Downloading programs from the Internet for free
2-8-2009 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamulaykum,
Can we download,from internet, any software, game, etc. that is available for free on the website but one has to pay its price when downloading from website of the manufacturer?
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.
If these programs are copyrighted, and their developers do not allow downloading them for free, then, it is prohibited to download such programs without their permission. However, there is no harm in downloading them if their owners permit free download.
It is apparent from the question that the owners of these programs prohibit free download of their programs. Consequently, downloading these programs is impermissible even from other websites that offer them for free, because they do not own these programs thus their permission is of no effect.
Finally, whenever it is permissible to download a program, it must be free from the religious prohibitions. For more benefit, refer to Fatwa 86146.