Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have Mercy on him) reminds us that those who write fictional stories not based on real events are sinful and considered to be from what the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) spoke about when he said (what means), “Woe to the one who speaks with lies to make the people laugh, woe to him, woe to him!” (Collected by Aboo Daawood)
Listen to these important words from the shaykh direclty as part of this much-needed clarification: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHeZ_wwDhyo
JazaakAllaahu khayraa for this Ustaadh.
Related fataawaa from the Permanent Committee of Scholars in Saudi Arabia:
Writing Fiction: http://www.alifta.org/Fatawa/FatawaChapters.aspx?View=Page&PageID=4415&PageNo=1&BookID=7 (Arabic: http://www.alifta.com/Fatawa/FatawaChapters.aspx?View=Page&PageID=4422&PageNo=1&BookID=3 )
Reading stories to learn a Language: http://www.alifta.org/Fatawa/FatawaChapters.aspx?View=Page&PageID=4357&PageNo=1&BookID=7
Working as an Actor: http://www.alifta.org/Fatawa/FatawaChapters.aspx?View=Page&PageID=10315&PageNo=1&BookID=7
May Allaah guide & forgive us and all the Muslims and protect us and our families.
[ Special thanks from the admin for adding quality related content – Jazaak Allaahu khayran! ]
Assalaamu’alaykum..
Ustaadh, is it permissible to mention a fictional story just for the sake of education and by clearly mentioning before beginning the story that it (the story) is a fictional one just for education’s sake?
wa ‘alayk as-salaamu wa rahmatullaah. A fictional story is a concocted story that is openly false and not true. We have not taught our children the non-fiction (true, accurate) stories of the Quran and Sunnah, yet we feel a need to teach them lies of the disbelievers, why? Should we cultivate our children upon lies or upon truths?
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh, I find it hard to think of true stories for each lesson. I’m a TEFL teacher and not working right now because of not being able to find a centre that’s free from fitna etc. I’d like to teach online but is hard to come up with lessons without making up stories, because I have to get the students to grasp the English language. I would like to know if as a teacher I’m also prohibited to use fiction stories?
I did check the link regarding reading stories to learn a language but the fatwa isn’t showing up.
Assalamu Alaikum,
Is it permissible to write biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, self-help books or travel blogs, book review blogs, column writing on current events etc.
In order to improve English vocabulary is it safe to read literature books or watch talk shows like ted talks etc. if not then what is a better alternative.
As long as what you are writing is purely non-fictional, then it should be fine inshaAllah, and Allah knows best.