Ruling on creating a humour application for Facebook
Question

                We have a question about producing an application on Facebook, where people can tell jokes in one of two ways, then others can vote on the contributions by clicking on the words “I like it.”

The aim is to put the name of our company at the bottom of the application, so this is a form of indirect advertising for us. Please note that there is expected to be a great deal of participation on Facebook which means that it will be difficult to moderate the contributions. Will we be held accountable if there is anything that is contrary to sharee‘ah?.
Praise be to Allah.
      Firstly: 
For a Muslim to make his 
    brother happy and joke with him based on what is true is permissible in 
    principle. It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) 
    said: They said: O Messenger of Allah, you joke with us. He said: “I do not 
    say anything but what is true.”
Narrated by 
    at-Tirmidhi; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi. 
Secondly: 
If the jokes and 
    humour that people pass around among themselves are based on what is true, 
    and do not contain any material that is unIslamic, such as mocking the 
    religion and those who follow it, or making fun of specific individuals and 
    mocking them, or promoting immorality and indecency, then there is nothing 
    to say that they are not allowed, on condition that this is not done so much 
    that it distracts the Muslim from that which is more beneficial for him. But 
    if the content includes any of the things mentioned above, it is not 
    permissible to deal with it and transmit it. According to the hadeeth, the 
    Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Woe to the one who 
    speaks and tells lies in order to make the people laugh; woe to him, woe to 
    him.”
Narrated by 
    at-Tirmidhi, 2315; Abu Dawood, 4990. classed as hasan by al-Albaani in 
    Saheeh at-Tirmidhi. 
Allah, may He be 
    glorified and exalted, said (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who 
    believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter 
    are better than the former; nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it 
    may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, 
    nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad is it, to insult ones brother 
    after having Faith (i.e. to call your Muslim brother (a faithful believer) 
    as: "O sinner", or "O wicked", etc.). And whosoever does not repent, then 
    such are indeed Zalimoon (wrong-doers, etc.)”
[al-Hujuraat 
    49:11]. 
Shaykh Ibn Baaz 
    (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked the following question: 
What is the 
    ruling on jokes according to our Islamic religion? Do they come under the 
    heading of idle speech? Please note that they are not making fun of the 
    religion itself. Please advise us, may Allah reward you. 
He replied: 

    There is nothing 
    wrong with humorous speech and telling jokes if it speaks about things that 
    are true, especially if one does not do it too much. The Prophet (blessings 
    and peace of Allah be upon him) used to joke but he never said anything but 
    that which was true. But if the joke involves lying, then it is not 
    permissible because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) 
    said: “Woe to the one who speaks and tell lies to make people laugh; woe to 
    him, woe to him.”
Narrated by Abu 
    Dawood, at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasaa’i with a jayyid isnaad. And Allah is the 
    source of strength. 
Majmoo‘ 
    Fataawa wa Maqaalaat li’sh-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 6/391 
Thirdly: 
Based on the 
    above, if the jokes that will appear on this application conform with these 
    guidelines, there is nothing wrong with making this application. But if 
    there is anything that is contrary to these guidelines or you do not have 
    the ability to check or moderate the jokes that appear on the application, 
    or to publish what is permissible whilst preventing what is not permissible, 
    then in that case we think that you should not do that, lest it involve 
    helping people in sin, or it opens the door to corruption and foul speech. 
If it is possible to make 
    an alternative to this humorous application, such as an educational 
    application that includes useful information and attracts their attention, 
    and it could include some lighthearted from classical books, without it 
    being only for that type of material, then perhaps this would be better and 
    further removed from anything objectionable. 
And Allah knows best.