He spoke about the ruling on a tape that says “copyright reserved.”

The Shaykh : But they ignore it, and I do not think they are unaware that the harm has befallen the owner of the tape, for he did not record it without incurring enormous costs, just as is the case with some publishers who print a book in one volume or more; that cost them materials, as they arranged the letters, made copies, and so on, and they published it. Then another person comes and takes that as an easy meal, printing the book without permission from the author or the publisher. This is treachery and betrayal, which is not permissible with a Muslim. And the previous hadith is sufficient for you: This man sold you this tape on the basis that you would not betray him, on the basis that you would not make a copy from it. So whoever did that has betrayed him, and this is not permissible in Islam at all. Therefore, if you have among the Muslims those who are estranged from their homeland and from their Islam, I would perhaps advise them to abandon such thefts.

The questioner : That I do not deal with them, meaning if one of them offers it to me?

The Shaykh : Not at all.

The questioner : That I do not use it.

The Shaykh : You are assisting him in the wrong if you do so, and perhaps you will not do it.

The questioner : I did not do it, meaning I was hesitant about it and scrupulous regarding this matter.

The Shaykh : All right, may Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : May Allah bless you. Now, if the seller himself, I do not say he thinks, but rather he believes that the one who buys the tape and then returns it might make a copy from it, if the seller knows...

The Shaykh : Suspicion is not sufficient in this; suspicion is not sufficient as long as the copy is printed with what I mentioned earlier.