Is the website "Sayd al-Fawa'id" reliable concerning copyright issues, and is it permissible to read books through it even if they do not respond to inquiries regarding the author's permission?
There is no harm in reading books published online if their owners are the ones who published them or authorized their publication, or if the websites are trustworthy and do not infringe on intellectual property rights. However, if it is known that the publisher does not permit access to them, then it is not permissible to read them, because reading them is a form of benefiting from them. Some scholars have mentioned the permissibility of copying them for personal benefit only, if one needs to do so due to the unavailability of the original or inability to purchase it, and on the condition that this is not taken as a means of earning income.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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