As social media and YouTube start to become the primary aspects of most of our lives, we come to see entrepreneurs and businessmen who show off their money and wealth. They drive around in sports cars and show us around their mansions. This would make anyone want to copy them and start earning money like that. However, most of the time, the way they make money isn’t permissible (halal). So, here are some halal business ideas we suggest you could consider to start making some extra income.
5 Benefits of Business in Islam
Requirements for Halal Business Ideas
Generally, when looking to start a ‘halal’ business, you have to keep a few things in mind. The business cannot be involved with alcohol or narcotics of any kind. It cannot be associated with gambling. Interest shouldn’t be a primary source of income for the business. As an encompassing rule, anything which is haraam (impermissible), a business cannot be created and benefitted from it.
Side note – Ask your local scholars and muftis for more information and detail on what is allowed and what isn’t.
- Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a popular side hustle where you promote a certain product or business through your social media, blogs or any other means. Depending on the business, they could pay you for each click or each sale etc which you bring to them. A rating of 3.5 has been given as an existing audience is usually needed to make a decent income. However, once it starts, a snowball effect appears and it becomes pretty much passive.
- Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant is usually a part-time employee who helps run the admin side of a business. Some tasks may include: scheduling meetings, arranging travel, phone calls, and reading/replying to emails. Virtual assistants can work from anywhere remotely and are mostly brought on with a fixed-term contract. A rating of 2 has been given as it’s not very difficult to get started. Companies are always looking for VA’s and as long as you have a good level of English and are well organized then you should find the job fairly easy to do.
- Travel Agency
Running a travel agency can end up being a very lucrative business. This is where people come to you and ask you to organize holiday packages, arrange tours, book flights and more. To keep it halal, you have to make sure you don’t book trips which include alcohol or dancing etc. A rating of 4 has been given as although a lot of money can be made, effort is required up front. There may be costs for opening up a physical shop and other costs. But mainly, marketing costs will be required to bring in customers.
- Blogging
If you are a good writer and have good English then blogging can be a business you can start. The opportunities with blogging are endless and many other business ideas can be incorporated into this, for example, affiliate marketing through promoting products in articles, or sponsorships and advertising. A rating of 3 has been given as although it isn’t very difficult nor complicated, it takes time and effort before articles start to rank on google and you get pageviews. The more pageviews you get, the more ad revenue you bring in.
If you have a website with articles on Islam etc then not only will you get worldly reward in the form of money but you will also be rewarded in the hereafter for all the knowledge you spread and all the actions people did after reading an article of yours.
5 Ways to Increase your wealth with Quran and Sunnah
- YouTube Channel
There are various ways you can utilize YouTube in order to get money from it and make it a business. You need 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time before you can start getting revenue from ads within the platform. Another way to make money is after growing to a decent following, brands will pay you to promote their products. You can sell merchandise and even create your own website to go alongside your channel. This is from those halal business ideas which, if done properly, can bring in hundreds, if not thousands, every single month.
However, at the beginning, you will need to create videos. Edit them and upload them. And after a lot of trial and error, you may find the method which works for you. This isn’t something which you can give up after a few months. A YouTube channel and blogging are definitely long-term investments which can prove to be very fruitful.
- Language Translation
As Muslims, we tend to know more than one language, with English being one of them. There is still a high demand for skilled translators even with technology and AI advancing at such a fast rate.
You can start by listing your services on Fiverr or Upwork, or can even check out how other sellers list their services on the platforms. Once you have developed your skills a little, contact websites and bloggers to see if they would like their content to be translated. This has been given a rating of 2 stars as it is very easy to start, as long as you know English and another language. However, the potential to earn isn’t very much unless you land big deals with websites and content creators.
Quran Verses on Business
Allah says in the Holy Quran:
O believers! When the call to prayer is made on Friday, then proceed ˹diligently˺ to the remembrance of Allah and leave off ˹your˺ business. That is best for you, if only you knew. Once the prayer is over, disperse throughout the land and seek the bounty of Allah. And remember Allah often so you may be successful. [Jumuah: 9-10]
