Downloading And Using Pirated Materials

23-2-2020 | IslamWeb

Question:

He used to download and use pirated things. Some of them were halal (e.g. Microsoft office, photoshop etc.) and some were haram(e.g. movies

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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.

It is incumbent on you to repent to Allah, The Exalted, of the prohibitions you committed in the past and refrain from downloading such (pirated) programs without the permission of their owners, even if they are lawful and beneficial.

Some scholars, however, are of the view that it is permissible to copy beneficial (copyrighted) programs for personal benefit only, without using them as means of earning profits or trading.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said about copying CDs: “In my view, if a person copies them for his own personal use, there is no harm in that. However, if he copies them for trade purposes, this is not permissible since it involves causing harm to others.” [End of quote]

As for the prohibited movies like those featuring violations of the Sharee‘ah, deviant ideas, beautification of unlawful sexual relations, and the like, it is absolutely impermissible to download or watch such movies, even if it is done with the permission of their owner.

Allah knows best.