I am working in Saudi Arabia for the past five years. Six months ago my sponsor opened an Internet Cafe and shifted me there. Now I feel very bad to work in this Internet Cafe because many customers come here and ask me to open dirty sites. I always insist on not opening them but they do not listen to me. Being a practising Muslim, I don’t want to be involved in this act. What should I do? I cannot get another visa as it costs more and my family is fully dependent on me.
When a person is forced to do some evil and he has no other option, it is hoped that the Almighty would forgive him. In your case also, it seems that circumstances are such that inspite of wanting to remain away from evil you are forced into it; you seem to have no other option but to continue. But keep asking for the forgiveness of Allah and also keep praying to Him to help you in finding a way out.
One must remember that the Almighty always holds a person accountable according to his circumstances. We have one very clear precedent from the Qur’ān which shows how extenuating circumstances affect the extent of accountability. We know that during the Prophet’s times, there were people who forced their slave girls to prostitution. They would compel them into this heinous crime and thereby earn money. If we look at the conditions of slavery which prevailed in the Prophets times, it becomes clear that it was so very rampant in that society, and there were dozens of slaves owned by a single person. All these slaves, whether men or women, were totally dependent on their masters for their livelihood, and, the way things were in Arabia at that time, it was very difficult for them to think of any other economic activity independently. So the Qur’ān never demanded from these slave girls forced to prostitution to run away from their masters. Instead, it comforted them by saying that if in spite of wanting to refrain from this abomination and having a severe dislike and aversion for it, they were driven into it by their masters, the Almighty shall forgive them:
But if anyone compels them, Allah will be Forgiving and Merciful to them. (24:33)