The Leader of the Revolution’s Fatwa on Facebook
[Question:]
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Ayatollah Khamenei,
Greetings and respect. Considering that the website Facebook has been blocked from Iran, is there a problem in entering such a site only to keep in touch with friends and without misbehavior against the Islamic Republic’s national interests?
Thank you.
[Answer:]
In His exalted name.
Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and His blessings.
It is generally not permitted if it entails corruption (such as spreading corruption, spreading lies and vain articles) or if there is fear of being culpable of sin or if it will lead to the strengthening of the enemies of Islam and the Muslims. Otherwise, there is no obstacle to it.
May you succeed and be succored.
[Explanation:]
The above decision has been expressed in the form of a fatwa, i.e., determining the applicability is left up to the subject. It is expressed only as a general decision. Determining whether these conditions apply regarding activity on Facebook or not is left up to the subject.
A point which is determined in the above decision is that should this activity lead to the strengthening of the enemies of Islam and the Muslims, it is not permitted, while the nature of the internet is based on gathering information and the more who utilize it and who recognize fewer restrictions on utilizing it, the more information is provided to intelligence networks and so this leads to the strengthening of the enemies.
It seems that this decision is about activity on this site does not absolutely forbid it and does not confirm that it is permitted. Rather, it is somewhere in the middle. In any case, determining the application of this decision is up to you yourselves.