Search In Fatwa

His family uses his Internet connection for unlawful purposes

Question

I initially ordered a phone line with an internet connection, but I don’t remember what my intention behind it was(was it completely bad or there was some good in it too)…now I hope that I will not return to those internet sins…but the problem which I am facing now is that the internet connection is used by my brothers and sisters and other family members(they also use it for haram purposes i.e.,watching indian dramas which include shirk) and I do not want to have any share in it;but the problem is that the phone line and internet connection are on my name and I want to know that will I be a partner in their sin(shirk)?...(I am really worried about what the Qur’an says that Allah will not forgive a mushrik)…Recently I thought of a solution that I will transfer the ownership of the phone line and the internet connection to other member(s) of the house so that I will be free of this sin but the procedure of transfer seems difficult and I will probably receive opposition from my family and they may say that I will go mad…I am confused about what to do?...I asked a similar question before but I got links to other similar fatwas in return, but this time I want to know what steps I should take and in what order? ....also I want to ask if the internet connection becomes transferred on their name and I get them a discount will I be helping them in sin(as how I see it the internet connection will remain there wether the fees for it is high or low but by getting them a discount will save some money!)…the internet in my house is also used for study purposes and I am a medical student so I need it, and my sister is doing bachelors in computer sciences and she needs it too

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 ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

First of all, may Allaah reward you for being careful not to commit any act of disobedience to Allaah. Fearing Allaah is a characteristic of the believers. Allaah says (what means): {Those who fear their Lord without seeing Him, while they are afraid of the Hour.}[Quran 21:49] So you should always endeavour to be so and ask Allaah for help and guidance.

If you had got the Internet connection while you had intended something evil with it, or if your intention was good and then you disobeyed your Lord afterwards, or if you were the cause for your family committing sins with it, then you must repent, as the one who helps another person to sin is an associate with him in sin. Allaah says (what means): {And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allaah; indeed, Allaah is severe in penalty.}[Quran 5:2]

Note that a Muslim does not commit Shirk (associating partners with Allaah) just by watching movies that contain Shirk matters, but one commits a sin by doing so.

As regards the steps that you may undertake in this regard, you may do the following:

Firstly: you should try to convince your family in a gentle manner not to use the Internet in matters that involve disobedience to Allaah. If they insist to use it that way, then threaten them to totally cut their Internet connection hoping that they would be deterred.

Secondly: If they do not stop doing so, then you may put a password for using the Internet in a way that no one may have access to it except in your presence, and you should endeavor to prevent them from using it in any religious prohibitions.

Thirdly: If keeping the Internet would definitely lead to them using it in what is forbidden, then it becomes an obligation upon you to completely stop this service [Internet] and not transfer it into another person's name because this is also helping them in sin, if you predominantly think that they would use it in sin. In this case, you should look for another means through which you can get the information that you need for your studies. The same applies to your sister who might need the Internet for her studies.

Finally, it should be mentioned that it is not permissible to be courteous to anyone in what causes the wrath of Allaah. ‘Aa’ishah  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  her narrated that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “Whoever seeks Allaah's pleasure at the expense of people’s displeasure, will win Allaah's pleasure and Allaah will cause the people to be pleased with him. And whoever seeks to please the people at the expense of Allaah's displeasure, will win the displeasure of Allaah and Allaah will cause the people to be displeased with him." [Ibn Hibbaan]

Allaah Knows best.

Related Fatwa