Question:

My question is selling books on Amazon Kindle halal or haram? In Amazon Kindle, we upload our book in PDF, and when a customer buys the book the Amazon Kindle company prints the book that I uploaded on Amazon Kindle in PDF form, and after the sale they give us the book royalty from the total price which book price we selected when we upload the book the Amazon Kindle. The royalty plan is 35% or 70% this is decided by us that what royalty plan we are selecting is either 35% or 70% and this rate is fixed we get on every sale.  If we select 70% royalty then we get 70% price from the total  price of the book and if we select 35% royalty then we get 35% price from the total  price of the book

For example: If we select the price is12$ of the book is according to our selected royalty plan Amazon Kindle will give 3.80$ on every sale. Is this not the fixed profit we are receiving from Amazon on every sale is it halal or haram? When we designed the book it was our 1-time effort after which we listed the book on Amazon Kindle and the book will generate income without any effort and for a  lifetime. Is this halal? Is royalty halal in Islam?

The Fatwa

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

The Answer

The Fiqh of the Answer

In Shari’ah, intellectual property and intangible rights are classified as Ḥuqūq (rights). Historically, these rights were not permitted for trade, as they were not considered transferable properties according to the Hanafi jurists. Since rights could not be independently transferred and retained by the counterparty, they did not qualify as Māl (valid property) for sale, as per Shari’ah, which necessitates the exchange of two properties.

However, with the progression of society, the concept of rights and their trade emerged. Certain rights became recognised as transferrable goods, supported by a growing social understanding and acknowledgment of their existence and utility. This recognition was upheld by social convention (ʿUrf), to the extent that individuals could assert and seek these rights in legal proceedings, with courts recognising and enforcing them. The ability to record these rights in official registers provided a means for their storage and retrieval, further solidifying their status as valid properties.

Contemporary scholars like Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani and others argue that since many of these rights are documented and stored in legal registries, they possess legal existence akin to legal persons. Their presence in such registers establishes a permanent and fixed existence. The financial industry also acknowledges the existence and value of such intangible assets. Consequently, trading and selling these intangibles are deemed permissible.

The AAOIFI Shariah Standards also recognises the permissibility of intangible rights. The Shariah Standard No.42 on Financial Rights states:

“3/3/2 Types of rights to intangible assets: Rights to intangible assets are of many kinds, including rights to trade name, trading addresses, trademarks, commercial licenses; intellectual property, technical and industrial know-how, patents and copyrights.

 3/3/3 Rules governing rights to intangible assets:

 3/3/3/1 Rights to trade names, trading addresses, trademarks, copyrights, inventions and patents are the rights of their respective owners. These possess recognised monetary value in contemporary business and commercial custom. Since these rights are recognised and protected by the Shari’ah, it is not permissible to violate them.

 3/3/3/2 Since rights to intangible assets are recognised as financial rights, it is permissible to dispose of or transfer them for consideration provided that such transactions are free of Gharar (ambiguity), deception and fraud.”

The rationale behind allowing a person to gain from intellectual property is that these rights remain attached even when the sale item is sold and transferred to others. Since the owner of these rights has rights attached to the sale item no matter where the sale item is and who it is owned by, the seller still has a connection to the sale item. It is that connection which opens the door for the seller to gain from transactions.

The UK Government website mentions:

Copyright protects your work and stops others from using it without your permission.

You get copyright protection automatically – you don’t have to apply or pay a fee. There isn’t a register of copyright works in the UK.

You automatically get copyright protection when you create:

• original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, including illustration and photography
• original non-literary written work, such as software, web content and databases
• sound and music recordings
• film and television recordings
• broadcasts
• the layout of published editions of written, dramatic and musical works

You can mark your work with the copyright symbol (©), your name and the year of creation. Whether you mark the work or not doesn’t affect the level of protection you have.

Therefore, according to the principles discussed, if someone has authored a book and still holds some form of intellectual property rights to it, they are permitted to receive royalty earnings from platforms like Amazon Kindle.

And Almighty Allah Alone Knows Best

Maulana Inaamul Hasan Chothia
Trainee Mufti

Reviewed and approved by
Mufti Faraz Adam

Darul Iftaa Muadh ibn Jabal
www.darulfiqh.com

DISCLAIMER:

The views and opinions expressed in this answer belong only to the author and do not in any way represent or reflect the views of any institutions to which he may be affiliated.

Arguments and ideas propounded in this answer are based on the juristic interpretations and reasoning of the author. Given that contemporary issues and interpretations of contemporary issues are subjective in nature, another Mufti may reach different conclusions to the one expressed by the author. Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure total accuracy and soundness from a Shari’ah perspective, the author is open to any correction or juristic guidance. On the event of any juristic shortcomings, the author will retract any or all of the conclusions expressed within this answer.

The Shari’ah ruling given herein is based specifically on the scenario in question.  The author bears no responsibility towards any party that acts or does not act on this answer and is exempted from any and all forms of loss or damage.  This answer may not be used as evidence in any court of law without prior written consent from the author.  Consideration is only given and is restricted to the specific links provided, the author does not endorse nor approve of any other content the website may contain.

(المادَّةُ ٢١٦) يَصِحُّ بَيْعُ حَقِّ المُرُورِ وحَقِّ الشُّرْبِ والمَسِيلِ تَبَعًا لِلْأرْضِ والماءِ تَبَعًا لِقَنَواتِهِ. (مجلة الأحكام)

تَوْضِيحُ القُيُودِ – قِيلَ فِي المادَّةِ (تَبَعًا لِلْأرْضِ) لِأنَّهُ إذا بِيعَ حَقُّ المُرُورِ مُسْتَقِلًّا فالبَيْعُ غَيْرُ جائِزٍ عَلى رِوايَةٍ؛ لِأنَّ هَذِهِ الحُقُوقَ هِيَ مِن الحُقُوقِ المُجَرَّدَةِ ولِذَلِكَعِبارَةُ (تَبَعًا لِلْأرْضِ) قَيْدٌ احْتِرازِيٌّ عَلى هَذِهِ الرِّوايَةِ وعَلى رِوايَةٍ أُخْرى بَيْعُ حَقِّ المُرُورِ مُسْتَقِلًّا جائِزٌ وهَذِهِ الرِّوايَةُ أحْرَزَتْ قَبُولَ عامَّةِ المَشايِخ  (درر الحكام شرح مجلة الأحكام)

https://www.gov.uk/copyright#:~:text=You%20get%20copyright%20protection%20automatically,work%2C%20including%20illustration%20and%20photography