Ruling on one who watches a film in which Islam is reviled or sharee‘ah is belittled

The Islamic texts forbid all sins andclose the doors that lead to them; they forbid cooperating in sin andtransgression, and imitating the sinners; and they explain that the one wholoves a people will be gathered with them (on the Day of Resurrection) and theone who imitates a people is one of them.

Among the things that Islam forbids iswatching those movies, soap operas and music shows, and any kind ofentertainment that includes any kind of sin.

Watching such things implies approval ofwhat the people in them are doing and of the falsehood they are indulging in.Anyone who sees an evil and approves of it and accepts it, and does notdenounce it, comes under the same rulings as the one who does it.

Allah, may He be exalted, says(interpretation of the meaning):

“And it has already been revealed to youin the Book (this Quran) that when you hear the Verses of Allah being deniedand mocked at, then sit not with them, until they engage in a talk other thanthat; (but if you stayed with them) certainly in that case you would be likethem”

[an-Nisa’ 4:140].

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

That is, if you sit with them andapprove of what they are doing, then you are equal to them in the sin they arecommitting. End quote.

Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 3/278

As-Sa‘di (mayAllah have mercy on him) said:

That is, if you sit with them in thesituation mentioned then you are like them, because you have approved of theirdisbelief and mockery, and the one who approves of sin is like the one who doesit. The point is that the one who attends a gathering in which Allah isdisobeyed has an individual obligation to denounce them, if he is able to doso, or to get up and leave, if he not able to denounce it. End quote.

Tafseer as-Sa‘di, p. 210

Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] (may Allah havemercy on him) said:

It is not permissible for anyone towillingly attend gatherings of evil when there is no need to do so, as it saysin the hadeeth: “Whoever believes in Allah and theLast Day, let him not sit at a table at which alcoholis drunk.” Some people who had been drinking alcohol were brought to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdal-‘Azeez and he ordered that they be flogged. It wassaid to him: Among them is one who is fasting. He said: Start with him; haveyou not heard that Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And it hasalready been revealed to you in the Book (this Quran) that when you hear theVerses of Allah being denied and mocked at, then sit not with them, until theyengage in a talk other than that; (but if you stayed with them) certainly inthat case you would be like them” [an-Nisa’ 4:140]?

‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez(may Allah be pleased with him) explained that Allah regards the one who ispresent when evil is being committed as being like the one who does it. Hencethe scholars said: If he is invited to a feast in which evils are present, suchas alcohol and musical instruments, it is not permissible to attend it. That isbecause Allah, may He be exalted, has commanded us to denounce evil as much aspossible. So if a person attends willingly and does not denounce it, he hasdisobeyed Allah and His Messenger by failing to do what He has commanded him ofdenouncing and forbidding evil. As that is the case, if a person willinglyattends gatherings where alcohol is served when there is no need to do so, andhe does not denounce evil as Allah has enjoined, then he is a partner with theevildoers in the evildoing and he is regarded as one of them. End quote.

Majmoo‘al-Fataawa, 28/221-222

Muslim (1854) narrated from Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet (blessings and peace ofAllah be upon him), that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)said: “There will be appointed over you rulers (whose good deeds) you approveof and (whose bad deeds) you object to. Whoever dislikes (their bad deeds) willbe free of blame and whoever objects (to them) will also be safe, but whoeverapproves and follows (is blameworthy).”

So whoever sits and listens to such evilor watches it is a partner in sin with those who do it. If it involves kufr – Allah forbid – such as reviling Islam or castingaspersions upon the messages or the Messengers, or belittling the rulings andlaws of Islam, or mocking them, such as the beard and niqab– as many misguided people do nowadays – and he sits and listens to them anddoes not get angry for the sake of Allah, and he is pleased with what they aresaying, then he is like them.

Allah, may He be exalted, says(interpretation of the meaning):

“If you ask them (about this), theydeclare: ‘We were only talking idly and joking.’ Say: ‘Was it at Allah and His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs,revelations, etc.) and His Messenger (SAW) that you were mocking?’

Make no excuse; you have disbelievedafter you had believed”

[at-Tawbah 9:65, 66].

Whoever utters a word of kufr, or does an action that implies kufr,knowing that it is kufr, is a kaafir,whether he does it in earnest or in jest. And whoever listens to it and doesnot denounce it, and approves of what is said or done, is a kaafirlike him. In fact, if he does not approve of that evil and hate it in hisheart, but he did not get up and leave when he was able to do so, he is sinningjust by sitting there. Even if he was safe from kufr,he was not free of sin; he was not safe from falling into the sin of sitting inthat place.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah havemercy on him) was asked:

I am a religiously-committed young man.During these blessed nights [of Ramadan] I sit with some young people to relax,but sometimes someone may come along who smokes cigarettes or shisha. What should I do in that case?

He replied: The Prophet (blessings andpeace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever among yousees an evil action, then let him change it with his hand [by taking action];if he cannot, then with his tongue [byspeaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart…” So if someonecomes to your gathering and smokes a cigarette, advise him first,and if he stops that is good for you and for him. But if he does not stop andyou are able to kick him out of the place, then kick him out, because you areable to change the evil with your hand (by taking action). But if you are notable to do that, because the place is not yours, then you should leave, becauseyou are not able to change it with your words or with your actions, so what isleft? The heart cannot denounce something and stay with the one who is doingit, so you should leave. Some people say that they sit with them whilst hatingit in their hearts. But we say: Subhaan Allah! Thisis a contradiction. If you hate it in your heart, then who is forcing you tostay? There is no compulsion. Anyone who denounces something in his heart hasno choice but to leave the place. If he claims that he hates it in his heartbut he still stays in that place, then he is lying.

Al-Liqa’ ash-Shahri, 3/45

For more information please see theanswer to question no. 1107

To sum up:

If a person watches or listens to thatand approves of it, then he comes under the same rulings as the one who doesit. If he hates it in his heart but he continues to watch and listen, then heis in grave danger; if he is free from kufr he willnot be safe from falling into sin and disobedience.

And Allah knows best.