To what extent one is sinful for using pirated software

17-6-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaikum. I know that using and downloading pirated softare is haram, but there is one question that concerns me. For example, I have a pirated version of Microsoft Windows on my PC, so I have the following question: do I incur sin every time I turn on my computer and if, for example, I use it five hours a day, am I sinning all this time? And does everything I do on my PC become haram, or did I only incur a sin for having downloaded it? I could not find the answer anywhere about whether one incurs a sin every time he uses it or just when he downloads it, so please answer me. May Allaah reward you!

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

According to the predominant opinion in this regard, it is absolutely impermissible to use pirated software,. The Council of the Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), in its fifth session in Kuwait, stated, "Copyrights belong to their holders and have, in contemporary times, financial value that can be traded. These rights are recognized by the sharee'ah, and it is impermissible to violate them." [Excerpted with slight modification]

However, some scholars held that it is permissible to use pirated software for personal use only, and not for commercial use, as we explained in fatwa 132937.

Based on this view, the person who uses pirated software for personal use does not bear a sin. Nevertheless, according to the view that using them is absolutely forbidden, which is the view adopted by Islamweb, then the user bears sin every time he uses the software.

Allaah knows best.