Operating a WhatsApp Group With Forbidden Content Fatwa No: 414796
- Fatwa Date:16-3-2020
Assalamualikum, Is it allowed to operate a whatsapp group for a community in which its member post content which is haram, example people may share latest music videos, video news about actors, actresses, movies, pictures of women showing their awra, short video clips which contain background music and may contain improperly dressed women etc. The admin doesn't want to warn them because if he did then members in the group would leave and the group wouldn't be an active group. The objective of the admin is to post Islamic content once a week. In other words it is the use of haram attractions so as to let them know of Islamic content (example: hadith, verse from the Quran, Islamic article etc) which the admin would post weekly. Is this permissible?
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 is His slave and Messenger.
If sharing prohibited content – such as immoral videos and forbidden songs – is a prevalent activity of the members of the group, then it is impermissible to create such a group in the first place, and it must be deleted.
It is impermissible to remain silent about these prohibitions and approve of them in the hope that the group members would benefit from weekly religious content. This is a benefit that would be lost in an abundant prohibited content which would be posted all the time.
There are many alternatives for posting useful content, such as group messages, status updates on social media, and the like.
Allah Knows best.