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Is watching television permissible in Islam, and are there any conditions for it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Watching movies carries many Sharia-related caveats, such as the uncovering of 'awrah (intimate parts), listening to music, spreading corrupt beliefs, and calling for imitation of disbelievers. Allah has commanded us to lower our gaze, as He Almighty said: ﴿Say to the believing men that they lower their gaze and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. And say to the believing women that they lower their gaze and guard their private parts.﴾ Lowering the gaze is fundamental to guarding one's private parts, and the eye is the mirror of the heart; if the gaze is lowered, the heart lowers its desire. It was narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that the eye commits zina (fornication) and its zina is looking, and that the first glance is for you, and the second is not for you, and that a glance does to the heart what an arrow does. Sheikh Ibn Baz believes that television is a dangerous tool because of its portrayal of base morals, indecent images, destructive ideas, calls to imitate disbelievers, humiliation of Muslims, and dissemination of methods of cunning and theft. Such corruptions necessitate prohibiting and cautioning against them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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