Repentance Does Not Require an Expiation Fatwa No: 413371
- Fatwa Date:19-2-2020
AsSalam-O-Alaikum!
QUESTION: How much kaffara should be paid if someone knowingly and willingly looked at someones private parts whether live, in photos, TV, or internet?
At https://www.islamweb.net/en/article/162737/does-seeing-others-awrah-invalidate-ones-ablution/ I read that, "it is forbidden to look to the private parts of any other person except the spouse whether live, in photos, TV, or internet." My job is to look at security cameras and I have enjoyed looking at naked males and females for a long time. I have seen private parts of many. I knew I was doing wrong still I kept doing it, but I wasn't aware that it is haram in Islam. I think everyone knows this but I don't know why it never came to my mind. Someone recently pointed this out and I was shocked. That person suggested that I should ask for Allah's forgiveness and pay kaffara. I no longer look and turn my gaze away immediately. I pray five times daily and ask for forgiveness from Allah. I have been looking hard on internet but I am unable to find that how much kaffara I should pay. Please help! Thank you!
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Repentance of the hideous act you mentioned is like repentance of all other sins related to the rights of Allah, The Exalted. It is made by regretting committing the sin, quitting it immediately, and sincerely resolving not to commit it again in the future.
You are not required to pay Kaffaarah (expiation) or anything else. An-Nawawi said in Rawdhat At-Taalibeen: “The Shaafi‘i scholars said: ‘Repentance is to regret committing the sin, give it up immediately, and resolve never to commit it again. If the sin does not entail a financial right that is due to Allah, The Almighty, or to other people, like the case of kissing a marriageable woman and engaging in Mubaasharah (foreplay or intimacy) without having actual intercourse, he (the repentant sinner) is not liable for anything else beyond that (i.e. repentance with its due conditions).’” [Briefly excerpted]
Allah knows best.