Question

question is related to Buying Cracked Courses With Copyrights
Fatwa No: 384226 plz check this fatwa it is written in that fatwa that “Firstly, it is not permissible to buy stolen property, and it is not permissible to deal with the aggressor because the scholars stated that the person who buys from a usurper, a thief, or an aggressor, is like them [in sin], as long as he knows that they have transgressed the rights of others”
Thier is a website who charge one time fee & you get lifetime subscription of that website it is written like this on that website “LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP ONLY 25$” their are Digital marketing related courses & others etc what they do is they upload expensive courses of other different course creator’s and upload thier course content on thier website without authorization or permission from the real course owners as far as i know.
My question is: Case 1:Is this permisible to learn course from that “25$ website” if i got the permission from the real course owners about using thier course & i use thier course & i learn from that 25$ website will i be sinful even if i used unauthorized way to learn but i have the permission of the real course owner. & paying 25$ to that website is a sin in itselft or not? is deal with the aggressor thing apply to this or not?
Case 2: If course is no more available in the market or course is closed for enrollent or course is no more selling online. Is it permisible to use that course for my personal use learn & earn from earn i did not mean to resell that course. even if i use that “25$ website” or i get it for free from another website?

Answer

Copyrights are a type of intellectual property that has value and it will be permitted to buy and sell such rights. Disregarding copyright laws causes harm to businesses and disheartens authors.

In both cases mentioned in your question you would be supporting the aggressor, hence it would not be permitted for you to purchase courses from such a website.

In Case 1, because you have taken permission from the real course owner and they agree to you taking their course from this website, it would technically not be impermissible for you to take this course, but by paying $25 for membership and using the content on this website you are supporting the aggressor and this is not permitted.

If the course is no longer available, you should do your utmost best to contact the owner for permission to use it. If this is not possible then you should find the same course or similar from a trustworthy website that is not stealing content belonging to authors and selling it to the public.

Similarly, free content downloads from such websites should also be avoided because they are still benefiting from you visiting their site, by accumulating ad revenue and increasing their popularity.

الاختيار لتعليل المختار (2/ 50) وَهُوَ الْإِجَارَةُ، وَسُمِّيَتْ بَيْعَ الْمَنَافِعِ لِوُجُودِ مَعْنَى الْبَيْعِ، وَهُوَ بَذْلُ الْأَعْوَاضِ فِي مُقَابَلَةِ الْمَنْفَعَةِ وَهِيَ عَلَى خِلَافِ الْقِيَاسِ، لِأَنَّ الْمَنَافِعَ مَعْدُومَةٌ، وَبَيْعُ الْمَعْدُومِ لَا يَجُوزُ، إِلَّا أَنَّا جَوَّزْنَاهَا لِحَاجَةِ النَّاسِ إِلَيْهَا

الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (4/ 501) (قَوْلُهُ: مَالًا أَوْ لَا) إلَخْ، الْمُرَادُ بِالْمَالِ مَا يَمِيلُ إلَيْهِ الطَّبْعُ وَيُمْكِنُ ادِّخَارُهُ لِوَقْتِ الْحَاجَةِ، وَالْمَالِيَّةُ تَثْبُتُ بِتَمَوُّلِ النَّاسِ كَافَّةً أَوْ بَعْضِهِمْ، وَالتَّقَوُّمُ يَثْبُتُ بِهَا وَبِإِبَاحَةِ الِانْتِفَاعِ بِهِ شَرْعًا؛ فَمَا يُبَاحُ بِلَا تَمَوُّلٍ لَا يَكُونُ مَالًا كَحَبَّةِ حِنْطَةٍ وَمَا يُتَمَوَّلُ بِلَا إبَاحَةِ انْتِفَاعٍ لَا يَكُونُ مُتَقَوِّمًا كَالْخَمْرِ، وَإِذَا عُدِمَ الْأَمْرَانِ لَمْ يَثْبُتْ وَاحِدٌ مِنْهُمَا كَالدَّمِ بَحْرٌ مُلَخَّصًا عَنْ الْكَشْفِ الْكَبِيرِ.

الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (6/ 385) وَمَا نُقِلَ عَنْ بَعْضِ الْحَنَفِيَّةِ مِنْ أَنَّ الْحَرَامَ لَا يَتَعَدَّى إلَى ذِمَّتَيْنِ سَأَلْت عَنْهُ الشِّهَابَ ابْنَ الشَّلَبِيِّ فَقَالَ: هُوَ مَحْمُولٌ عَلَى مَا إذَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِذَلِكَ، أَمَّا مَنْ رَأَى الْمَكَّاسَ يَأْخُذُ مِنْ أَحَدٍ شَيْئًا مِنْ الْمَكْسِ، ثُمَّ يُعْطِيهِ آخَرَ ثُمَّ يَأْخُذُهُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ الْآخَرِ فَهُوَ حَرَامٌ اهـ.

الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (2/ 292) وَفِي حَاشِيَةِ الْحَمَوِيِّ عَنْ الذَّخِيرَةِ: سُئِلَ الْفَقِيهُ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ عَمَّنْ اكْتَسَبَ مَالَهُ مِنْ أُمَرَاءِ السُّلْطَانِ وَجَمَعَ الْمَالَ مِنْ أَخْذِ الْغَرَامَاتِ الْمُحَرَّمَاتِ وَغَيْرِ ذَلِكَ هَلْ يَحِلُّ لِمَنْ عَرَفَ ذَلِكَ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ مِنْ طَعَامِهِ؟ قَالَ: أَحَبُّ إلَيَّ أَنْ لَا يَأْكُلَ مِنْهُ وَيَسَعَهُ حُكْمًا أَنْ يَأْكُلَهُ إنْ كَانَ ذَلِكَ الطَّعَامُ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي يَدِ الْمُطْعِمِ غَصْبًا أَوْ رِشْوَةً اهـ أَيْ إنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَيْنُ الْغَصْبِ أَوْ الرِّشْوَةِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يَمْلِكْهُ فَهُوَ نَفْسُ الْحَرَامِ فَلَا يَحِلُّ لَهُ وَلَا لِغَيْرِهِ.

Answered by:
Umm Huzayfah

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel