Is The One Who Is Pleased With a Sin Like a Witness to it?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Al-‘Urs ibn ‘Amira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “When sin is committed on the earth, whoever witnessed it and hated it and rejected it will be like one who was absent from it. Whoever was absent from it and was pleased with it will be like one who witnessed it.”
Does the above hadith mean it is haram to enjoy something that was done by a sinful act? Such as enjoying a cartoon or comic, even though drawings are haram, or watching TikTok soccer clips, even though the man who posted it most likely is infringing on copyright, even though I have not committed the sin myself, or is it disliked?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
One Who is Pleased With Sin is like a Witness To It
‘Urs ibn ‘Amira (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “When sin is committed on the earth, whoever witnessed it and hated it and rejected it will be like one who was absent from it. Whoever was absent from it and was pleased with it will be like one who witnessed it.”
[Abu Dawud]
It will be impermissible or disliked, depending on the content. If the content is impermissible, then it will be impermissible, like any content with the nakedness (‘awra) shown, even in cartoon form, will be impermissible to watch and must be avoided. See the detailed links below.
The nakedness (‘awra) for men includes the area from the end of the navel down to and including the knee. So, the nakedness (‘awra) does not include the navel but includes the entire knee. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
Related
- Is it permissible to Look at the Nakedness of Animated Characters? – SeekersGuidance
- Is It Permissible to Watch Anime or Cartoons in Islam? – SeekersGuidance
- The Path of Muhammad: Birgivi’s Manual of Taqwa Explained – YouTube
- Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart: Hamza Yusuf: 9780985565909: Amazon.com: Books (Book)
- Prayer of Repentance: Salat al-Tawba – SeekersGuidance
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersAcademy (seekersguidance.org)?
I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.
