The Ruling on Photography with a Mobile Phone
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah keep you safe. What is the ruling on photographing women, or one of the people in the film, using the front camera of a mobile phone?
Answer:
Photography is not permissible in general. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exclude anything from the prohibition of photography; rather, he cursed the photographers in general and informed that they are the most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection. It was stated that on the Day of Resurrection, the images they photographed in this world will be gathered. A soul will be placed in every image, and they will be punished with it in Hellfire, may Allah protect us from that. The images he photographed in this world will also be gathered, and he will be commanded to breathe life into them. However, he will not be able to do so. This is a form of punishment for him.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exclude anything from the prohibition of photography, regardless of the means used. Therefore, whoever claims that certain things are excluded must provide evidence, because hadiths are not restricted by opinion, independent legal reasoning, or the statement of a particular person. They are only restricted by evidence of the same kind from the Book and the Sunnah. Yes, the scholars have permitted necessary photography, such as for an ID card, for memorizing faces, or for a driver’s license. These are things to which a person cannot attain his necessary interests without. This falls under dire necessity: “except what you are compelled to.”
Therefore, one should understand this matter. As for photography for art, for memories, or the like, it is all forbidden by any means. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
May Allah keep you safe. What is the ruling on photographing women, or one of the people in the film, using the front camera of a mobile phone?
Answer:
Photography is not permissible in general. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exclude anything from the prohibition of photography; rather, he cursed the photographers in general and informed that they are the most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection. It was stated that on the Day of Resurrection, the images they photographed in this world will be gathered. A soul will be placed in every image, and they will be punished with it in Hellfire, may Allah protect us from that. The images he photographed in this world will also be gathered, and he will be commanded to breathe life into them. However, he will not be able to do so. This is a form of punishment for him.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exclude anything from the prohibition of photography, regardless of the means used. Therefore, whoever claims that certain things are excluded must provide evidence, because hadiths are not restricted by opinion, independent legal reasoning, or the statement of a particular person. They are only restricted by evidence of the same kind from the Book and the Sunnah. Yes, the scholars have permitted necessary photography, such as for an ID card, for memorizing faces, or for a driver’s license. These are things to which a person cannot attain his necessary interests without. This falls under dire necessity: “except what you are compelled to.”
Therefore, one should understand this matter. As for photography for art, for memories, or the like, it is all forbidden by any means. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
شرح كتاب الكبائر للإمام محمد بن عبد الوهاب، بداية من باب الاستخفاف بأهل الفضل — islamhouse.com (1:00:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.