Film

Film, also called movie or motion picture, is a visual art-form used to simulate experiences that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty or atmosphere, by the means of recorded or programmed moving images, along with sound (and more rarely) other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it.
The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 1 anno fa

If you know that there is No God but Allah, and your watching will not cause support to the wrong, then it is permissible.

'Wassalam.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 1 anno fa

 Films or series should not waste time which our most valuable capital in this life. Watching films or series etc is permissible as far as it does not contain sinful contents which are not only sinful scenes but any other sinful content.

Wassalam.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 1 anno fa

Promoting sinful acts is a sinful act, and earning from any sinful act is unlawful.

Muslim should never work or help in promoting un-Islamic thinking or behaving.

'Wassalam.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 2 anni fa

You need to mute the sound when sinful background music starts and keep mute till such music finishes.

Wassalam.

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 2 anni fa

This is a good question.

Apart from obvious things pertaining to content (for instance, avoiding gratuitous profanity or explicitness; falsities; poor ethics such as promoting racism or theft; or slander), it is good to consider one's intention in creating the piece, since the intention will be transmitted through the piece. Of course, sometimes one's intention is entirely practical (such as doing a paid job), or something may seem to have little to no ethical impact, but still it is good to have a sound intention.

It is also good to consider how the piece will impact the world. 

Gaming introduces some specific ethical considerations. While I am not against computer/video games (and in fact find the link between games and religion/spirituality to be quite intriguing), from an ethical perspective, it has to be admitted that games are often intentionally designed to be addictive. Furthermore, there may be impacts, particularly on children, with respect to the attention span, or due to exposure to excessive violence and hormonal/chemical reactions to that. On the other hand, some games are quite useful for things such as learning. So if you want to take ethics into consideration when designing computer/video games, it is worth considering current research and concerns about these things; overall, the effect of digital technology on the brain is still unclear. 

When producing content for social media which promotes a person or product, there is also the ethical consideration (from an Islamic viewpoint) that one should not feed the ego (nafs), and that it is poor ethics to engage in self-glorification or self-promotion (except in specific circumstances, like if one is applying for a job and it is necessary). So one has to balance current social requirements (i.e. living in a culture of "likes" in which many people commodify their image online) with a classical sense of Islamic ethics and spirituality. This isn't an easy yes-or-no question but rather goes under the overall category of intention, keeping in mind that people can easily become confused about their intention and, for instance, post a lot of selfies "for the sake of Allah" because they are involved in a religious cause, whereas it is really just feeding the ego/self. 

Some people consider the creation of art or writing to involve some sort of spiritual inspiration. This inspiration could be from Allah, aspects of the higher world promoting truth from Allah, or elsewhere. If one feels the inspiration is unhealthy (for instance, Iblis), one could take that into consideration. Inshallah this will not be the case with what you create, but possibly it relates to some things that have come into popular culture (such as some television shows) which have had (in my view) socially destructive messages. But of course is not good to get too worried about this as it may cause needless anxiety. I am just mentioning it because it is sometimes discussed among artists.

In any case, there is definitely a need for Muslims to be at the forefront of creating media of all sorts, including books, movies, and games, so it is excellent to be in this field. Media is power, and any power can be used for good or for ill. 

I am sure there will be other responses to this too. 

Happy writing and creating!

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 3 anni fa

Films containing indecent language must be avoided because it is harmful to the mind and heart. Indecent language leaves its bad effect on the person who listens to it.

Wassalam.

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Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 4 anni fa

Bismihi ta'ala

Yes, it is permissible to watch movies, or series, or TV in general, for both men and women, as long as it does not entail anything haram. 

Of course, what is meant by entailing haram, or even spiritually bad/immoral, are things like haram lust, haram gaze. Also, being negatively influenced is another important thing to always keep in mind. We can see how damaging this cultural invasion is, systematically making the world desensitised towards certain unethical practises. 

This is why we can see that our esteemed jurists have at times prohibited the watching of programs or series coming from certain countries with bad agendas and subliminal messages. 

It is a matter of not just being religiously responsible, but also alert and aware of not becoming negatively influenced or change our Islamic mindset due to being "brainwashed" by constant viewing of negative propaganda. 

Another point I would like to add is moderation. No need for "binging-viewing". Balance your free time, with various activities, and your priority should always be that you are healthy, physically, spiritually and mentally. 

With prayers for your success. 

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 5 anni fa

If the place is made for sinful acts, Muslim must avoid places made for sinful acts. If the place was made for general amusement, not only sinful, then it will be allowed as far as the gathering itself does not include sinful acts like sinful music or songs or dance, etc.

Wassalam.

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Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 5 anni fa

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

One should be careful as this industry is one full of corruption and things which contradict Islam. Many movies contain roles which wouldn’t be suitable for Muslims . If however there are specific films which wouldn’t contradict Islamic values then this isn’t an issue to participate in them. 

 Choosing such a career could put one into some unwanted situations so one should try to assess the situations accordingly. 

May Allah grant you success