Is it permissible to give charity from money earned through pirated editing software, and is that sufficient to clear one's conscience instead of returning it to the software owners?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The relied-upon opinion is that it is obligatory to consider the copyrights of software. Therefore, it is impermissible to use cracked software without the permission of its owners. Whoever has done so must repent to Allah and return the rights they infringed upon, equivalent to the benefits lost by the owners. Money earned from using such software is lawful. It is necessary to repay the value of the benefits lost by the software owners. Ignorance of the ruling removes the sin but does not exempt from liability.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/154799
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 154799
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy