Should I Repay My Parents for Using Their Internet for Sin?


Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

If I used my parents’ resources, such as internet, electricity, and water, for haram purposes like pornography, do I need to repay them or inform them, or should I conceal my sins and focus on repentance?

Answer

Thank you for your question. You must cease doing the sin and repent for it, but there is no need to tell your parents about it. A sin is between you and your Lord and it is a mercy from your Lord that it is hidden. Appreciate that mercy and stop now.

Don’t Reveal

Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “All my community will be excused except those who are blatant. And it is from blatancy for one to perform an act at night and to wake up and tell something that they did such-and-such while Allah had concealed it for them. They slept under cover of Allah, and they rent asunder Allah’s covering from themselves in the morning.” [Bukhari; Muslim]

Porn

Instead of relying on yourself alone, ask Allah for aid and employ the resources around you. Use the first website below as a safe place to conquer this addiction. Speak to a counselor, busy yourself with good, identify your triggers, and speak to others who have beat it. I guarantee that if you ask Allah to help you stop, you will triumph by His grace. Don’t despair as Allah loves to forgive.

Allah (Most High) has told us in the Quran, “Say: My servants who have wronged yourselves, never despair of God’s mercy. God forgives all sins: He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” [Quran, 39:53]

Repentance and Dua

Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud reported Allah’s Messenger as saying, “He who repents of a sin is like him who has not sinned.” [Ibn Maja; Bayhaqi]

Please say this supplication daily:

اللّهُـمَّ إِنِّي عَبْـدُكَ ابْنُ عَبْـدِكَ ابْنُ أَمَتِـكَ نَاصِيَتِي بِيَـدِكَ مَاضٍ فِيَّ حُكْمُكَ عَدْلٌ فِيَّ قَضَاؤكَ أَسْأَلُـكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّـيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ أِوْ أَنْزَلْتَـهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ أَوْ عَلَّمْـتَهُ أَحَداً مِنْ خَلْقِـكَ أَوِ اسْتَـأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الغَيْـبِ عِنْـدَكَ أَنْ تَجْـعَلَ القُرْآنَ رَبِيـعَ قَلْبِـي وَنورَ صَـدْرِي وجَلَاءَ حُـزْنِي وذَهَابَ هَمِّـي.

Never is a servant struck by worry or grief but let him say, ‘O Allah, I am Your servant, the son of Your servant, the son of Your maidservant. My forelock is in Your hand, Your decision over me has passed, and Your decree upon me is in justice. I ask You by every name with which You have named Yourself, or revealed in Your Book, or taught to one of Your creatures, or kept hidden in the Unseen with You, that You make the Quran the spring of my heart, the light of my insight, the banisher of my depression, and the expeller of my anxiety,’ then Allah will expel his worry and replace his grief with joy.” They said, “O Messenger of Allah, should we study these words?” The Prophet said, “Of course, whoever hears them should study them.” [Sahih Ibn Hibban]

Please see these links as well:

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.