Can my mother give charity on my behalf from money I earned through a cracked editing software program, and is this expiation sufficient, or must I return the money to the program's owners?
Contemporary scholars have differed concerning the ruling on using unlicensed software. The prevalent (religious edict) is that it is absolutely impermissible, whether for earning money or for personal use. What the user has gained from using such programs is not considered unlawful, and there is no obligation to donate it as charity. However, the user is obligated to guarantee the rights of the software owners and compensate them for what they have missed due to the unlicensed use. This compensation is to be assessed by experts, and then the user is obligated to pay the value of this guarantee to the rights holders. Donating it as charity is not sufficient if the user is capable of delivering it to them.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- 154738
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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