Comments on: Open Letter to all Islamic Lecture Providers

By: Wuala: The Future of Popular File Sharing and Storage | genieyclo

Wuala: The Future of Popular File Sharing and Storage | genieyclo — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:33:20 +0000

[...] server and after that it’s broken up into something like pieces of puzzle as MujahideenRyder described. Wuala is doesn’t do this and furthermore, it has a much more interactive and dynamic [...]

By: Khadija

Khadija — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:32:41 +0000

Thank you UmmZaid. Say it once more louder. Times have changed.
Scholars are no longer supported. Even the money they make off the people who do buy the lectures is not very much. Like it is always repeated, Muslims are willing to spend their money on good quality etc, etc, but not good quality Islamic products. People often bring up people who can’t afford these products. I’m sorry but I think the majority of people that are pirating or downloading CAN afford these cds and dvds etc. It’s just NOT what they choose to spend their money on. Hold back on the extra pair of Puma sneakers or whatever. It’s wrong. These people need to be financially supported. In my opinion, if one can’t afford these things, then there is a myriad of free knowledge on the net etc…It’s not like every Islamic lecture is for sale!! It’s not like anyone is holding back pamphlets of what the 5 pillars are or qurans until they get money.

By: Sulayman F

Sulayman F — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:32:20 +0000

Exellent topic, a discussion on this is long overdue. I like the comments on this so far

By: Atif

Atif — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:49:21 +0000

MR,
I would only want any commercial at the end of the lecture if it’s long. If it’s short, such as “Brought to you by ABC Halal marshmallows!”, then it could be in the beginning (just like how “Ask Baba Ali” does it)

By: Siraaj Muhammad

Siraaj Muhammad — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:41:51 +0000

MR,

Read Suhaib Webb’s explanation of the hadeeth on immitating the kuffaar – although the topic itself is not relevant to what you’ve posted, within that discussion Imam Suhaib mentions when and why (sort of like an afterthought) we changed from no payment for knowledge to paying for knowledge.

Great brainstorming, I’m inclined to agreeing with ManofFewWords and others who had that opinion, but I like your train of thought, may Allah subhaana wa ta’aala reward you for it. Keep thinking, insha’Allah you find a really awesome solution and that’ll be lots of reward, insha’Allah.

Siraaj

By: MR

MR — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:15:44 +0000

Atif said:

I don’t want commercials in my islamic videos personally mainly for the reason it’s annoying.

What if the commercial was advertising an Islamic event? Or advertising Halal Meat store? What if the commercial was just at the beginning of the lecture and in between the question and session and the actual lecture?

I’m not saying that to put it every 10 minutes within the lecture. But to generate income by allowing advertisers to advertise on the video at an appropriate location.

By: Atif

Atif — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:39:16 +0000

I don’t want commercials in my islamic videos personally mainly for the reason it’s annoying. On sunnipath and other sites, it doesn’t waste 30 seconds of my time to read an ad.
It will also be frustrating to try to share with bros (who don’t usually listen to/watch lectures) when they have to sit through ads. It will turn a lot of people off.
What *could* work is if they have ads at the END of a video. Ilmquest does this with their cds, by giving audio samples of their own works. That way, a person is not compelled to watch an ad.

By: Mehedi

Mehedi — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:36:40 +0000

Assalamu’alykum,

I have thought about this issue myself and had similar idea in my mind. However due to Muslim companies and “record label” being very restricted, I thought it would be almost impossible to agree on such solution.

By: Brother

Brother — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:21:04 +0000

http://maqasid.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/shaykh-jamal-zarobozo-on-the-copyright-issue/

By: Umm Zaid

Umm Zaid — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:10:23 +0000

Salaam ‘Alaikum

No, I suppose that traditionally, scholars didn’t charge for the dissemination of knowledge — because they didn’t have to. The awqaf and the Ummah supported them with dignity and honor. That same situation does not occur today.

In add’n, when people justify spreading lectures and videos without payment, they say that “knowledge is free.” Okay, but the video cameras, microphones & audio equipment, editing software, production, and facility rental isn’t. When people sell DVDs or CDs of lectures and classes, *that* is what the money pays for — it’s not just “supporting the scholars.” It’s supporting the Muslims who have already laid out their money and time to make these events happen and capture them for the benefit of those who could not attend. Not that I think Muslims will care or understand about this — not until it is *their* right and effort that is being walked on.

Subscription based services (at a decent, affordable price), yes, advertisements (SunniPath.com no longer has advertising on their site), and the establishment of awqaf to support these endevors — all would allow both the scholars and the producers to receive fair compensation for the *work* that they have done. And isn’t there a sahih hadith about paying someone for his *work* before the sweat dries? Believe me, getting up to deliver a lecture is as much work as those of us who sit down at computer screens and work for the man everyday… yadda yadda.