Is it permissible to use television to spread the call to Allah the Exalted in the lands of disbelief?

The questioner : Is it permissible to use television to spread the call in the lands of disbelief? Not in the Islamic lands, but in the lands of disbelief. We see that the misguided sects and groups have exploited this device and spread their beliefs. This has become, in a sense, a necessity to respond to them and clarify the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community on television. If we limit the call to the mosque, few people frequent the mosque. And you know that in the home, especially in the lands of disbelief, there is more than one device in a single house. These people, especially the Shi'ah, spread their beliefs. In our area, for example, they have a program every day, day after day. Meanwhile, the American government allows anyone who wants to use the device to do so for free, without money. So, is it permissible for a committed person to film himself or find someone to film him, speak, and spread the sound creed, or not?

The Shaykh : No. But why did you make a leap like a gazelle in a place where one should not leap? You jumped from television to the mosque. Is there not another intermediate means by which you can do without television, namely the radio? Just as television enters every home, so does the voice of the radio enter every home. So where is the necessity you claim in your question that the lecturer, preacher, teacher, jurist, or hadith scholar must appear with his person only? I do not deny that the appearance of a person with his voice and his self has an impact on people, but this is not from the category of necessities; rather, it is from the category of desirable extras. If we agree on the prohibition of using television as a general rule, because of the images it contains first, and because it is a device that is predominantly used in ways that do not please Allah Mighty and Majestic, if we agree on this, then we have nothing that justifies us taking this means as a means of calling, teaching, and guidance. The alternative for us exists without any exposure to violating the Shari'ah, and that is the radio. This is my answer to this question.

The questioner : The use of the radio among people there is very little. People do not use the radio, whereas they pay great attention to television. I am speaking to you about the reality as I know it. It is rare that they use the radio. Those who use the radio use it for singing and other things. The radio stations there are many, not like in the Kingdom where there is the Noble Qur'an Radio station where you turn the radio on and hear only the Noble Qur'an. The stations there are very numerous, and it may be difficult to count them due to their number. For example, we have 83 television channels. 83 is also a lot, but they remain limited. They dedicate one channel to religions, with the Jews having specific hours, the Christians having hours, and the Muslims having hours. But those who represent Islam are the Shi'ah. Sometimes we find the Bala'is and sometimes the Qadiyans. But we found that some of the people of the Sunnah spoke on television, but he was an Ash'ari. If he spoke about creed, he spoke about what he believes.

The Shaykh : Okay, I answered you based on a jurisprudential principle, which is that "necessities permit the prohibited." And I said here that there is no necessity because the radio takes the place of television. But I have understood something new from you now, and perhaps I am not mistaken in what I understood.