Fatwa #4733826 July 2025United Kingdom
Selling an Instagram Account
Question
salaam, IG = INSTAGRAM. I’ve been buying & selling IG accounts for years. I find out IG doesn’t allow the buying & selling of accounts & It is against the Terms of Service. All the funds I have is from buying & reselling accounts for over 5 years. I found online: “There are no laws that prohibit the buying & selling of any social media accounts. When a user signs up to IG, the very first clause in the Terms of Use, outlines that the account holder is solely responsible for all activities of his or her account & that by using IG they agree that they will not assign, license, transfer or sell their account, username, followers & account rights to any other person. So when you sign up for IG, you agree to not sell your account but the violation of Terms of Service is not subject to any form of legal violation.
Therefore, even if you go ahead & sell your account, you will not be violating any Government laws to our knowledge.” There is a large marketplace for this & I have 15 accounts. At the time i was unaware, can i sell them for the profit i intended to? I ask local islamic guy & he said “If u have signed up to an agreement when you created the account, then doing something which breaks that agreement wouldn't be permissible.” & also said “sell asap and repent would be the best option.” Do i follow the law or the hypocrite IG rules? many celebrity on IG buy usernames for their accounts & they never had their accounts banned because they are rich & famous. Is islamic guy true?
Answer
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Respected brother/sister in Islam,
We apologise for the belated response.
One of the fundamental teachings of Islam is to be truthful, honest and to fulfil ones promises and undertakings.
Allah ﷻ says in the glorious Quran:
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ [المائدة: 1]
Translation: Oh you who believe, honour the undertakings which you have entered. [Al-Maidah:1]
When Hiraql (Hercules) asked Abu Sufiyaan (who at that time was not yet a Muslim) regarding the teachings of Rasulullah ﷺ, he explained:
وَيَأْمُرُنَا بِالصَّلاَةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ وَالصِّدْقِ وَالعَفَافِ وَالصِّلَةِ [بخاري]
Transaltion: He ﷺ commands us with Salaah and Zakaat and being honest/truthful and remaining chaste and joining ties. [Bukhari] [1]
Accordingly, a Muslim ought to honour his permissible undertakings.
See the following Hadith:
وَالمُسْلِمُونَ عَلَى شُرُوطِهِمْ، إِلَّا شَرْطًا حَرَّمَ حَلَالًا، أَوْ أَحَلَّ حَرَامًا [ترمذي]
Translation: It is incumbent for a believer to honour his undertakings, except one which makes Halaal something which was Haraam (this type of undertaking cannot be honoured), and vice versa. [Tirmizi] [2]
Upon signing up for an Instagram account, it is stated, “…you may not copy, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform, display, or sell any content appearing on or through the Instagram Services.”
Accordingly, you are bound by the undertaking set out by Instagram especially when such conditions are common in the Instagram industry.
The online statement, “There are no laws that prohibit the buying & selling of any social media accounts.” is a general statement.
You have entered into a specific agreement with Instagram not to sell your account. The general online statement does not absolve you from your specific agreement.
The Instagram rules are not hypocritical rules. If there is a violation of the agreement and it has no legal consequence, that does not justify selling Instagram accounts.
Likewise, the practice of celebrities buying/ selling accounts is no justification for dishonouring your undertaking.
We advise that you seek another source of income, and engage in Tawbah until you are able to secure an alternative.
