The Ruling on Taking Photographs in the Sacred Sites
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Honorable Shaykh! Some people, may Allah guide them, take photographs in the sacred sites, and perhaps a person raises his hands for supplication solely for the sake of being photographed. Is this permissible? Does it invalidate the Hajj or not?
The Shaykh : This is not permissible; taking photographs of pilgrims in places of worship is not permissible for two reasons. The first is that they take them to keep the pictures as a memento, and any photography intended to keep pictures as a memento is forbidden. The second is that it is usually not free from showing off (riya’), where a person takes a picture to show people that he performed Hajj. Therefore, he does as the questioner mentioned, raising his hands for supplication while not actually supplicating, but only so that his picture can be taken. However, if there is a need for it, such as a man acting as a proxy for someone else who says, “I will take the picture to prove that I performed Hajj,” and when he reaches the person who appointed him, he tears up the picture, then there is no harm in that, because the need calls for it, and the intention is not merely for a memento or possession. Taking a picture with an instant camera does not fall under the photography for which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed its doer, even if it is a picture. Whoever wants to research this further should read a study written by our brother, Shaykh Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khaliq, in the al-Furqan newspaper, which has recently started being published. I call it a newspaper, but it is a useful magazine with good studies. If it continues with these studies, it will be considered among the best magazines I have seen. He researched this topic with a scholarly, legal study. I think his study was in two parts, but he excelled in it and was beneficial. May Allah reward him with good.
The questioner : By witnessing the picture.
The Shaykh : In any case, relying on witnesses regarding the picture may be sufficient, but the witnesses may be prevented from giving testimony, and the proxy or the one who appointed him may not have full trust in them.
The Shaykh : This is not permissible; taking photographs of pilgrims in places of worship is not permissible for two reasons. The first is that they take them to keep the pictures as a memento, and any photography intended to keep pictures as a memento is forbidden. The second is that it is usually not free from showing off (riya’), where a person takes a picture to show people that he performed Hajj. Therefore, he does as the questioner mentioned, raising his hands for supplication while not actually supplicating, but only so that his picture can be taken. However, if there is a need for it, such as a man acting as a proxy for someone else who says, “I will take the picture to prove that I performed Hajj,” and when he reaches the person who appointed him, he tears up the picture, then there is no harm in that, because the need calls for it, and the intention is not merely for a memento or possession. Taking a picture with an instant camera does not fall under the photography for which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed its doer, even if it is a picture. Whoever wants to research this further should read a study written by our brother, Shaykh Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khaliq, in the al-Furqan newspaper, which has recently started being published. I call it a newspaper, but it is a useful magazine with good studies. If it continues with these studies, it will be considered among the best magazines I have seen. He researched this topic with a scholarly, legal study. I think his study was in two parts, but he excelled in it and was beneficial. May Allah reward him with good.
The questioner : By witnessing the picture.
The Shaykh : In any case, relying on witnesses regarding the picture may be sufficient, but the witnesses may be prevented from giving testimony, and the proxy or the one who appointed him may not have full trust in them.
Source
جلسات الحج 1409هـ - 3 — binothaimeen.net (41:20)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.