Removing Prohibitions in Internet Forums
Fatwa No: 372931

Question

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakat ya sheikh, I had a question about some actions a Muslim is doing and want to know if they are rewarded.There is a forum on the internet where believers and disbelievers mix to ask questions, in that forum is a section for the Muslims where the disbelievers are allowed to ask questions to seek knowledge, as well as Muslims. There are no Islamic scholars in this area, and it is not really moderated by the website. This Muslim however obtained the ability, Alhamdullilah, to moderate the Muslim section. he has the ability to remove questions and also to insert questions from other sections into the Muslim section. Some disbelievers also have the ability to moderate the section and move questions.So this Muslim brings in Islamic questions or questions asked by Muslims that are put in other sections to the Muslim section so that they will receive answers from Muslims and not disbelievers. He also removes questions from the Muslim section asked by disbelievers who ask hateful questions, who ask without lending an ear just to make people doubt, spam questions, and people who block him. The reason why is because he is blocked by either kafirs or laymen Muslims who are trying to spread kufr with these questions and they are stopping him from giving an Islamic answer from the Islamic scholars that he learned from. Sometimes these disbelievers would move out Islamic questions from this section, and the Muslim will move it back and htey keep doing this for hours, so he is worried he is wasting time, but he says he does dhikr the entire time and avoids listening to music the best he can.So my question is, will all this be rewarded or is he wasting time? Also is this Muslim doing the right thing in this section by regulating it (and he does this for free, he doesn't get paid). Jazakallah Khayran. wa salam.

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 hoped that the person to whom you referred will be rewarded for his deed if he does so seeking the reward of Allah. Indeed, removing things that contradict the Sharee’ah in that forum on the internet is included in changing evil. Allah Says (what means):

·    {…and will never deprive you of [the reward of] your deeds.} [Quran 47:35] Meaning, He will not decrease your reward by anything.

·    {And whatever good they do - never will it be removed from them. And Allah is Knowing of the righteous.} [Quran 3:115] Meaning, He will profusely reward them for whatever good they do and it will not be lost with Allah.

·    {And if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything.} [Quran 49:14] Meaning, He will not decrease your reward by anything.

·    {…and We will not deprive them of anything of their deeds.} [Quran 52:21]

What is important is that he should not be preoccupied with tracing these prohibitions and removing them to the extent that he neglects the obligatory acts of worship, such as the five daily prayers, or falls short in fulfilling the obligation of spending on those whom he is obliged to support, and other obligations. He should allocate a particular time of the day to follow up with that forum so that he will give everything its proper due.

Allah knows best.

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