What is the ruling on breaking a television set and buying a replacement for it?

The Shaykh : Write it down, may Allah reward you with good. Turn the page, do you have it with you?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Shaykh : What else? Oh. This man says that he had a television, and when he saw his family turning it on to forbidden things, he broke it. So we tell him: May Allah reward you for breaking this device that was a cause of sin for you and your children, and Allah will replace it for you, by His might and power. The parallel to this is what passed us last night in the story of whom? In the story of Sulayman (peace be upon him), when the horses distracted him from the 'Asr prayer until the sun had set behind the veil, he said: Some of them he perfumes, and some of them he beheads. But Allah the Exalted replaced it for him with what? He subjected the wind for him; He subjected the wind for him to carry his carpet, and he would sit on it with his retinue, and by the permission of Allah the Exalted, the wind would carry him wherever he wished. It would gather, by His command, what? Ease, wherever he struck, meaning wherever he wished and intended. So I say that, if Allah wills, Allah will replace it for him, and by the permission of Allah, if Allah wills, that Allah will guide his family. There is something that can be a substitute for it, which is called... no, I don't know, something they watch, the... the... no, I know something they call a computer, I think. A computer: you put in it what you want. If you put good in it, it is good; if you put evil in it, it is evil. So I say: buy this device, that is enough. Get them things that are engaging, for example, views of the sea, views of rivers, views of the stars, views of animals, and the like. And supplicate to Allah the Exalted that Allah will guide them and restrain them to this. No, no, no, do not hit the television as long as you have left it for the sake of Allah. Anything you leave for the sake of Allah, you must never return to it. For this reason, it is forbidden for the emigrant to return and reside in the land from which he emigrated, and it is forbidden for the one who gives charity to buy back his charity. Everything...

The questioner : No, the Atari does not work on the television.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Brothers, by Allah, I do not know these matters, but the brothers say to buy a computer, and the computer does not bring the television. No power to Allah, it does not restrict us, it does not cut us off.

The Shaykh : Buy a computer, just, men. Okay, that is enough, buy the computer and put in it this large one of the tapes, and we are done. As for your wife, if Allah wills, if you go out, you may be able to bring her back, but as long as she has not watched television, she is not a worry; she will stay with you. Come on.

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.

The Shaykh : There is a paper regarding charity for the People of the House, I put a mark on it, it starts with the first one, did you hear? Did I not give it to you, its owner? No, the first one. Good. I told him to leave the first one, he did not say to leave the first one, okay, bring the answer since they are circulating it.