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Impermissible to spy on Muslims
Fatwa No: 30115

Question

Is it permissible to keep a person under surveillance if he is suspected of being a thief?

Answer

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

 

In principle, it is impermissible to spy on a Muslim, for Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And do not spy} [Quran 49:12]. If a Muslim discovers that his Muslim brother is committing a sin secretly, then he should not expose him; instead, he should warn him of divine punishment.

Hence, scholars have stated that it is impermissible for those who enjoin good and forbid evil to spy on people or keep them under surveillance in order to learn about the forbidden things they are doing. This is based on the Hadeeth of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, where he prohibited Muslims from backbiting their Muslim brothers and from trying to find out about their secret life. He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, warned the one who does this of the punishment he would receive  from Allaah The Almighty who shall expose him just as he had exposed His slaves. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, added that such an act indicates that the person lacks faith and it shows that he is a believer only by name. [Ahmad]

However, if there are signs that some forbidden acts are being committed and it is feared that they may not be redressed, then spying becomes permissible for those who undertake the responsibility of enjoining good and forbidding evil simply to prevent this from happening. Otherwise, it is impermissible.

It was mentioned in Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah (The Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence) that if it appears most likely that certain people are committing forbidden acts, meaning that there are strong indicators that this is actually happening, then this situation may be classified under one of two categories:

The forbidden act is related to the violation of some sanctity that cannot be redressed, like if a trusted person tells one that a certain man is going to commit adultery with a woman or is going to kill another man. In this case, spying is permissible for him in order to prevent this from happening.
This forbidden act is not related to the violation of sanctities and has not reached that degree. In this case, neither spying nor exposure is permissible.

Hence, it is obvious to the questioner that it is not permissible to keep someone under surveillance or to spy on him because of mere suspicion.

Allaah Knows best.

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