Is it haram to pirate software I cannot purchase due to not having a credit card, with the intention of paying for it when I do get a credit card?

Question

I'm a student from India and work part-time as a Freelancer online. My question is about piracy in Islam. I use certain software Adobe for my Freelance work including Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects; and also use an online learning portal Lynda.com for tutorials to improve my skills.

My question is related to software and portal membership from my country which I cannot pay for due to several polices and restrictions related to a debit card. The only way to pay for them is credit card, which I don't own right now.

I tried all the ways to pay for membership with a debit card and even tried direct bank transferring but it didn't workout well.

I even contacted Adobe and Lynda.com about this, and they said that the credit card is the only option. Unfortunately, I cannot apply for a credit card at the moment due to lots of factors including eligibility.

I asked my friend for help, and he purchased me a one month full subscriptions of both Adobe and Lynda.com by the help of his Uncle, which has expired last week. I further asked him about it and told him that I will pay all the money month-to-month, but he said he felt too awkward to ask this to his uncle. Since it's a very small town where I live, someone rarely owns a credit card.

So lastly, I thought of pirating the software and video and thought I will pay all the money that I've used for their software and tutorials once I'll be able to get a credit card.

So is this considered haram? Since my intentions are not that.

Answer 1

The way I look at it is simple. Have you wronged the creators of the software by using it without paying? Imagine you are standing outside a bakers shop. You are hungry but you do not have the means to pay the baker, perhaps you forgot your wallet at home. Will you steal from the baker just because you have a need but do not have the means to pay for it? Wouldn't it be theft? The issue with digital content(Operating systems, software, music, videos, ebooks) is that it is very easy to copy, store and transmit. This results in many of us, who would never steal something tangible, using pirated content even though it is the same as stealing. Personally, I have stopped downloading movie torrents, pirated e-books, and I use open source software. On the day of judgement, I do not want the Adobe folks complaining to Allah SWT that I stole from them. And Allah knows best.