Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I was just wondering because I’ve seen many people do this, Muslims and none Muslims. For example, my neighbor has cable TV, and i don’t. And he offers me to “share” his cable. Now i wouldn’t have to pay a monthly bill to the cable company but i would pay him a salary to hook it up to my house. I know the TV isn’t a very good thing to have in the home, however i wanted to know, would doing this by the neighbor giving us cable from his place, would this be haram? Or would this be allowed because he offered us and we will pay him for it? Can you please help me with the answer to the question?
Answer:
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits.
Cable TV is a service one pays for, and one’s use of it is conditioned by certain limits. Muslims are religiously bound to fulfill all contracts and commitments. As such, you can use your friend’s cable service with his permission only if such sharing is permitted by the cable company. Otherwise, it would be sinful–and you would have to financially repay the company for such use.
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Another’s property is not permitted to use without their full permission.”
Please search for related answers in the SunniPath Answers (qa.SunniPath.com).
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani