Kufr,Shirk,Anime

Question

Does watching anime count as shirk? If not, then does talking about it count so because i talk about anime at school with friends. And i personally think that anime has no connection with real world, it is an imagination of someone and who has created anime also does not believe it. Some anime also consists of false gods and we know that we don't believe them and our intentions are clear.And we also watch with intrest. So, is it shirk or not?

Answer 1

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, Most Merciful

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. We cannot find words to praise Him, as He only sees fit how laudation should be addressed to Him. We seek refuge in God from the evils within ourselves and the evils of our bad deeds. Whosoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whosoever He leads astray will never find guidance. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the One without any associate, and We bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger and bondman, peace and blessings be upon him, his kith and kin, his Companions and all those who follow their guidance until the Day of Judgment.

---

Your Question:

Does watching anime count as shirk? If not, then does talking about it count so because i talk about anime at school with friends. And i personally think that anime has no connection with real world, it is an imagination of someone and who has created anime also does not believe it. Some anime also consists of false gods and we know that we don't believe them and our intentions are clear.And we also watch with intrest. So, is it shirk or not?

Answer:

Anime is a Japanese word referring to a specific type of cartoon or animated movie, or to a specific technique of making cartoons, in which many shots are based on zooming in and out on a single fixed (non-moving) image to give an impression of movement, in contrast to traditional cartoons which are based on hundreds of different images that vary slightly from one another so as to form a segment of movement. And no, you can't watch these cartoons that have shirk beliefs, because it will effect your faith if you are weak in faith. The Islamic texts forbid all sins and close the doors that lead to them; they forbid cooperating in sin and transgression, and imitating the sinners; and they explain that the one who loves a people will be gathered with them (on the Day of Resurrection) and the one who imitate is one of them.

Bad consequences of watching these type of cartoons:

Ibn al-Qayyim said, discussing the parent’s responsibilities in raising the child in Tuhfat al- Mawdood (241):

He should avoid letting him became lazy and inactive, and should teach him the opposite. He should not let him rest for more than he needs to refresh his body and soul for more work, for laziness and inactivity bring bad consequences and will end in regret, but hard work brings good consequences, either in this world or in the Hereafter or in both. End quote. 2 – They present beliefs and ideas that are contrary to Islam, as some movies include mixing and display of charms (tabarruj) that are haraam. Some cartoons, such as Tom & Jerry, give distorted ideas about the Hereafter, Paradise and Hell, and the Reckoning. Some cartoons include distortions of the stories of the Prophets and Messengers, and some poke fun at Islam and Muslims, whilst others (such as Pokemon) include the beliefs of eastern and idolatrous religions. And there are many other examples.

Conditions that make the permissible or forbidden

1. Including any element of ḥarām.

Something might be ḥalāl in itself, but the minute elements of ḥarām get involved, a person should stay away from it. For example, playing sports like cricket, football, soccer, or these types of things, in itself is ḥalāl, but if playing is going to make a person vulgar and abusive to his friends, then it is not permissible for such a person to play it even though it is permissible for others. The first thing is that it should not lead to what is ḥarām.

2. It should not consume much of our time

If one is playing video games for ten hours a day or one is watching two or three movies a day or one is watching cricket for five days in a row for six hours a day, then this can become ḥarām as you allow wasting time. To waste our time is not permissible in Islam. We should have entertainment in ways which refresh us without consuming all our time. Two hours a day or three hours a day is ok if you are spending the rest of the day in what is good in issues of ‘ibādah and work and family time. To let it consume your time is not permissible.

3. It should not consume much of your resources

Somebody who is spending all of his money on entertainment, this is not permissible. We are responsible for not only how we earn money but also how we spend it, so again, we need to balance our lifestyle and not be from those whom Allāh calls the musrifūn, those who are wasteful when it comes to spending their money.

Prohibited Forms of Entertainment

Gambling is completely prohibited. Any form of entertainment which involves shirk is also prohibited. Many times Muslims don’t realize when they are doing something for fun that it actually involves shirk. You will hear Muslims playing a game and one Muslim will tell his friend, “My character is omnipresent” or “My character is lives for eternity.” This is shirk. Only Allāh has these qualities. Even to give these qualities to characters in a game is not permissible.

Allah says:

"And it has already come down to you in the Book that when you hear the verses of Allah [recited], they are denied [by them] and ridiculed; so do not sit with them until they enter into another conversation. Indeed, you would then be like them. Indeed Allah will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers in Hell all together" [The Woman, 4:140]

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

"That is, if you sit with them and approve of what they are doing, then you are equal to them in the sin they are committing."

Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 3/278

As-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

"That is, if you sit with them in the situation mentioned then you are like them, because you have approved of their disbelief and mockery, and the one who approves of sin is like the one who does it. The point is that the one who attends a gathering in which Allah is disobeyed has an individual obligation to denounce them, if he is able to do so, or to get up and leave, if he not able to denounce it.

Tafseer as-Sa‘di, p. 210

It has been narrated on the authority of Umm Salama that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

"In the near future there will be Amirs and you will like their good deeds and dislike their bad deeds. One who sees through their bad deeds (and tries to prevent their repetition by his band or through his speech), is absolved from blame, but one who hates their bad deeds (in the heart of his heart, being unable to prevent their recurrence by his hand or his tongue), is (also) fafe ( so far as God's wrath is concerned). But one who approves of their bad deeds and imitates them is spiritually ruined. People asked (the Holy Prophet): "Shouldn't we fight against them?" He replied: "No, as long as they say their prayers."

[Sahih Muslim, 1854]

So whoever sits and listens to such evil or watches it is a partner in sin with those who do it. If it involves disbelief – Allah forbid – such as reviling Islam or casting aspersions upon the messages or the Messengers, or belittling the rulings and laws of Islam, or mocking them, such as the beard and niqab – as many misguided people do nowadays – and he sits and listens to them and does not get angry for the sake of Allah, and he is pleased with what they are saying, then he is like them.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

I am a religiously-committed young man. During these blessed nights [of Ramadan] I sit with some young people to relax, but sometimes someone may come along who smokes cigarettes or shisha. What should I do in that case?

He replied: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you sees an evil action, then let him change it with his hand [by taking action]; if he cannot, then with his tongue [by speaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart…” So if someone comes to your gathering and smokes a cigarette, advise him first, and if he stops that is good for you and for him. But if he does not stop and you are able to kick him out of the place, then kick him out, because you are able to change the evil with your hand (by taking action). But if you are not able to do that, because the place is not yours, then you should leave, because you are not able to change it with your words or with your actions, so what is left? The heart cannot denounce something and stay with the one who is doing it, so you should leave. Some people say that they sit with them whilst hating it in their hearts. But we say: Subhaan Allah! This is a contradiction. If you hate it in your heart, then who is forcing you to stay? There is no compulsion. Anyone who denounces something in his heart has no choice but to leave the place. If he claims that he hates it in his heart but he still stays in that place, then he is lying.

Al-Liqa’ ash-Shahri, 3/45

CONCLUSION: It is just sin but not shirk if you watch these types of anime that has false gods in it while you are disapproving of what they made, but if you start to like what you watch, then obviously you have fallen in disbelief and you have to repeat shahada. So the best advise for you is, just stay away from such polytheistic anime that can bring you harm and watch only something that is permissible and does not contradict Quran.

---

Sources:

1. 71170 - Ruling on animated drawings (cartoons)
2. Fiqh of Entertainment | Ismail Kamdar
3. Ruling on one who watches a film in which Islam is reviled or sharee‘ah is belittled