Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Can I still play video games?

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Assalam-u-alaikum,Being a teenager, I like to play games, Recently I played a game in which it had some very bad scenes, I didn't want to watch that stuff but I watched it accidently. How can I ask forgiveness for this? I just want to play the game and I don't want to see these images so can I still play the game?

IamMuslim


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  1. Assalaamualaikam

    It can be very hard to make sure we don't expose ourselves to such unsuitable scenes - they can seem to be everywhere in popular culture. May Allah guide us to stay on the straight path and resist such things.

    There are a few ways that we can reduce the risk of encountering these things in our sources of entertainment. For example:-
    - Before buying a new book/DVD/game or going to see something in the cinema, check the reviews - if it says there are scenes that are inappropriate, then avoid that book/DVD/game/film/etc.
    - Check the rating given to the item (in the UK, for example, an 18-certificate game is far more likely to have violence and unpleasant scenes than a 12-certificate one - although that doesn't mean the 12-certificate one is necessarily ok...)
    - Think about the plot - if something's to do with, for example, fighting or witchcraft or romance, it's likely to be much less suitable.
    - Before you start playing a game, think about whether you would feel ok playing it if your mother happened to be in the room. If you wouldn't want to play it in front of your mother, you probably shouldn't be doing it before Allah.

    Make sure that you're keeping a balance in your life - don't spend too much time playing computer games. There's an amazing world out there, so don't miss out on it.

    Midnightmoon
    IslamicAnswers.com editor

  2. Salaams,

    I think your sensitivity to what you saw shows how damaging such media can be, which most people don't think about. If you expose yourself to violent or disturbing images over and over, you become desensitized to it and it scrambles your natural moral compass. It also skews your sense of appropriate guilt.

    Video games in and of themselves are not the problem. It's the type of video game. For example, playing MarioCart is not going to affect you in a significant way, but Assassin's Creed will. It sounds like the video game you were playing has content that most Muslims would find objectionable if it were happening in real life, so I suggest you don't play that one in particular (or those similar to it), since it's obviously impossible to play a game without viewing the scenes in it.

    You can make tawba for it as you would for any mistake, but the important piece is changing your path. You really have to make sure the games you have are appropriate and do not have haram or violent content. At your age, it seems like a small thing but it will actually have a huge impact on your character development and you will see the effect as you get older in shaa Allah.

    -Amy
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

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