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best
Ebrahim Ibn Ahmed Dadan
Student Darul Iftaa
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
2021-06-10
صحيح البخاري (1/ 8)
7 - حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو اليَمَانِ الحَكَمُ بْنُ نَافِعٍ قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَبَّاسٍ، أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّ أَبَا سُفْيَانَ بْنَ حَرْبٍ أَخْبَرَهُ: أَنَّ هِرَقْلَ أَرْسَلَ إِلَيْهِ فِي رَكْبٍ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ، وَكَانُوا تُجَّارًا بِالشَّأْمِ فِي المُدَّةِ الَّتِي كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَادَّ فِيهَا أَبَا سُفْيَانَ وَكُفَّارَ قُرَيْشٍ، فَأَتَوْهُ وَهُمْ بِإِيلِيَاءَ، فَدَعَاهُمْ فِي مَجْلِسِهِ، وَحَوْلَهُ عُظَمَاءُ الرُّومِ، ثُمَّ دَعَاهُمْ وَدَعَا بِتَرْجُمَانِهِ، فَقَالَ: أَيُّكُمْ أَقْرَبُ نَسَبًا بِهَذَا الرَّجُلِ الَّذِي يَزْعُمُ أَنَّهُ نَبِيٌّ؟ فَقَالَ أَبُو سُفْيَانَ: فَقُلْتُ أَنَا أَقْرَبُهُمْ نَسَبًا، فَقَالَ: أَدْنُوهُ مِنِّي، وَقَرِّبُوا أَصْحَابَهُ فَاجْعَلُوهُمْ عِنْدَ ظَهْرِهِ، ثُمَّ قَالَ لِتَرْجُمَانِهِ: قُلْ لَهُمْ إِنِّي سَائِلٌ هَذَا عَنْ هَذَا الرَّجُلِ، فَإِنْ كَذَبَنِي فَكَذِّبُوهُ. فَوَاللَّهِ لَوْلاَ الحَيَاءُ مِنْ أَنْ يَأْثِرُوا عَلَيَّ كَذِبًا لَكَذَبْتُ عَنْهُ. ثُمَّ كَانَ أَوَّلَ مَا سَأَلَنِي عَنْهُ أَنْ قَالَ: كَيْفَ نَسَبُهُ فِيكُمْ؟ قُلْتُ: هُوَ فِينَا ذُو نَسَبٍ، قَالَ: فَهَلْ قَالَ هَذَا القَوْلَ مِنْكُمْ أَحَدٌ قَطُّ قَبْلَهُ؟ قُلْتُ: لاَ. قَالَ: فَهَلْ كَانَ مِنْ آبَائِهِ مِنْ مَلِكٍ؟ قُلْتُ: لاَ قَالَ: فَأَشْرَافُ النَّاسِ يَتَّبِعُونَهُ أَمْ ضُعَفَاؤُهُمْ؟ فَقُلْتُ بَلْ ضُعَفَاؤُهُمْ. قَالَ: أَيَزِيدُونَ أَمْ يَنْقُصُونَ؟ [ص:9] قُلْتُ: بَلْ يَزِيدُونَ. قَالَ: فَهَلْ يَرْتَدُّ أَحَدٌ مِنْهُمْ سَخْطَةً لِدِينِهِ بَعْدَ أَنْ يَدْخُلَ فِيهِ؟ قُلْتُ: لاَ. قَالَ: فَهَلْ كُنْتُمْ تَتَّهِمُونَهُ بِالكَذِبِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَقُولَ مَا قَالَ؟ قُلْتُ: لاَ. قَالَ: فَهَلْ يَغْدِرُ؟ قُلْتُ: لاَ، وَنَحْنُ مِنْهُ فِي مُدَّةٍ لاَ نَدْرِي مَا هُوَ فَاعِلٌ فِيهَا، قَالَ: وَلَمْ تُمْكِنِّي كَلِمَةٌ أُدْخِلُ فِيهَا شَيْئًا غَيْرُ هَذِهِ الكَلِمَةِ، قَالَ: فَهَلْ قَاتَلْتُمُوهُ؟ قُلْتُ: نَعَمْ. قَالَ: فَكَيْفَ كَانَ قِتَالُكُمْ إِيَّاهُ؟ قُلْتُ: الحَرْبُ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُ سِجَالٌ، يَنَالُ مِنَّا وَنَنَالُ مِنْهُ. قَالَ: مَاذَا يَأْمُرُكُمْ؟ قُلْتُ: يَقُولُ: اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَحْدَهُ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا، وَاتْرُكُوا مَا يَقُولُ آبَاؤُكُمْ، وَيَأْمُرُنَا بِالصَّلاَةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ وَالصِّدْقِ وَالعَفَافِ وَالصِّلَةِ.
سنن الترمذي ت شاكر (3/ 626)
1352 - حَدَّثَنَا الحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ الخَلَّالُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَامِرٍ العَقَدِيُّ [ص:627] قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا كَثِيرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ عَوْفٍ المُزَنِيُّ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَدِّهِ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «الصُّلْحُ جَائِزٌ بَيْنَ المُسْلِمِينَ، إِلَّا صُلْحًا حَرَّمَ حَلَالًا، أَوْ أَحَلَّ حَرَامًا، وَالمُسْلِمُونَ عَلَى شُرُوطِهِمْ، إِلَّا شَرْطًا حَرَّمَ حَلَالًا، أَوْ أَحَلَّ حَرَامًا»: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ
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[حكم الألباني] : صحيح