عربي
Home


Resolutions of Iftaa' Board


Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(48): “Ruling on Publishing or Copying Books without Obtaining the Permission of their Authors“

Date Added : 02-11-2015

 

Resolution No.(48): “Ruling on Publishing or Copying Books without Obtaining the Permission of their Author“

Date: 24/4/1422 AH corresponding to 15/7/2001 AD.

 

The Board has received the following question:

What is the ruling when some owners of bookshops, speed-duplication shops, and presses produce copies of books and sell them without any consideration to copyrights reserved to their authors and publishers?

Answer: All success is due to Allah.

The Board views that a book, which is the fruit of hard work and tremendous efforts of an author, is considered from the valuable benefits and a private property of his, and that none is allowed to reprint it or publish it, save with his permission. However, copying some pages for academic benefit is permissible, provided that the information is attributed to the original author.

Moreover, the author`s copyright is transferred to his eligible heirs after his passing away, but if he had no heirs, then it is permissible for the public to benefit from it because, in principle, knowledge is permissible. Therefore, printing his books and publishing them become permissible without obtaining his permission since spreading knowledge is amongst the public interests which people should be aware of.

Amongst the innovated books are the reproduced books of heritage and manuscripts. As the reproducers of these spared no effort in editing, comparing, classifying, explaining, adding inflections to words, providing headings and indices, and giving them an innovative shape, then they are considered their sole property, and none is allowed to copy or publish them, save with their permission.

Consequently, the act of copying and selling books, undertaken by the parties mentioned in the above question, without obtaining the permission of the author and abiding by the provisions of Sharia in this regard is unlawful and a violation to the rights of the author and the publisher. And Allah Knows Best.

 

Chairman of the Iftaa` Board, Chief Justice, Izz Al-Deen Al-TamimiDr. Mohammad Abu Yahia

Dr. Abdulsalam Al-Abbadi

Dr. Yousef Gheezaan

Dr. Wasif Al-Bakhri

Sheikh Saeid Hijjawi

Sheikh Na`eim Mojahid

Sheikh Mahmoud Shwayyaat

 

Decision Number [ Previous | Next ]


Summarized Fatawaa

The Prophet ﷺ said: "There will emerge from my nation people who will drink the Qurʾān as they drink milk" — is this ḥadīth authentic, and what does it mean?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "There will emerge from my nation people who will drink the Qurʾān as they drink milk." (Reported by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr, and cited by al-Haythamī in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, who stated: "Its narrators are trustworthy.")
The meaning of this ḥadīth is that there will emerge from this blessed nation people who recite the Holy Qurʾān without reflecting upon its meanings or pondering its rulings — the noble verses passing over their tongues just as milk passes over them when it is drunk, leaving no trace of thought, understanding, or contemplation behind. [See: al-Taysīr bi-Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr,Vol.2/P.63] And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on following the actions of the imam in prayer and how this following is achieved?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The follower (ma'mum) is required to follow his imam in the actions of the prayer. This "following" (mutaba'ah) means that the follower performs each action of the prayer after the imam has begun it but before he has finished it. For example, the follower bows (in ruku') after the imam has reached the position of bowing, then rises after the imam has risen. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The imam is only appointed to be followed, so when he says the takbir, say the takbir; and when he bows, then bow; and when he prostrates, then prostrate" (agreed upon, i.e., reported by both al-Bukhari and Muslim).
It is stated in Mughni al-Muhtaj (1/505): "Among the conditions of valid congregational prayer (iqtida') is following the imam in the actions of the prayer... meaning that following the imam is obligatory in the physical actions of the prayer, not in its verbal utterances... Complete following (kamal al-mutaba'ah) is achieved when the follower's beginning of an action comes after the imam's beginning of that same action, while the follower's beginning of the action precedes the imam's completion of it" — end of quote, with slight paraphrasing.
And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

Is it permissible for the young woman to turn the suitor down if she had no feelings for him?

Yes, it is permissible for her to do so.

What should the one performing the slaughter say at the time of slaughtering the 'aqīqah?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is Sunnah to say the following supplication at the time of slaughtering the 'aqīqah:
"Bismillāhi wallāhu Akbar, Allāhumma laka wa ilayka, hādhihi 'aqīqatu fulān."
("In the name of Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. O Allah, this is for You and unto You — this is the 'aqīqah of [the child's name].")
This is based on what al-Bayhaqī narrated in Al-Sunan al-Kubrā (Vol.9/P.511), that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Slaughter it in his name and say: In the name of Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. O Allah, this is for You and unto You — this is the 'aqīqah of so-and-so."
And Allah Almighty knows best.

See More