Reference: al-Muntaqaa min Fataawa Fadheelatush-Shaykh Saalih Ibn Fowzaan – Volume 2, Page 222, Fatwa No. 193
Question: What is the ruling on acting in plays? And what is the ruling on writing fictional stories?
Response: Acting in plays is from the avenues of false talk that have been introduced to the Muslim lands. It is not permissible to take part in them nor to occupy oneself with them. In them are lies and contradictions to reality. The actors degrade respected personalities that they pretend to be. There is also in them an imitation of the disbelieving celebrities as well. There are a number of other dangers.
Some of the mashaayikh have written about this, may Allaah reward them well. They have written valuable books personifying their harms and warning from them, like what the virtuous Shaykh, Dr. Bakr Aboo Zayd wrote, and like what the virtuous Shaykh ‘Abdus-Salaam ibn Burjis Aali ‘Abdil-Kareem wrote, and like what the Shaykh Hamood at-Tuwayjiree wrote. So reveiw them and what is found in them regarding the benefits [of plays and fictional stories], since the real harms that result from them are many times more. And preventing harm takes a precedence over gaining benefit.
