What is the ruling on one who brings a satellite dish into his home, especially if he has mahram relatives? Is he considered to be exhibiting diyyath (indifference to the honor of his family) or naivety?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you, O honorable Shaykh:
You know, may Allah preserve you, that a great calamity has spread in this age, affecting many homes of the Muslims, and particularly in the most noble places to Allah, in Makkah and al-Madinah. This affliction that many people have been tested with is the device: "the satellite dish". It is not hidden from the masters of knowledge what corruption and deviation, both apparent and hidden, in religion and morals, result from its presence. The question is: Is the one who possesses it considered to be exhibiting diyyath (indifference to the honor of his family), especially if he has mahram relatives in his home?
Or is he considered to be exhibiting naivety and ignorance?
And what is your advice and guidance for these brothers? May Allah guide us and them to the right path, and may Allah bless your knowledge, O honorable Shaykh, and benefit those present and those absent. May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you?
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah. We have spoken about the satellite dish in a gathering like this one, with words that do not need to be repeated in reality, because we do not wish for our gatherings to be spent in repetition. We also spoke about it in one of the recent Friday sermons. Brother Musa has tapes of this type, and you can take them from him. As for what came within the question: Is the presence of a satellite dish considered diyyath (indifference to the honor of his family)?
We have not spoken about this before, but we are answering it now. We say: This is not diyyath (indifference to the honor of his family), because the one who exhibits diyyath is the one who permits a shameful act in his household. If such a person saw a man circling around his house, let alone committing a shameful act in his household, he would fight him. So we cannot say: This is diyyath. But we say: It is a cause of evil and corruption, and this is a known fact. Therefore, I see that it is obligatory for students of knowledge in every place to warn against it and to explain its harms. If one has captured corrupt things, and everyone knows their corruption and harm, let him bring an example, and there is no blame on him. But the obligation is to be careful in transmission and truthful, because some people—may Allah guide us and them—add things that were not there in order to exaggerate in deterring people from it. It is as if they are of the opinion of some scholars who see no harm in narrating weak hadiths regarding the vices of character in order to deter people from them. This is not correct. I say: Being lax in transmission is not correct, because we have in our society those who love to find a flaw in the preachers to criticize them for it. Then this leads to removing trust from what the preachers say. If a person is careful and transmits the least evil or the greatest evil, but it is verified, then he has the right. As for exaggeration that causes people to criticize the preachers, saying, "Please, they say such and such, and it is not in our country, and it is not in our land," or "This is not broadcast on television," or "This is not broadcast by such and such," this creates a flaw. And praise be to Allah, the intention is to guide the creation. Yes, do you have something, you?
The questioner : The Shaykh Yahya.
The Shaykh : No, Shaykh Yahya is one of those who has already received his share.
May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you, O honorable Shaykh:
You know, may Allah preserve you, that a great calamity has spread in this age, affecting many homes of the Muslims, and particularly in the most noble places to Allah, in Makkah and al-Madinah. This affliction that many people have been tested with is the device: "the satellite dish". It is not hidden from the masters of knowledge what corruption and deviation, both apparent and hidden, in religion and morals, result from its presence. The question is: Is the one who possesses it considered to be exhibiting diyyath (indifference to the honor of his family), especially if he has mahram relatives in his home?
Or is he considered to be exhibiting naivety and ignorance?
And what is your advice and guidance for these brothers? May Allah guide us and them to the right path, and may Allah bless your knowledge, O honorable Shaykh, and benefit those present and those absent. May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you?
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah. We have spoken about the satellite dish in a gathering like this one, with words that do not need to be repeated in reality, because we do not wish for our gatherings to be spent in repetition. We also spoke about it in one of the recent Friday sermons. Brother Musa has tapes of this type, and you can take them from him. As for what came within the question: Is the presence of a satellite dish considered diyyath (indifference to the honor of his family)?
We have not spoken about this before, but we are answering it now. We say: This is not diyyath (indifference to the honor of his family), because the one who exhibits diyyath is the one who permits a shameful act in his household. If such a person saw a man circling around his house, let alone committing a shameful act in his household, he would fight him. So we cannot say: This is diyyath. But we say: It is a cause of evil and corruption, and this is a known fact. Therefore, I see that it is obligatory for students of knowledge in every place to warn against it and to explain its harms. If one has captured corrupt things, and everyone knows their corruption and harm, let him bring an example, and there is no blame on him. But the obligation is to be careful in transmission and truthful, because some people—may Allah guide us and them—add things that were not there in order to exaggerate in deterring people from it. It is as if they are of the opinion of some scholars who see no harm in narrating weak hadiths regarding the vices of character in order to deter people from them. This is not correct. I say: Being lax in transmission is not correct, because we have in our society those who love to find a flaw in the preachers to criticize them for it. Then this leads to removing trust from what the preachers say. If a person is careful and transmits the least evil or the greatest evil, but it is verified, then he has the right. As for exaggeration that causes people to criticize the preachers, saying, "Please, they say such and such, and it is not in our country, and it is not in our land," or "This is not broadcast on television," or "This is not broadcast by such and such," this creates a flaw. And praise be to Allah, the intention is to guide the creation. Yes, do you have something, you?
The questioner : The Shaykh Yahya.
The Shaykh : No, Shaykh Yahya is one of those who has already received his share.