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Topic: Ruling on a Husband and Wife Recording Videos of Their Intimacy for Themselves

(No-60527)

Q Assalamu Alaikum, I am seeking Islamic guidance regarding a very difficult situation that I have been facing for several months.
After my marriage, my husband and I had made some private personal videos for ourselves only. They were made within our marriage and there was absolutely no intention of uploading, sharing, or showing them to anyone. We stopped making such videos afterwards.
Approximately 2.5 years after our marriage, when I became pregnant, my husbnd phone was hacked and these private videos were somehow leaked. Since then, someone has been repeatedly uploading my private/intimate videos online without my consent. I continuously report them and many are removed, but new accounts and uploads keep appearing. This has been going on for a long time and the situation seems to be getting worse. It has caused me severe emotional distress and has also affected my family and their honour.
I am currently pregnant as well, which has made this situation even more emotionally difficult for me.
I have become extremely worried from an Islamic perspective. I keep wondering whether making those private videos between husband and wife was a sin, whether the hardship I am facing now is a punishment from Allah because of it, or whether it is a test. I have sincerely repented to Allah, especially after this happened, and I recently performed Umrah where I also made sincere Tawbah and Dua. I regularly pray, make Dua, perform Tahajjud and ask Allah for forgiveness, but the problem is still continuing.
I would be very grateful if you could guide me according to the Quran and Sunnah regarding:
1. Is it sinful for a husband and wife to make private intimate recordings for themselves if there is no intention of showing or sharing them with anyone?
2. If it was a mistake to make them, does sincere Tawbah erase that sin?
3. Does the fact that these videos were later stolen through hacking and are now being distributed without my consent mean that I am being punished by Allah, or could this be a test/means of expiation?
4. How can I know whether Allah has accepted my Tawbah?
5. Why does my Dua seem unanswered even though I have been continuously asking Allah to stop this hardship?
6. What should I do Islamically when another person is ظلمing me by repeatedly spreading my private marital content without my consent?
7. What Duas and actions should I continue during this difficult time?
I am genuinely trying to return to Allah and I am extremely distressed and afraid. I need guidance and reassurance from the Quran and Sunnah rather than judgment. Jazakumullahu Khairan.

aIn the situation you have described, a husband and wife recording videos of their intimacy, even for themselves alone, was entirely improper and against ‘Haya’ (modesty). Repenting from it and avoiding it completely in future is obligatory.
However, a mistake on your part gives no one else the right to damage your honour and disgrace you in society. Severe warnings have come in the ahadith against exposing the private matters of a Muslim. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults on the Day of Judgement. And whoever exposes the faults of a Muslim, Allah will expose his faults, to the point of disgracing him within his own home." (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith: 2546)
It is therefore obligatory upon the person who did this to sincerely repent before Allah and to make every possible effort to remove the videos that were spread.
With this in mind, the answers to your questions are as follows:
1) Yes, a husband and wife recording videos of their intimacy is improper and against modesty. This is especially so in our times, when nothing stored on a phone or similar device is safe from being exposed. Making such videos should therefore be avoided.
2) Yes, every sin can be forgiven through sincere repentance from the heart. After repenting sincerely, one should never despair of Allah's mercy.
3) Circumstances sometimes arise in a person's life that leave them disheartened and distressed. Such times should be turned into a means of self-correction and returning to Allah, so that a person learns from past mistakes, avoids them in future, and strives to draw closer to Allah.
4) It is not possible to know with certainty whether Allah has accepted a person's repentance. However, after repenting sincerely, one should hold full hope in Allah's mercy that it has been accepted. Allah says in a hadith qudsi: "I am to My servant as he thinks of Me." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith: 7505) So place your trust in Allah's mercy and be confident that, Insha'Allah, your repentance has been accepted.
5) Insha'Allah, this difficulty of yours will also come to an end, provided you lift yourself out of despair, place your trust in Allah's mercy, and hold firm with patience.
6) Yes, the person who leaked your private videos and spread them in an attempt to disgrace you in society has wronged you, and taking legal action against them is your right. You may approach the relevant authorities to protect your legal rights.
7) In these difficult circumstances, hold firm with patience, supplicate to Allah abundantly, and make a regular practice of reciting "حَسْبُنَا اللّٰهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ عَلَى اللهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا" Place complete trust in Allah's mercy and His help.

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دلائل:

صحیح البخاری: (رقم الحدیث: 9)
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ «الإِيمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَسِتُّونَ شُعْبَةً، وَالحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الإِيمَانِ.»

سنن ابی داؤد: (رقم الحدیث: 4876)
عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ زَيْدٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:إِنَّ مِنْ أَرْبَى الرِّبَا الِاسْتِطَالَةَ فِي عِرْضِ الْمُسْلِمِ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ.

سنن ابن ماجه: (رقم الحدیث: 2546)
حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ حُمَيْدِ بْنِ كَاسِبٍ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ الْجُمَحِيُّ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏حَدَّثَنَا الْحَكَمُ بْنُ أَبَانَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏عَنِابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:‏‏‏‏ مَنْ سَتَرَ عَوْرَةَ أَخِيهِ الْمُسْلِمِ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏سَتَرَ اللَّهُ عَوْرَتَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏وَمَنْ كَشَفَ عَوْرَةَ أَخِيهِ الْمُسْلِمِ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏كَشَفَ اللَّهُ عَوْرَتَهُ حَتَّى يَفْضَحَهُ بِهَا فِي بَيْتِهِ.

صحیح البخاری: (رقم الحدیث: 7505)
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ قَالَ اللَّهُ أَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي.

سنن الترمذی: (رقم الحدیث: 2431)
عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَيْفَ أَنْعَمُ وَصَاحِبُ الْقَرْنِ قَدْ الْتَقَمَ الْقَرْنَ وَاسْتَمَعَ الْإِذْنَ مَتَى يُؤْمَرُ بِالنَّفْخِ فَيَنْفُخُ فَكَأَنَّ ذَلِكَ ثَقُلَ عَلَى أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ لَهُمْ قُولُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ عَلَى اللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا.

Allah the Almighty knows best.
Darul ifta Al-Ikhlas, Karachi.

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