Watching cinema with a good intention and declaring it openly

Question

Zayd openly says: “Occasionally, after long intervals, I watch cinema — which is a spectacle of the kind of theatre or stage drama, in which there is singing and playing of music, dancing and revelry, the mixing of men and women, and the display of uncovered faces and bare arms — and I deliberately commit fisq (sinful transgression). And I hope that Allah, looking at my intention, will not call me to account in this matter.” Is this saying of Zayd, that is, his statement, correct? (a)

Answer

Watching cinema is impermissible according to the Shariʿa. There are several reasons for its impermissibility: singing and playing of music, dancing and revelry, the mixing of men and women, the display of uncovered faces and bare arms, amusement and play (lahw wa laʿib), and the waste of time and wealth — and on top of all this, the open declaration of it.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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