Disposing of a picture found in a bag held in trust
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Off-topic, in another case, a man came from Sudan. When they were building the neighbor's gate, the neighbor gave him a bag. He claimed he had sent it to one of his relatives in Jeddah. When he arrived in Jeddah, they asked him at customs, saying, "What is inside this bag?" He told them, "By Allah, I do not know; they gave it to us." They said, "Give it to someone in Jeddah." When he opened this bag, he found a picture of a woman with her side exposed, a picture of a side. Now that he has arrived here, he asks: Should he burn this picture, or return it to its owner in Sudan, or hand it over to the place to which it was sent in Jeddah?
The Shaykh:
He should not burn it, nor return it, nor hand it over. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do not leave a picture except that you destroy it."
The questioner:
Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh:
He burns it and earns reward.
The questioner:
Yes, yes, then speak well.
The Shaykh:
Unless my master gives it to a woman who is tattooed.
The questioner:
May Allah welcome you.
Off-topic, in another case, a man came from Sudan. When they were building the neighbor's gate, the neighbor gave him a bag. He claimed he had sent it to one of his relatives in Jeddah. When he arrived in Jeddah, they asked him at customs, saying, "What is inside this bag?" He told them, "By Allah, I do not know; they gave it to us." They said, "Give it to someone in Jeddah." When he opened this bag, he found a picture of a woman with her side exposed, a picture of a side. Now that he has arrived here, he asks: Should he burn this picture, or return it to its owner in Sudan, or hand it over to the place to which it was sent in Jeddah?
The Shaykh:
He should not burn it, nor return it, nor hand it over. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do not leave a picture except that you destroy it."
The questioner:
Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh:
He burns it and earns reward.
The questioner:
Yes, yes, then speak well.
The Shaykh:
Unless my master gives it to a woman who is tattooed.
The questioner:
May Allah welcome you.
Source
شرح رياض الصالحين، تابع شرح باب فضل الصف الأول (2) من حديث أبي سعيد، إلى باب تخفيف ركعتي الفجر — islamhouse.com (36:57)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.