Solar photography and the purchase of magazines filled with pictures
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Fatwa number ( 3374 ):
Q: We have differed on the subject of solar photography, which you did not mention in your letter. Is it included in the ruling on manual drawing, or is it excluded from it? Some of them argued to me that it is permissible because it is not manual drawing, but rather a capture of the image of a person without exerting any effort other than pressing the button for the picture to come out matching the image. One of my friends showed me a photograph of your eminence in the Kuwaiti magazine al-Mujtama' and the Egyptian magazine al-I'tisam, along with your fatwa on the rulings of fasting in the blessed month of Ramadan. Is the appearance of your picture in the magazine evidence of the permissibility of that,
or did this happen without your knowledge? If solar photography is not permissible, what is the ruling on purchasing magazines and newspapers filled with pictures, along with the important news and other information, both trivial and substantial, contained in them? Please inform us about this? Is it permissible to place these magazines in the prayer area, even if covered with a cloth or the like, or must they be destroyed after reading them? What is the ruling on looking at moving pictures, such as those on the television? Is it permissible to operate the television in the prayer area? Please inform us about the rulings of these things, may Allah reward you.
A: First: Solar photography is one of the types of forbidden drawing. It is the same in ruling as drawing by weaving, dyeing with colors, and three-dimensional images. A difference in the means of drawing and its device does not necessitate a difference in the ruling. Likewise, there is no effect on the ruling from a difference in the effort exerted in drawing, whether difficult or easy. What is considered is the image itself, which is forbidden even if its means and the effort exerted in it differ. The appearance of my picture in the magazines al-Mujtama' and al-I'tisam, along with my fatwa on the rulings of fasting in the month of Ramadan,
is not evidence of my permission of drawing, nor of my approval of it, for I was not aware of their taking my picture. Second: Magazines and newspapers that contain important news and beneficial scientific issues, and that contain pictures of living beings, are permissible to purchase and to benefit from the useful knowledge and important news contained in them. This is because the intended purpose is the knowledge and news within them, while the pictures are subordinate, and the ruling follows the intended primary purpose rather than the subordinate. It is permissible to place them in the prayer area while concealing the pictures contained in them in any form, so that one may benefit from the articles within them, or by blurring the heads of the pictures in a way that removes their features. Third: It is not permissible to place a television in the prayer area because of the false amusement it contains. It is not permissible to look at the naked or indecent pictures in it because of the fitnah (trial) and the dire consequences involved. And success is from Allah. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Q: We have differed on the subject of solar photography, which you did not mention in your letter. Is it included in the ruling on manual drawing, or is it excluded from it? Some of them argued to me that it is permissible because it is not manual drawing, but rather a capture of the image of a person without exerting any effort other than pressing the button for the picture to come out matching the image. One of my friends showed me a photograph of your eminence in the Kuwaiti magazine al-Mujtama' and the Egyptian magazine al-I'tisam, along with your fatwa on the rulings of fasting in the blessed month of Ramadan. Is the appearance of your picture in the magazine evidence of the permissibility of that,
or did this happen without your knowledge? If solar photography is not permissible, what is the ruling on purchasing magazines and newspapers filled with pictures, along with the important news and other information, both trivial and substantial, contained in them? Please inform us about this? Is it permissible to place these magazines in the prayer area, even if covered with a cloth or the like, or must they be destroyed after reading them? What is the ruling on looking at moving pictures, such as those on the television? Is it permissible to operate the television in the prayer area? Please inform us about the rulings of these things, may Allah reward you.
A: First: Solar photography is one of the types of forbidden drawing. It is the same in ruling as drawing by weaving, dyeing with colors, and three-dimensional images. A difference in the means of drawing and its device does not necessitate a difference in the ruling. Likewise, there is no effect on the ruling from a difference in the effort exerted in drawing, whether difficult or easy. What is considered is the image itself, which is forbidden even if its means and the effort exerted in it differ. The appearance of my picture in the magazines al-Mujtama' and al-I'tisam, along with my fatwa on the rulings of fasting in the month of Ramadan,
is not evidence of my permission of drawing, nor of my approval of it, for I was not aware of their taking my picture. Second: Magazines and newspapers that contain important news and beneficial scientific issues, and that contain pictures of living beings, are permissible to purchase and to benefit from the useful knowledge and important news contained in them. This is because the intended purpose is the knowledge and news within them, while the pictures are subordinate, and the ruling follows the intended primary purpose rather than the subordinate. It is permissible to place them in the prayer area while concealing the pictures contained in them in any form, so that one may benefit from the articles within them, or by blurring the heads of the pictures in a way that removes their features. Third: It is not permissible to place a television in the prayer area because of the false amusement it contains. It is not permissible to look at the naked or indecent pictures in it because of the fitnah (trial) and the dire consequences involved. And success is from Allah. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.