{"id":34401,"date":"2024-12-15T10:36:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T10:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/?p=34401"},"modified":"2024-12-30T20:29:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T20:29:08","slug":"permissibility-of-using-scihubs-to-access-research-papers-or-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/permissibility-of-using-scihubs-to-access-research-papers-or-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Permissible To Use SciHubs To Access Research Papers Or Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fatwa ID: 07771<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Written by Maulana Ateiq-ur Rehman<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Question:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Is it permissible to use platforms such as SciHub to access research papers or works that are behind paywalls (i.e. papers or works that are not Open access)?<\/span><\/p>\n

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What are the rulings on downloading PDFs and sharing PDFs of books that are behind paywalls or otherwise need to be bought?<\/span><\/p>\n

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I’d like an answer that takes into account all three perspectives, i.e. author, reader and publisher.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Answer:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Allah mentions in the Quran:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u064a\u064e\u0640\u0670\u0653\u0623\u064e\u064a\u0651\u064f\u0647\u064e\u0627 \u0671\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0630\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064e \u0621\u064e\u0627\u0645\u064e\u0646\u064f\u0648\u0627\u0652 \u0644\u064e\u0627 \u062a\u064e\u0623\u06e1\u0643\u064f\u0644\u064f\u0648\u0653\u0627\u0652 \u0623\u064e\u0645\u06e1\u0648\u064e\u0670\u0644\u064e\u0643\u064f\u0645 \u0628\u064e\u064a\u06e1\u0646\u064e\u0643\u064f\u0645 \u0628\u0650\u0671\u0644\u06e1\u0628\u064e\u0670\u0637\u0650\u0644\u0650 \u0625\u0650\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0653 \u0623\u064e\u0646 \u062a\u064e\u0643\u064f\u0648\u0646\u064e \u062a\u0650\u062c\u064e\u0670\u0631\u064e\u0629\u064b \u0639\u064e\u0646 \u062a\u064e\u0631\u064e\u0627\u0636\u0656 \u0645\u0651\u0650\u0646\u0643\u064f\u0645\u06e1\u06da \u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0627 \u062a\u064e\u0642\u06e1\u062a\u064f\u0644\u064f\u0648\u0653\u0627\u0652 \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0641\u064f\u0633\u064e\u0643\u064f\u0645\u06e1\u06da \u0625\u0650\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0671\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064e \u0643\u064e\u0627\u0646\u064e \u0628\u0650\u0643\u064f\u0645\u06e1 \u0631\u064e\u062d\u0650\u064a\u0645\u0657\u0627<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cO you who have believed, do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.\u201d (surah Nisa:29)<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c[As for] the thief, the male and the female, amputate their hands in recompense for what they committed as a deterrent [punishment] from Allah. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.\u201d (Ma\u2019idah:38)<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u0641\u064e\u0645\u064e\u0646 \u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e \u0645\u0650\u0646\u06e2 \u0628\u064e\u0639\u06e1\u062f\u0650 \u0638\u064f\u0644\u06e1\u0645\u0650\u0647\u0650\u06e6 \u0648\u064e\u0623\u064e\u0635\u06e1\u0644\u064e\u062d\u064e \u0641\u064e\u0625\u0650\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0671\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064e \u064a\u064e\u062a\u064f\u0648\u0628\u064f \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u064a\u06e1\u0647\u0650\u06da \u0625\u0650\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0671\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064e \u063a\u064e\u0641\u064f\u0648\u0631\u065e \u0631\u0651\u064e\u062d\u0650\u064a\u0645\u064c<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut whoever repents after his wrongdoing and reforms, indeed, Allah will turn to him in forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Prophet Muhammad \u0635\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u0639\u0644\u064a\u0647 \u0648\u0633\u0644\u0645 said: “When an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time he is doing it, and when a drinker of an alcoholic liquor drinks it, then he is not a believer at the time of drinking it, and when a thief steals, then he is not a believer at the time of stealing, and when a robber robs, and the people look at him, then he is not a believer at the time of doing robbery.\u201d (Bukhari 2475)<\/span><\/p>\n

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I was unaware of SciHub until I began researching for this question. I began with a simple internet search and it quickly became apparent that it is a \u2018pirate\u2019 website that uses other people’s intellectual property illegally without consent. Further research showed that many university students benefit from the website and its uses can be many.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Thereafter I began to research the legality of using such websites according to law in the UK. I came across the following article on the City of London Police website, published in 2021:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Main article content<\/span><\/p>\n

PIPCU<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Press releases<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Published:08:17 19\/03\/2021<\/span><\/p>\n

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Police warn students and universities of accessing an illegal website to download published scientific papers<\/span><\/p>\n

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The City of London Police\u2019s<\/span> Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU)<\/span> is warning universities and students to not use \u2018Sci Hub\u2019, a series of websites that allow users to illegally access millions of scientific research papers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Sci-Hub is a series of websites that enable free access to over 70 million published scientific papers of all disciplines. It is estimated that it includes 80% or more of the world\u2019s currently published scientific articles, with the volume of data being roughly two and a half times the size of Wikipedia.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sci-Hub obtains the papers through a variety of malicious means, such as the use of publishing emails to trick university staff and students into divulging their login credentials.\u00a0 Sci-Hub then uses this to compromise the university\u2019s network and download the research papers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sci-Hub allows users to request a journal article, which is then retrieved from a publisher\u2019s platform, using compromised access credentials. Many universities around the world have suffered intrusions as a result of access credentials being stolen when visiting the Sci-Hub website.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cStudents should be aware that accessing such websites is illegal, as it hosts stolen intellectual property. Visitors to the site are very vulnerable to having their credentials stolen, which once obtained, are used by Sci-Hub to access further academic journals for free and continue to pose a threat to intellectual property rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWith more students now studying from home and having more online lectures, it is vital that universities prevent students from accessing the stolen information on the university network. This will not only prevent the universities from having their own credentials stolen, but also those of their students, and potentially the credentials of other members of the households if connected to the same internet provider.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is essential that students and universities report incidents of cybercrime to Action Fraud so that we can build up a clear picture of the latest threats and give the best advice on how to avoid falling victim to cyber criminals such as Sci-Hub.” (the article continues, please refer to the City of London Police webpage for the complete article).<\/span><\/p>\n

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This is where I ended my research as it is clearly evident, that the use of such websites is not only illegal but also, immoral and unsafe. Although many students can benefit from such websites, it is not permissible to use such sites, as permission is not gained from the authors of the articles, and the information is gathered through hacking university databases and tricking people to divulge their information, this is classed as stealing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Only Allah knows best.<\/span><\/p>\n

Written by Maulana Ateiq-ur Rehman<\/span><\/p>\n

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah<\/span><\/p>\n

Darul Ifta Birmingham<\/span><\/p>\n

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References<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0(<\/span>\u0643\u062a\u0627\u0628 \u062d\u0627\u0634\u064a\u0629 \u0627\u0628\u0646 \u0639\u0627\u0628\u062f\u064a\u0646 = \u0631\u062f \u0627\u0644\u0645\u062d\u062a\u0627\u0631 \u0637 \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0644\u0628\u064a<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

4:93)<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fatwa ID: 07771     Written by Maulana Ateiq-ur Rehman   Question:   Is it permissible to use platforms such as SciHub to access research…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34401"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34881,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34401\/revisions\/34881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}