Earnings from YouTube and Advertisements
23-9-2026 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum. I run a faceless YouTube channel, “Women’s Care Hub,” about skincare, beauty, women’s wellness and general health. I use AI for scripts, visuals/images and sometimes voiceovers. I want to monetize the channel through YouTube. Is creating and monetizing such AI-assisted content halal? Are these topics permissible? Also, are YouTube ad earnings halal if I cannot fully control the ads? What should I avoid, such as music, images or other content?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, ﷺ is His slave and Messenger.
There is no harm in profiting from producing content about skincare, beauty, women's health, and general health, and using artificial intelligence to write scripts, [generate] images, and [produce] voice-over narration, as the default ruling regarding monetary profits is permissibility.
Ibn Taymiyyah said, as recorded in *Majmu' al-Fatawa*: “By comprehensive examination of the principles of the Sharia, we know that customary practices — that is, what people are accustomed to do in their worldly affairs, from things they need — the default regarding them is that nothing is prohibited, so nothing of it is forbidden except what Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has forbidden... Otherwise we would fall into the meaning of His statement (which means): {Have you seen that which Allah has sent down for you as a provision, of which you have made some lawful and some unlawful?'}” [End of quote]
However, one must avoid the Sharia-prohibited elements within the content, such as music, or displaying real images of women — if the content will be viewed by men.
As for a person uploading permissible content to YouTube in order to benefit from the advertisements that appear to viewers of their content: there is no harm in this, provided the advertisements are for what is permissible.
Similarly, it does not cause harm that an advertisement for a permissible product may be accompanied by an image containing immodest dressing or music, due to the difficulty of avoiding such things and their widespread, unavoidable occurrence; and because the images and music are not the intended purpose of the advertisement. The viewer is responsible for lowering his gaze and muting the sound with regard to what is not permissible.
However, if in the case that some of the advertisements are for something forbidden — such as advertisements promoting alcohol, riba (usury/interest), or gambling, for example — then the money earned from that is impure and forbidden.
Hence, if a person knows the amount [of such earnings], he should dispose of it by giving it to the poor and needy. However, if he does not know the amount, he should make his best effort to give away what he reasonably believes clears his liability from that portion of the earnings acquired from such [impermissible] sources.
Allah Knows best.