Question: I
am working in Saudi Arabia for the past five years. Six months ago my sponsor
opened an Internet Cafe and shifted me there. Now I feel very bad to work
in this Internet Cafe because many customers come here and ask me to open
dirty sites. I always insist on not opening them but they do not listen
to me. Being a practising Muslim, I don’t want to be involved in this act.
What should I do? I cannot get another visa as it costs more and my family
is fully dependent on me.
Answer: When
a person is forced to do some evil and he has no other option, it is hoped
that the Almighty would forgive him. In your case also, it seems that circumstances
are such that inspite of wanting to remain away from evil you are forced
into it; you seem to have no other option but to continue. But keep asking
for the forgiveness of Allah and also keep praying to Him to help you in
finding a way out.
One must remember that the Almighty
always holds a person accountable according to his circumstances. We have
one very clear precedent from the Qur’an which shows how extenuating
circumstances affect the extent of accountability. We know that during
the Prophet’s times, there were people who forced their slave girls to
prostitution. They would compel them into this heinous crime and thereby
earn money. If we look at the conditions of slavery which prevailed in
the Prophets times, it becomes clear that it was so very rampant in that
society, and there were dozens of slaves owned by a single person. All
these slaves, whether men or women, were totally dependent on their masters
for their livelihood, and, the way things were in Arabia at that time,
it was very difficult for them to think of any other economic activity
independently. So the Qur’an never demanded from these slave girls
forced to prostitution to run away from their masters. Instead, it comforted
them by saying that if in spite of wanting to refrain from this abomination
and having a severe dislike and aversion for it, they were driven into
it by their masters, the Almighty shall forgive them:
But if anyone compels them, Allah will be Forgiving
and Merciful to them. (24:33)
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