that, they will be kept away from Jannah, or the mercy of Allah. This is equivalent to the curse of Allah.

As far as the earning from YouTube or other such platforms is concerned, the revenue comes from the ads they show on your videos. Majority of the ads shown will be non-Islamic and any earning from them will be not halal.  Showing ads means promoting the business. If the thing being promoted isn’t halal, then the earning through that will not be halal. If, however, the content of the videos created by one are completely in line with Sharia, and they haven’t allowed the platform to show ads on the videos, and all revenue comes solely from the views of the video itself, then it will be considered permissible.

واللہ تعالیٰ  ورسولہ الکریم ﷺ اعلم بالصواب

Written by:  Mufti Syed Siraj Ul Arifeen Shah

St. Ives (Cambridgeshire, UK)

27/08/2024 07:05,  22 Safar, 1446 Hijri