Keeping photographic pictures in albums for remembrance, placed in the closet, what is the ruling on what I have done?
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Question:
He asks and says: I keep photographic pictures in albums for remembrance, and these albums are placed in the closet, so what is the ruling on what I have done? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Praise be to Allah, and may the prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the image-makers and informed that they areSahih Muslim 2109a, and that on the Day of Resurrection they will be told: "Bring to life what you have created," and they will be tasked with blowing the soul into every image they have made, as a form of torment for them; for they are unable to blow the soul, as the soul is from the command of Allah, and this is only a means of tormenting them. Likewise, a soul will be assigned to them for every image they have made, by which they will be tormented in the Fire of Hell. All of this is supported by authentic hadiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He also informed that they are the worst of creation and the most unjust of people, which indicates the severity of the prohibition of image-making and its use. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also informed that the angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image, and he ordered 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) not to leave any image without defacing it, and not to leave any raised grave without leveling it. This is because image-making involves imitating the creation of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and because it is a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah). Indeed, shirk first occurred in the world due to image-making. The people of Noah made images of the righteous and erected them in their places of gathering. Time passed, and Satan made their worship of these images attractive to them, so they worshipped them instead of Allah. Similarly, the Children of Israel were led astray by the calf statue that al-Samiri made for them, and they took it as a god. Likewise, the people of Ibrahim (Abraham) committed shirk by worshipping statues, where the friend of Allah, Ibrahim, said to them: [Al-Anbya 21:52-53] to the end of the verses.
The conclusion is that image-making is not permissible, and keeping images is not permissible. Keeping images is not permissible, nor is using them, given the religious dangers involved and the severe warning incurred. This excludes necessary images that have become essential in people's dealings, such as images for identity cards, passports, personal ID cards, and driver's licenses. These are matters in which the presence of an image is obligatory because they are imposed on people, and they cannot obtain their necessary interests without this image. These are permitted due to dire necessity. However, keeping images for the sake of memories is a forbidden matter and is not permissible. It is obligatory to destroy these images and clear the homes of Muslims of them, whether they are statues, drawings on paper, or photographic pictures, because they are pure harm. Or something like that, if these images are of beautiful women, or naked women, or women with uncovered faces, then the matter increases another danger, which is fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), and leading people through these images to fitnah and being captivated by women. It is obligatory to destroy these images, except for images that are despicable, such as those that are stepped on, sat upon, or used as a mat, and have no value. These are despicable images with no ruling. The issue lies with the images that are kept for memories or other reasons; these are the ones that are forbidden.
He asks and says: I keep photographic pictures in albums for remembrance, and these albums are placed in the closet, so what is the ruling on what I have done? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Praise be to Allah, and may the prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the image-makers and informed that they are
the most grievously tormented people on the Day of Resurrection
أشد الناس عذابا يوم القيامة"What are these statues to which you are devoted?" (53) They said, "We found our fathers worshippers of them."
مَا هَٰذِهِ التَّمَاثِيلُ الَّتِي أَنتُمْ لَهَا عَاكِفُونَ قَالُوا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا لَهَا عَابِدِينَThe conclusion is that image-making is not permissible, and keeping images is not permissible. Keeping images is not permissible, nor is using them, given the religious dangers involved and the severe warning incurred. This excludes necessary images that have become essential in people's dealings, such as images for identity cards, passports, personal ID cards, and driver's licenses. These are matters in which the presence of an image is obligatory because they are imposed on people, and they cannot obtain their necessary interests without this image. These are permitted due to dire necessity. However, keeping images for the sake of memories is a forbidden matter and is not permissible. It is obligatory to destroy these images and clear the homes of Muslims of them, whether they are statues, drawings on paper, or photographic pictures, because they are pure harm. Or something like that, if these images are of beautiful women, or naked women, or women with uncovered faces, then the matter increases another danger, which is fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), and leading people through these images to fitnah and being captivated by women. It is obligatory to destroy these images, except for images that are despicable, such as those that are stepped on, sat upon, or used as a mat, and have no value. These are despicable images with no ruling. The issue lies with the images that are kept for memories or other reasons; these are the ones that are forbidden.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، أحتفظ بصور فتوغرافية داخل البومات للذكرى موضوعة في الخزانة، فما حكم ما فعلت؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
