Fatwa ID: 06058
Answered by: Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji
Question:
I have connected the wifi connection in my house and I pay the bill. Other members of my family and sometimes outside friends use it. Even they use the phones that I bought. Now, will I be sinful if they watch any sinful or haram content or misuse it? (the point to be noted here is that, if I don’t pay, others will obviously pay) So what’s the ruling here? Will I be sinful?
Should I take back the phones and stop wifi?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer
There is a concept in Islamic Jurisprudence that states “If the direct and the causative combine, the ruling is added to the direct”1. The rulings [Hukm] of action are attributed to the direct doer of the action. Although you share your WIFI connection with friends and family and bought some of the phones, you are not responsible for what they do with the WIFI connection or the phones.
However, it would be advisable to disconnect the WIFI or change the password or take the phones away from those who have authority over them, like your children. This will be in accordance with the sunnah of The Prophet PBUH On the authority of Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” [Sahih Muslim, 49]2
If you disconnect or change the WIFI password, and someone else went and shared their own WIFI you did your part and are no longer responsible.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
1 القاعِدَةُ الثّانِيَةُ: “إذا اجْتَمَعَ المُباشِرُ والمُتَسَبِّبُ يُضافُ الحُكْمُ إلى المُباشِرِ (٥).
٧٢ – المُباشِرُ لِلْفِعْل: هُوَ الفاعِل لَهُ بِالذّاتِ، والمُتَسَبِّبُ هُوَ المُفْضِي والمُوَصِّل إلى وُقُوعِهِ، ويَتَخَلَّل بَيْنَ فِعْلِهِ وبَيْنَ الأْثَرِ المُتَرَتِّبِ عَلَيْهِ فِعْل فاعِلٍ مُخْتارٍ، والمُباشِرُ يَحْصُل الأْثَرُ بِفِعْلِهِ مِن غَيْرِ تَخَلُّل فِعْل فاعِلٍ مُخْتارٍ.
وإنَّما قُدِّمَ المُباشِرُ لأِنَّهُ أقْرَبُ لإِضافَةِ
AL-MAWSOOAH AL-FIQHIYYAH AL-KUWAITIYYAH , Volume 28, Page 261, Dar As Safwah Misr
2 فَقَالَ أَبُو سَعِيدٍ أَمَّا هَذَا فَقَدْ قَضَى مَا عَلَيْهِ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ “ مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِقَلْبِهِ وَذَلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الإِيمَانِ ”
