Whats the Islamic ruling regarding free lancing? Whats the haraam and halal sides or it? Specially I wanna about graphic designs, web developments, creative and research writings
Praise
be to Allah
By the grace of Allah, may He be exalted, to all people, and
to the Muslim ummah in particular, He has made what is permissible to them
broad in scope, and has made permissibility the default; He has restricted
the scope of what is prohibited to the narrowest possible, and has made it
rare and exceptional. He, may He be glorified and exalted, says in His wise
Book (interpretation of the meaning):
“Allâh wishes to make clear
(what is lawful and what is unlawful) to you, and to show you the ways of
those before you, and accept your repentance, and Allâh is All-Knower,
All-Wise.
Allâh
wishes to accept your repentance, but those who follow their lusts, wish
that you (believers) should deviate tremendously away (from the Right Path).
Allâh
wishes to lighten (the burden) for you; and man was created weak”
[an-Nisa’ 4:25-27]
“Allâh intends for you ease, and
He does not want to make things difficult for you”
[al-Baqarah 2:185]
“Allâh does not want to place
you in difficulty, but He wants to purify you, and to complete His Favour to
you that you may be thankful”
[al-Maa’idah 5:6].
Imam ash-Shaatibi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The basic principle with regard to interactions, transactions
and customs is that they are permitted, unless there is evidence to the
contrary.
End quote from al-Mawaafaqaat (1/440).
Hence there is nothing wrong with you freelancing in the
fields you mentioned, such as graphic design, creative writing, research and
development, or any other kind of creative, artistic or educational work.
What matters is that you should have a purpose in your work, whether it is
to help people and make life easier for them, or to promote the values of
truth, guidance and justice among them, or to teach them and increase their
awareness of important issues having to do with their religious or worldly
affairs. All of these are good and valid purposes that you can undertake in
the freelance work that you mentioned and other kinds of work. You may rest
assured that if you bear these meanings in mind, the outcome of your work
cannot be anything but good, and you will find that what you produce will
fall into that praiseworthy category, far removed from the few haraam
matters that may be involved in such work, such as designing prohibited
images, stirring up sexual desire, contributing to the spread of vile
practices, selling prohibited things, and so on.
We have previously discussed some of the rulings on design
and writing on our website, in the following answers:
105325, 150564, 174829
and 220161.
And Allah knows best.
