Trading in spy and film-type books

Question

Question: Zayd trades in romantic, spy and film-type books and Telugu novels; their covers carry pictures, both decent and indecent. The business is in an entirely non-Muslim locality; roughly 99 per cent of the buyers of these books are non-Muslims. It earns a good commission. They have been in this trade for ten years. Until now the life of Zayd and of his family was un-Islamic; now Allah Most High has shown His grace, and they have joined the Tablighi Jamaat and are working in it.

Answer

There will certainly be difficulty in changing the trade, but it should be borne. Begin stocking other, permissible books as well; gradually keep reducing the impermissible books and keep developing the trade in permissible books, until the present situation changes completely. Or begin some other trade, and when it is established, give up the present one.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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