(1) Images created by AI (Artificial Intelligence) fall under the category of digital photography, therefore, according to a respected section of contemporary scholars, digital photography and photography of those objects is also permissible according to Sharia law. Therefore, taking up such videos/photos or photography as a job is permissible and the income earned from it will be halal. However, this form of permissibility is limited to the screen. If these images of an inanimate object are printed on regular paper, then that image will be considered as a mahram image, which must be avoided in any case.
(2) The jurists have also written that one of the conditions for the permissibility of buying and selling anything is that the seller must own and possess the thing he is selling, both physically and mentally. If he sells something that is not in his possession, the sale will not be valid, but will be considered invalid and null and void. Whereas a person doing a drop shipping business does not have a physical or mental store in which he keeps stock of goods. Therefore, when he sells something to his customer, it is not in his possession at the time of the contract, but after the purchase agreement is made, he purchases it and gives it to the customer. Therefore, the aforementioned matter is not valid according to Sharia law due to the fact that it is a sale of something that is not owned, which is necessary to avoid. However, there may be two cases of its justification: (a) One case may be that the person doing the drop shipping business does not tell his customer at the beginning of the transaction that he is selling this thing to you, but rather says that he is selling this thing to you. I make a contract, thus it is not a sale, but a promise to sell, then he buys the desired item from the wholesaler/shopkeeper and takes physical or moral possession of it himself or through a lawyer in such a way that it comes under the risk and guarantee of the buyer, then he sells it to the buyer and delivers it. (b) Another permissible alternative is that of a lawyer/commission agent, where the person doing the drop shipping business takes an order from the customer and gets the desired item from the wholesaler or shopkeeper and delivers it to the customer or the wholesaler/shopkeeper himself delivers it and this person receives the fixed wage for his labor, in which case the actual seller will be the wholesaler/shopkeeper and the status of the person doing the drop shipping will be that of a lawyer, which is a remunerable labor in Sharia, for which it is permissible to charge a fixed wage.
(Dar Al-Ifta Jamia Banoriya International)
