Islamic sermons become a boon for YouTubers

Md Sohel, a cable TV network operator-cum-YouTuber at Bhangura upazila of Pabna district, owns three YouTube  channels – Sohel Islamic Media, Islamic Waz Pabna and Sohel Fun TV. 

Sohel Fun TV was his first YouTube channel beside his cable TV network business. But the channel could not reach much of an audience due to a lack of creative content. 

Later, in an attempt to build his fortune in digital platforms, he launched Sohel Islamic Media, one of the YouTube  channels popular for Islamic sermons, which has 205 video contents and a total of 1.25 crore views.

At first glance, anyone would think that the channel is owned by Golam Rabbani Juktibadi, a preacher from North Bengal, as most of the content of the channel are essentially his speeches. However, there is actually no relation between the channel and the preacher. 

YouTubers can earn above Tk1 lakh each month  with these sermon videos, going by Google monetisation rules. 

Not only Sohel, a large number of YouTubers nowadays resort to posting Islamic sermons as their hot content to reach a large number of viewers and to earn from the internet.

Insap Video Bogra, New Islamic Tube, Muslim TV are some of the channels that earned popularity with such video content.

Some of these channels have become a platform for humour and jokes for viewers, while most appear to be a valid source of religious teachings.  

Very few channels, however, are owned and maintained by preachers and they don't earn from the digital platform. 

Mizanur Rahman Azhari is the top Islamic speaker of the time, especially to the Bangladeshi youth, for his attractive oratory skills served in a mix of Bangla and English.

Hundreds of his video speeches are available on YouTube which have millions of views, most of which were recorded from his Tafsir mehfils held on site.

Azhari launched his own channel six months back, which has already got 1.69 million subscribers, with only 20 videos.

However, it could not be confirmed whether he earns money from his channel.

Earning from YouTube

YouTubers do not earn money from their channels until reaching a certain point in terms of subscriptions and watch time.

Generally, a channel needs to secure 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in one year to start monetisation.

YouTubers say that they earn $0.50 from each 1,000 views of every content. However, the earning goes up if the content is longer and gets advertisements from Google.  

Earnings of a month are deposited to the Google AdSense account within 12 days of the next month and the YouTuber receives the money into his bank account.

Preachers think earning from YouTube not permissible

Sheikh Ahmadullah is one of the most popular religious speakers in Bangladesh for his informative sermons on digital platforms delivered in simple language.

People who intend to learn about Islamic life can watch his sermons on the As-sunnah Foundation, a YouTube  Channel with more than 1.26 million subscribers.

The channel was launched in 2017 and has uploaded 983 videos since then. Every video has thousands to million views and astounding amounts of watch time.  

The channel could earn huge money capitalising the views and watch hours. However, Media Executive of As-Sunnah Foundation Aziz Ahmed told TBS that they are not earning money from Google AdSense as the preacher Sheikh Ahmadullah thinks such earnings are not halal (permissible).

"As per Sheikh's order we have kept the Google ad option turned off and we did not open an account with Google AdSense for earning money," said Aziz Ahmed.