Is photographic image-making permissible?

Question : The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, I read in your book *Al-Majmu' al-Thamin* a ruling on the status of the photographic image, and it seemed to me that I understood it to be lawful. Is this correct?

Answer : What I see is that the instant photographic image does not fall under the image-making that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade.
This is because the actor did not attempt to rival the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); he did not draw the eye, the nose, or the lips. Rather, he sent a specific radiation through this machine, and whatever was facing this machine—whether an animal, a tree, a wall, a car, or anything else—was imprinted. So there is no creation in it. Therefore, it can be done by a blind person; a blind person can point the camera in any direction he wishes, and it will be imprinted. It also happens at night. So it is not the image-making that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended in his cursing of the image-makers who rival the creation of Allah, in our view. However, the question remains: for what purpose were these images taken?
Were they taken for a permissible purpose or for a forbidden purpose? If they were taken for a forbidden purpose, they are forbidden. Their prohibition in that case falls under the prohibition of means, because if permissible things become a means to a forbidden thing, they become forbidden. Or if they were taken for a praiseworthy purpose or a necessary purpose, then in that case they are permissible. A praiseworthy purpose may be to prove a matter that must be proven, where failing to prove it would result in harm.
So this is permissible and there is no harm in it. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) distinguished between image-making and the use of images. Among this is the statement of the author of *Zad al-Mustaqn*: "Image-making and its use are forbidden." So he distinguished between image-making and the use of the image. This instant photographic image, if we say it is permissible, the question remains: for what purpose was it taken? If it was taken for a forbidden purpose, it is forbidden. If it was taken for a non-forbidden purpose, it is not forbidden. Remembrance is forbidden. What is remembrance? If you love to remember your companion, remember him with good and do not take his picture. Yes.