Referral Fees

Question:
What is the ruling on receiving referral fees offered by businesses to their clients as part of their referral’s program?

Answer:

باسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن والاه

May Allah reward you for your question.

In terms of the program in question; then as long as there is no fee to be paid to be a part of the program, and the relationship between the business offering the referral reward fee and the customer acting as the referrer is not one of a lender and borrower from an Islamic Jurisprudence perspective (for example: NOT between a bank and its customers), the referral fee paid to the referrer will be deemed PERMISSIBLE, and the contractual arrangement between the two parties will be equivalent to the Ja’aalah contract discussed in the books of Islamic Jurisprudence, which is considered permissible by the vast majority of the Islamic Jurists (may Allah have mercy upon them).

Regarding the rewards given by the business to the referee for signing up for the referral program, this is also ACCEPTABLE and will be viewed as a gift from one party to the other from the perspective of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh), provided that the two parties do not have a lender-borrower relationship as previously stated.