The image we see on television: do we rule that it is an image, or is it something else?
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The questioner : May the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : One of the brothers, O Shaykh, was talking about television. It is well known, O Shaykh, from your words—and this is what we know—that its ruling depends on what it is used for, but you do not recommend it. That is what I know—perhaps you will correct what I have understood. However, he says: If the television or the device is used for some of the good things, then its original purpose is for good, because means are judged by their ends, according to their ends. But I say, O Shaykh: As for the image that is displayed, whether for good or otherwise, even if it is for good in this matter, is this image, O Shaykh, ruled to be an image or what, may Allah preserve you and bless you?
The Shaykh : Yes, it is an image without doubt, but it is not forbidden. Because if this image is on a video tape, it does not appear on the tape itself, but only on the screen. And if it is live, it is an image of a human being that you watch as if you are watching a person from a distance in the house. Not everything called an image is forbidden. A person stands in front of a mirror and sees an image, and yet we do not say that this image is forbidden. The forbidden images are the fixed images that are fixed by hand, fixed on paper. As for this, it is not fixed. But if a person fears for himself from watching it, as if a woman or a handsome young man appears in the news and a woman fears for herself from him, then she should not look at him; she should listen but not look.
As for his saying that there is good in it, yes, there is good in it and there is evil in it, but at the present time its evil is more than its good. A sensible person should not acquire it for his house, not even for the news, because if he acquires it for the house, he will not restrict himself to the news only; he will inevitably watch news and things other than news.
So my advice to my brothers is to abandon acquiring the television absolutely, whatever the case, especially when this specter that they are threatening us with now, namely live broadcasting, comes, which will allow people to see what the sinful, disbelieving nations have of lewdness, debauchery, and disbelief, and to incite people against their rulers. Those outside will spread everything that is said, even if it contains what creates division between us and our rulers, and they will do it, because they want evil, they want revolutions, and they want unrest, and they do not want safety for these lands. For this reason, it is obligatory for a person to be cautious of this live broadcasting so that people may be safe from its evil.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : One of the brothers, O Shaykh, was talking about television. It is well known, O Shaykh, from your words—and this is what we know—that its ruling depends on what it is used for, but you do not recommend it. That is what I know—perhaps you will correct what I have understood. However, he says: If the television or the device is used for some of the good things, then its original purpose is for good, because means are judged by their ends, according to their ends. But I say, O Shaykh: As for the image that is displayed, whether for good or otherwise, even if it is for good in this matter, is this image, O Shaykh, ruled to be an image or what, may Allah preserve you and bless you?
The Shaykh : Yes, it is an image without doubt, but it is not forbidden. Because if this image is on a video tape, it does not appear on the tape itself, but only on the screen. And if it is live, it is an image of a human being that you watch as if you are watching a person from a distance in the house. Not everything called an image is forbidden. A person stands in front of a mirror and sees an image, and yet we do not say that this image is forbidden. The forbidden images are the fixed images that are fixed by hand, fixed on paper. As for this, it is not fixed. But if a person fears for himself from watching it, as if a woman or a handsome young man appears in the news and a woman fears for herself from him, then she should not look at him; she should listen but not look.
As for his saying that there is good in it, yes, there is good in it and there is evil in it, but at the present time its evil is more than its good. A sensible person should not acquire it for his house, not even for the news, because if he acquires it for the house, he will not restrict himself to the news only; he will inevitably watch news and things other than news.
So my advice to my brothers is to abandon acquiring the television absolutely, whatever the case, especially when this specter that they are threatening us with now, namely live broadcasting, comes, which will allow people to see what the sinful, disbelieving nations have of lewdness, debauchery, and disbelief, and to incite people against their rulers. Those outside will spread everything that is said, even if it contains what creates division between us and our rulers, and they will do it, because they want evil, they want revolutions, and they want unrest, and they do not want safety for these lands. For this reason, it is obligatory for a person to be cautious of this live broadcasting so that people may be safe from its evil.