IslamQA: Are we responsible if we influence others to sin?

Salam, I was wondering;we are told that we are not responsible for the sins of others but I also heard that if you influence someone else to sin then you get a portion of the sin? what about for example a parent that influences the kid to take out an interest based loan or refuses to let them marry so they commit zina. Or parenting where a kid doesn’t know what’s haram & so does it. Or in general if you publicize your sins & someone partakes in it due to that. do you get a portion of their sin?

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

The Quran does say that people who misguide others will have a share of the sins that the others commit. So if a person sins but the sin is because of the influence of another person (as in a parent pressuring a child to get an interest-bearing loan), then both will have some responsibility for the sin. Since parents are considered to have a responsibility to teach good morality to their children, if a child sins because their parents did not teach them it is wrong, then the parents can be held responsible for that. The Prophet says “All of you are shepherds and all of you are responsible for your flocks.” This means that we are responsible for the problems that occur under our circle of influence.

We do not know exactly how these portions are calculated. But we know that they exist. But we also know that God is just and forgiving, and that He does not burden a soul beyond the powers and knowledge that He has already given it. So a person who misguides another due to a lack of knowledge or other weakness will be more likely to be forgiven than a person who knowingly misguides others or causes them to fall into sin one way or another. If a parent refuses to let a son or daughter marry and this causes them to sin then clearly they bear some responsibility for that sin.