What is the ruling on someone who downloaded a free operating system (Ubuntu) and other programs (video, games, images) via the Firefox browser, which was previously downloaded using the Internet Explorer browser found on a pirated Windows system, knowing that pirated Windows is unlawful?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
If a person repents from infringing upon the rights of others and starts using free versions of software, then he is not required to purchase original copies of what he used previously before repenting. There is no blame upon him for benefiting from the work he produced using pirated software.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/113319
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 113319
- 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