Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterDonating English Books That Contain Prohibited Content and the Word
Question
Assalamu ‘AlikumWe have some books, mostly for children and some for adults, written in English. They are mostly fiction books, and may contain haram content: magic, haram or inappropriate relationships with nonmahrams, etc. How do we dispose of these books? Do we throw them in the trash knowing someone might read them? Can we recycle them or donate them? Or rip up the pages? Also some have the word God in them (like a character saying “Oh my God”), how should we deal with that?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad (
) is His slave and Messenger.
You may donate any books that are free of objectionable or prohibited content. As for books that contain prohibited material, you are Islamically required to destroy them by burning, tearing them up, or by similar means.
As for your concern that some of these books contain expressions such as "Oh my God," this does not prevent them from being destroyed by burning, tearing, or similar methods.
Allah Knows best
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
