Ruling on watching
movies based on shirk beliefs or predictions of the future
Assalamalaikum wrt wbt, Is it halaal for a Muslim to watch a film such as Hercules which is
based on Shirk stories/ideas? I eagerly await your response insha'Allah. Jazzakallahkhairum
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to watch these kinds of movies which tell stories
of shirk. Seeing and hearing them can cause serious damage to the heart of the Muslim. The
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) got angry with Umar ibn
al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) when he saw him with a piece of the Tawraat
(Torah) in his hand, and told him to destroy it. Many of the Muslims do not have
sufficient protection or the level of knowledge required to recognize the corrupt ideas in
these movies, so some viewers may develop doubts that damage their eemaan and shake their
belief; they may start to believe some of the false ideas and their hearts may be filled
with evil poisons as a result of watching these movies. This is in addition to the haraam
content in many of these movies, such as pictures of women, music and so on. We may also
note the recent appearance of movies based on distorted Biblical beliefs or the false
prophecies of liars and charlatans. These movies have become very popular in the West
because of the spiritual vacuum resulting from the lack of true religion. Due to the
environment surrounding the Muslims in western countries, some of them have started to
follow these movies. Muslims should fear their Lord and avoid watching these films of
kufr. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): Verily! The hearing,
and the sight, of each of those you will be questioned by Allaah. [al-Isra
17:36]
If Muslims want to entertain themselves, let them do so in permissible
ways. And Allaah is the guide to the Straight Path.