Publishing books containing images of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) family and his Companions
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Fatwa No. ( 17970 )
All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from a publishing company in Japan via the General Secretary of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, with number (2370) and date 20/5/1416 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is as follows: Our company wants to publish a series of books introducing the famous religions of the world, comprising 14 books, one of which is (Introduction to the Islamic Religion). We aim to make the information accurate and simplified, and in fluent Japanese with images, so that it is easy for the Japanese reader to comprehend and understand it. The Japanese do not read religious books, and if they want to read them, they must be easy to read and understand; therefore, these books must be illustrated and in simple language. Our company has a reputation among the Japanese for publishing such books;
therefore, we want to publish a book about Islam in simple, fluent language with images, so that the Japanese can comprehend Islam. We consulted the Islamic Center in Japan regarding publishing images of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his wives and the Rightly Guided Caliphs , and they prohibited us from doing so. When we insisted, they gave us a dispensation to publish the images, and the Center advised us to write this letter to present to the scholars and muftis. We want to publish a book about Islam, and we offer you the following alternatives regarding the issue of images, and whichever one you agree with and see no harm in publishing in our book: A- Publishing an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his family, wives, and the four Caliphs, with their faces clearly shown. We know that this is not valid in Islam. 2- We limit ourselves to publishing an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - with his body but without showing his face, but we publish full images of his family, wives, and the four Caliphs. 3- We publish images of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his family and wives with their bodies, without showing their faces, but we publish images of the four Caliphs with their faces. 4- We do not publish images of Muhammad, but we publish images of his family, wives, and the four Caliphs.
5- We publish a full image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) -, but we do not write under the image "This is Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) -". 6- We publish a full image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - with the writing underneath that this is not valid in Islam. 7- We publish an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - such that it is not clearly visible, but we publish clear images of his family, wives, and the four Caliphs. We ask you to study this matter and kindly give your opinion on it, and choose the most appropriate of the alternatives mentioned. If you see that they are all incorrect, we ask you to kindly guide us with the appropriate opinion for the conditions of Japan, which is a non-Islamic country, and the Japanese do not know Islam well, nor do they know the Arab countries. It is necessary to present Islam to the Japanese along with the biography of the Prophet Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - with images, so that the Japanese understand Islam in a simplified, easy, and attractive way. For this reason, I ask you to grant a dispensation to publish an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his family, wives, and the four Caliphs.
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry, it answered that depicting beings with souls is forbidden, severely forbidden, and a major sin; because of the warning of curse and Fire for it, and that the image-makers are the most severely punished of people on the Day of Resurrection, and that they are the most unjust of people.
Depicting the Prophet - (peace and blessings be upon him) - or depicting any of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), especially his wives and his Caliphs, is even more forbidden; because of the fitnah in it and the fear of shirk (associating partners with Allah) through them, and because of the humiliation of their noble personalities through these images which are claimed to represent their personalities. Therefore, it is obligatory to prevent that and refrain from it; out of respect for the status of the Prophet - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and the position of his Companions - (may Allah be pleased with them) -, and to prevent a means of shirk; because shirk occurred among the people of Noah when they depicted the righteous and erected their images above their seats, and being captivated by images of the Prophet - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and images of his wives and Caliphs is more severe and more dangerous. We advise you to explain Islam to the Japanese through speech, with clarification of verses and hadiths through the da'is (preachers) sent to Japan , affiliated with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Guidance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , and in that is sufficiency, and praise be to Allah. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from a publishing company in Japan via the General Secretary of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, with number (2370) and date 20/5/1416 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is as follows: Our company wants to publish a series of books introducing the famous religions of the world, comprising 14 books, one of which is (Introduction to the Islamic Religion). We aim to make the information accurate and simplified, and in fluent Japanese with images, so that it is easy for the Japanese reader to comprehend and understand it. The Japanese do not read religious books, and if they want to read them, they must be easy to read and understand; therefore, these books must be illustrated and in simple language. Our company has a reputation among the Japanese for publishing such books;
therefore, we want to publish a book about Islam in simple, fluent language with images, so that the Japanese can comprehend Islam. We consulted the Islamic Center in Japan regarding publishing images of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his wives and the Rightly Guided Caliphs , and they prohibited us from doing so. When we insisted, they gave us a dispensation to publish the images, and the Center advised us to write this letter to present to the scholars and muftis. We want to publish a book about Islam, and we offer you the following alternatives regarding the issue of images, and whichever one you agree with and see no harm in publishing in our book: A- Publishing an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his family, wives, and the four Caliphs, with their faces clearly shown. We know that this is not valid in Islam. 2- We limit ourselves to publishing an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - with his body but without showing his face, but we publish full images of his family, wives, and the four Caliphs. 3- We publish images of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his family and wives with their bodies, without showing their faces, but we publish images of the four Caliphs with their faces. 4- We do not publish images of Muhammad, but we publish images of his family, wives, and the four Caliphs.
5- We publish a full image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) -, but we do not write under the image "This is Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) -". 6- We publish a full image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - with the writing underneath that this is not valid in Islam. 7- We publish an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - such that it is not clearly visible, but we publish clear images of his family, wives, and the four Caliphs. We ask you to study this matter and kindly give your opinion on it, and choose the most appropriate of the alternatives mentioned. If you see that they are all incorrect, we ask you to kindly guide us with the appropriate opinion for the conditions of Japan, which is a non-Islamic country, and the Japanese do not know Islam well, nor do they know the Arab countries. It is necessary to present Islam to the Japanese along with the biography of the Prophet Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - with images, so that the Japanese understand Islam in a simplified, easy, and attractive way. For this reason, I ask you to grant a dispensation to publish an image of Muhammad - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and his family, wives, and the four Caliphs.
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry, it answered that depicting beings with souls is forbidden, severely forbidden, and a major sin; because of the warning of curse and Fire for it, and that the image-makers are the most severely punished of people on the Day of Resurrection, and that they are the most unjust of people.
Depicting the Prophet - (peace and blessings be upon him) - or depicting any of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), especially his wives and his Caliphs, is even more forbidden; because of the fitnah in it and the fear of shirk (associating partners with Allah) through them, and because of the humiliation of their noble personalities through these images which are claimed to represent their personalities. Therefore, it is obligatory to prevent that and refrain from it; out of respect for the status of the Prophet - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and the position of his Companions - (may Allah be pleased with them) -, and to prevent a means of shirk; because shirk occurred among the people of Noah when they depicted the righteous and erected their images above their seats, and being captivated by images of the Prophet - (peace and blessings be upon him) - and images of his wives and Caliphs is more severe and more dangerous. We advise you to explain Islam to the Japanese through speech, with clarification of verses and hadiths through the da'is (preachers) sent to Japan , affiliated with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Guidance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , and in that is sufficiency, and praise be to Allah. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.