The wisdom behind the prohibition of image-making.
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The Shaykh : And we are able to recall now the wisdom for which the Wise Lawgiver prohibited image-making and images. That came in the hadith of A'ishah. It is one of the wisdoms that corresponds to the creation of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. Do you think that the ancient artist who would spend days in front of an idol, carving it, would find a defect here and correct it, and then finally imagine that this idol was completed, as they say, from an artistic standpoint, that its making was finished? They tell of some Italians, whom they call artists, that he remained days in front of an idol carving it, and because he was so pleased with it, because of how much he was pleased with it, he said to it, "Speak." When it did not speak, he smashed it thoroughly. He was pleased with his art, but he was unable to complete the correspondence with Allah, where Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created man in the best of forms and made the method of speaking easy for him.
He was not able to do anything but depict this static image. He spent days. Now, as you know, there are machines. There is no carving, but rather the preparation of machines, which may have taken long years, so that the specialized employee there presses the button and the idols come out there complete and in a more beautiful form than that idol which that so-called artist would spend days trying to bring out in the closest acceptable form. Now, too, with the press of a button, idols come out in the large factory there by the hundreds, if not thousands. The means have changed, but are these not idols? Yes, as it was said: "The causes are many, but death is one". The cause in the past was carving for long days until the idol came out as they wished. Now, they persisted in working on the machines until they were able, with the press of a button, to pour out the paste they wanted, and there comes out an idol that shines, or idols from these toys that Muslims have been afflicted with by bringing them into their homes. All of these are idols, even if the machine differs. Likewise, images that have no shadow are images, and they prevent the entry of the angels, whether they are drawn by hand or by machine.
He was not able to do anything but depict this static image. He spent days. Now, as you know, there are machines. There is no carving, but rather the preparation of machines, which may have taken long years, so that the specialized employee there presses the button and the idols come out there complete and in a more beautiful form than that idol which that so-called artist would spend days trying to bring out in the closest acceptable form. Now, too, with the press of a button, idols come out in the large factory there by the hundreds, if not thousands. The means have changed, but are these not idols? Yes, as it was said: "The causes are many, but death is one". The cause in the past was carving for long days until the idol came out as they wished. Now, they persisted in working on the machines until they were able, with the press of a button, to pour out the paste they wanted, and there comes out an idol that shines, or idols from these toys that Muslims have been afflicted with by bringing them into their homes. All of these are idols, even if the machine differs. Likewise, images that have no shadow are images, and they prevent the entry of the angels, whether they are drawn by hand or by machine.