Hacking computers to forbid evil Fatwa No: 72991
- Fatwa Date:6-12-2007
I own an internet café. Is it permissible for me to hack the customers’ computers so as to hinder them from visiting porn sites? Would this be considered spying on others?
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.
Opening an internet café is permissible as long as the owner can control it and forbid evildoings that might happen. One cannot do so without putting the customers’ computers under a system that controls and monitors their activities. It is well-known that (Islamically) both the means and the ends take the same ruling. Thus, if the end is good then the means to it must also be approved and permitted. Consequently, if the reason behind monitoring what the customers do is lawful, then it is permissible to do it. The most conclusive evidence supporting this fact is that the scholars of Hadeeth used to clarify the character and words of narrators to protect Hadeeth from lies and fabrication. Accordingly, as long as the monitoring and controlling systems in such cafes are intended to forbid customers from evildoing, then it is obligatory upon the owner of the café to use them in order to hinder the occurrence of evil. Allaah Knows best.