Writing to TV channels to deny evils they show
21-6-2017 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. If I see something haram being shown on TV, like women or music, is it obligatory upon me to send an email to the TV channel telling them that it is haram and to stop this? Should I do this every time I see a channel doing this? Or should I only tell them once? Should I send emails to all the channels or only to a few? Should I explain to non-Muslim channels, using logic, that this (women, music, and so on) should not be done?
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.
There is no doubt that writing to those channels and forbidding them to commit evil or calling them to Islam and to abide by it [Islam] is a great act of worship, and you will be rewarded for it, Allah willing.
As regards being obliged to do so, then we do not see that it is obligatory as there is hardship and overburdening oneself in doing so given that there are numerous channels that show evil matters. Saying that it is obligatory to write to them all involves great hardship, especially since it is predominantly thought that they will not respond; so, in this case, it is not obligatory to deny evil, according to some scholars.
As-Saffaareeni said in his commentary on Manthoomat Al-Aadaab:
“Is it a condition or not, in enjoining good and forbidding evil, that there is hope that the objective will be achieved? There are two narrations from Imaam Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, in this regard. Abul-Haarith reported that it is obligatory, and Hanbal reported the opposite. Nihaayat Al-Mubtadi’een reads, ‘It is obligatory to deny evil if it is known that the objective will be achieved and there is no one else to do it. It was reported as well from (Imaam) Ahmad that it is obligatory if it is expected that the objective will be achieved; this was also mentioned by Ibn Al-Jawzi; and another view holds that one should deny evil even if he is in despair from achieving the objective and he fears harm or Fitnah (affliction/temptation).’”
Therefore, you may write to those channels to forbid them to commit evil according to your ability, and you will be rewarded, Allah willing, but you are not obliged to do what you are unable to do or in which you encounter unbearable hardship.
We ask Allah to pardon us and grant us safety from every evil.
Allah knows best.