Is it permissible to obey the parents if one is ordered to set the satellite channels that show indecent films, when, if refused, they will be angry with me?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

When one or both parents command something that is an act of obedience to Allaah The Almighty, the children must fulfill it immediately. The Prophet made obeying them obligatory even at the cost of abandoning voluntary acts of worship, such as non-obligatory Jihaad. When it is obligatory to obey them in such things, then it is incumbent to obey them when they order you to abandon something Allaah The Almighty has prohibited before they prohibit you from it.

Consequently, shunning prohibited acts is obligatory due to two reasons: the prohibition by Allaah The Almighty and by the parents. Thus, it is not surprising that if anyone commits such acts, he would be committing two sins. This ruling is applicable if the parents are ordering their child to set the satellite channels to block viewing unlawful things.

However, if the case is opposite, namely, the parents want to view such obscene channels and give a free rein to watching them, then their obedience is not binding upon you in this case, as the Prophet said: "There is no obedience in disobeying Allaah; rather, obedience is obligatory only in what is righteous." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Dear questioner, though you are not to obey your parents in doing evil deeds, still you must show them the utmost kindness. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness.} [Quran 31:15]

Allaah Knows best.