Ruling on working on a core program through which images are generated
8-10-2023 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalamu alaykum, I work as a software engineer for an AI company that provides text-to-image solutions where you write any text and it'll create an image for you. The solution is available to general public so anyone can use it and can generate whatever they want and they even have special models for generating cartoons and faces. They have implemented some filters in software to filter out nudity but users can generate images of humans and animals. I don't work directly on the core program that creates these images but I assist them by creating mobile applications, websites and other software where they use that core software. I just wanted to ask is my income halal? and is it permissible to work in these kind of companies?
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 
is His slave and Messenger.
As long as you do not design that core program through which images are generated, there is no problem regarding the permissibility of your work. Working on the core program through which images are generated, if the user of the program is the one who controls the generation of images, and the images it generates can be permissible or forbidden, then there is nothing wrong with developing the core program, and it is the buyer or the person using it who commits a sin in case he uses it in forbidden ways, like everything else that can be used in permissible and forbidden ways. It is not forbidden to sell it except to someone whom you know that he will use it for forbidden purposes. The prohibition from helping in what is forbidden applies upon certainty or the person will most probably use it for an unlawful purpose. But, if there is doubt about its condition or fear of using it for an unlawful purpose, then it does not necessitate its prohibition. The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Jurisprudence states about selling juice to someone who takes it as alcohol:
The majority of scholars stipulated that, to consider it forbidden, the seller must be certain of the buyer’s intention to make wine from the juice. It is not disliked if he has no knowledge about it, and there is no disagreement regarding this. If the seller does not know about the condition of the buyer, or the buyer is someone who makes vinegar and wine together, or the seller doubts his state, or has an illusion, then:
The majority of scholars' view is that it is permissible, as the Hanafis and Hanbalis have stated.
The Shafi’i School of Fiqh (Jurisprudence) holds that selling is disliked in the event of doubt or illusion.
Allah knows best.