Question:
Suppose in a country like Iran an Israeli female spy builds relationships with the families of Iranian officials and gathers intelligence through them. Likewise, when people from one country go to another country pretending to work or do business while secretly collecting information for their own nation — can Muslims engage in such activities?
Answer:
Now look at the world today. Every country conduct espionage.
Take India as an example.
India has spies in many countries. Some are officially declared intelligence officers, and others go under the cover of ordinary professions — pretending to work or do business there while secretly collecting information useful to India.
Likewise, in India itself there are spies from many other countries. If a country wants to know what is happening inside India, they simply send spies to gather that information.
Spies are sent in many forms. Sometimes they are not even recognized as spies. They blend into society and secretly gather information.
So the question is: Is it permissible in Islam to secretly observe and investigate the private affairs of others like this?
In other words: Is espionage allowed in Islam?
The General Rule: Spying Is Forbidden
As far as spying is concerned, the general rule in Islam is very clear: No person should spy on another person.
Why do we say this? Because Allahﷻ clearly forbids it in the Qur’an.
In Surah Al-Hujurat (49:12) Allahﷻ says: “Do not spy on one another.”
Meaning: Do not search into people’s private matters. Do not secretly investigate what others are doing.
There is a clear command: “Do not spy.”
For example: A man lives next door.
Instead of minding our own affairs, we try to discover what he is doing inside his house.
We spend time peeping through the window. Or secretly place a hidden camera to observe him.
Or send someone inside pretending to be a worker so that we can gather information.
All of these actions are forbidden in Islam.
No Muslim should take up a profession whose purpose is to pry into another person’s private life.
Because what we call “secrets” are often a person’s personal matters. Islam does not allow us to desire or attempt to uncover such private matters.
The Example of Umar (RA)
There is a famous incident from the time of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (RA).
During his caliphate, Umar used to patrol the city at night.
One night, while patrolling with Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf (RA), they passed by a house from which loud noises and laughter were coming. It sounded as if people inside were drinking and making a disturbance.
Umar said, “They seem to be drinking inside. Shall we enter and catch them?”
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf replied: “If we enter the house, we will be spying. And Allahﷻ has forbidden spying.”
He reminded Umar of the Qur’anic command. He said: “If someone drinks openly in public, you may punish him. But if he drinks inside his home, what concern is it of yours?”
Upon hearing this, Umar agreed and turned back. Even though he was the ruler with the authority to punish wrongdoing, he did not violate the command of Allahﷻ by spying. This teaches us something important: Every human being has a sphere of privacy.
Certain things done privately may not harm others. Some might even be sinful actions between the individual and Allahﷻ — but that does not mean we are allowed to spy on them.
When Spying Becomes Permissible?
Suppose I receive reliable information that someone is planning to harm me.
For example: Someone tells me; “Certain people are meeting at such-and-such place and planning to kill you.”
In such a situation, what should I do? Should I simply ignore it? Of course not.
Every person has the right to self-defense. If there is credible information that someone intends to kill a person, it becomes necessary to monitor that individual’s movements to protect oneself.
In such a case we might tell someone: “Follow him discreetly. Observe what he is doing and what he is planning.” This kind of surveillance is allowed because it is self-protection. We are not spying to expose his personal life. We are trying to discover what harm he plans against us so that we can protect ourselves.
Similarly, if we suspect that a group, an organization, or even a neighbor is planning harm against us, we have the right to investigate that threat.
Espionage for National Defense
The same principle applies at the level of nations. Suppose a country is preparing for war against another country.
How can a nation defend itself without knowing:
- how strong the enemy is,
- how many soldiers they have,
- what weapons they possess,
- what strategy they are planning?
Therefore, governments are responsible for protecting their citizens. If they fail to gather intelligence and the enemy attacks suddenly, they would be failing in their duty to protect their people.
So, what must they do? They must try to gather information about the enemy — their numbers, weapons, and plans.
This type of intelligence gathering is permissible because it is done for defense and protection.
Evidence from Hadith
There are also hadith that support this principle. For example, in Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 2846) during the Battle of the Trench (Ahzab), the Prophetﷺ ﷺ asked the companions:
“Who will go and bring me information about the enemy?” He repeated the question several times.
Finally, Zubair ibn al-Awwam volunteered.
The Prophetﷺ ﷺ praised him and said: “Every Prophetﷺ has a close disciple, and my close disciple is Zubair.” He then sent Zubair to gather intelligence about the enemy.
This clearly shows that intelligence gathering in matters of war and defense is allowed.
The Prohibition of “Honey-Trap” Espionage
However, the way espionage is practiced today in many countries is often extremely immoral. One of the common methods used is called a “honey trap.”
In this method, a beautiful woman is sent to seduce a man in order to extract secrets from him. She pretends to fall in love with him, builds an intimate relationship, and eventually gains access to confidential information. Many intelligence agencies around the world uses this method.
Islam does not permit such disgraceful methods. Sending a woman to seduce someone, stimulating sexual desire, and using immoral relationships to obtain secrets is completely haram.
If intelligence gathering is done for legitimate defense, it must still remain within the moral boundaries of Islam.