The Ruling on Satellite Dishes and the Statement of the Scholars Who Permitted It

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, some scholars say that satellite dishes are permissible. Should we declare this an innovation against them, or should we say that this is part of their independent legal reasoning? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
The issue is that when looking at the satellite dish itself, it is made of iron and its wires are manufactured. However, one must look at what it brings and what is used and utilized from it. It brings nothing but evil, and it is used for nothing but obscenity and evil. It brings in satellite channels from all corners of the world that are full of negligence, immorality, fornication, adultery, and theft. If it yields nothing but these fruits, then it is wrong. One does not look to the one who said it is permissible if he ignores these harms; if he ignores them, this caller, may Allah protect us from such, has no standing, and his statement is of no account. If he does not know about them, then he is ignorant. The ignorant is not to be followed; he is not to be followed. Rather, he is ignorant of the obscenities in the satellite dish, and the ignorant is not to be acknowledged. If he knows about them and permits them, he is a heretic, may Allah protect us from such, who makes lawful what Allah has forbidden. Yes.