The Ruling on Image-Making and Keeping Images
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The issue of image-making, O honorable Shaykh! Many people err in understanding what is intended?
Image-making by hand in the form of a statue is undoubtedly forbidden if the image is of a living being, such as making an image of a lion or a horse or the like from plaster or other material. This is forbidden, and its doer falls under the curse of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Abu Juhayfa: (He cursed the image-makers,And he said: The image-makers are the most severely punished of people on the Day of Resurrection) The prohibition in this figurative image is established; because it is a body with limbs and a head, so it is exactly comparable to the creation of Allah.
And the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding the colored image that has no body, whether it falls under the hadith or not?So some of them said: It is included.
And some of them said: It is not included.
And the correct view is: That it is included in the curse of the image-makers; because Muslim narrated from the hadith of Abu al-Hayyaj from Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said to him: (Shall I not send you with the same mission with which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me? Do not leave any image except that you obliterate it, and do not leave any raised grave except that you level it.
And in a wording: Do not leave any statue except that you obliterate it).
And because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (when he saw the carpet that had images on it, displeasure was known on his face, and he did not enter the house,And he said: The people of these images will be punished,It is said: Bring to life what you have created) .
So here are two things: The first thing: the image on a three-dimensional statue, this is forbidden without doubt.
The second thing: The image by coloring by hand, this is a matter of difference,And the correct view is: That it is forbidden and included in the curse.
And as for image-making with modern devices; cameras,So these are two types: 1- A type that requires developing and adjustment by hand, this is closer to being forbidden; because the person has work with his hand in it.
2- A type that is instant and does not require work from the person, this does not fall under the forbidden image-making; because the man did not actually make an image,And image-making is the verbal noun of the verb "to make an image of a thing," meaning: He placed it in a specific form, and the one who captured the image with the camera did not do anything, the most that is there is that he directed certain lights at a body and this body was imprinted, for this reason this image-making happens from the blind man and from the seeing person, and he is in darkness, and he has no work in it whatsoever.
But some people are unaware of the difference between image-making and keeping images, so they think that they are two sides of the same coin, and they are not.
For this reason the jurists distinguished between them,So they said: Image-making and using what has an image in it is forbidden, so they made image-making one thing, and they made using what has an image in it another thing.
So we say: Keeping images is not permissible except out of necessity, or if the image is not given attention as found in cartons and cans of some beverages, this is not given attention and is not intended; but the intended thing is what is preserved, so this is not permissible except out of necessity, and on this basis, what some people do now of taking pictures for remembrance and keeping them to remember; to remember their children when they are small, or to remember a trip they took with their companions, this is not permissible; because the angels do not enter a house in which there is an image.
Some people might say: This is a contradiction,How do you say at the first moment when capturing the image: This is not image-making,Then you say: Keeping this image is forbidden except for a need?So we say: There is no contradiction; because the image exists now even by the device,It is said: This is an image you do not keep.
And the evidence for this is: That the man faces the mirror -for example-So when facing the mirror it is said: This -Meaning: The one in the mirror- is an image even though it does not remain, so the image is broader than being made by hand or made by a device,And the generality of the hadith: (The angels do not enter a house in which there is an image) includes this and that.
Question: What is the ruling on images on children's clothes?Answer: Images on clothes, whether for children or adults, are forbidden, it is not permissible for a person to wear something that has an image in it, whether the image is patterns in all the clothing, or the image is attached at the top of the clothing, a plastic image or sewn.
Question: Buying bottles of perfumes and shampoo and other things that have images on them, what is your opinion on that?Answer: There is no doubt that the images found on bottles of perfumes or shampoo or the like; there is no doubt that they are indecent and corrupt images, intended to tempt people; but how do we get rid of them? If we are going to buy shampoo for the sake of benefiting from it, how do we get rid of it?! I see that if you are afflicted with such a thing, obliterate its face and let it remain with you, and if the one in the house is not given attention and not cared for, it is of the kind of humiliated images.
Question: And images in video?Answer: What is recorded in video is not images.
The questioner: What is your opinion on video recording?The Shaykh: I do not assert the prohibition; but it involves wasting time and money, and the issue is not just wasting time when recording, but wasting time even when watching it, Satan tempts him to watch it all the time, whenever he thinks of it he goes and turns on the video and looks at these images, so at the least it is a distraction, and I do not assert the prohibition.
But if the video recording is for a beneficial religious or scientific interest, there is no harm.
Image-making by hand in the form of a statue is undoubtedly forbidden if the image is of a living being, such as making an image of a lion or a horse or the like from plaster or other material. This is forbidden, and its doer falls under the curse of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Abu Juhayfa: (He cursed the image-makers,And he said: The image-makers are the most severely punished of people on the Day of Resurrection) The prohibition in this figurative image is established; because it is a body with limbs and a head, so it is exactly comparable to the creation of Allah.
And the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding the colored image that has no body, whether it falls under the hadith or not?So some of them said: It is included.
And some of them said: It is not included.
And the correct view is: That it is included in the curse of the image-makers; because Muslim narrated from the hadith of Abu al-Hayyaj from Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said to him: (Shall I not send you with the same mission with which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me? Do not leave any image except that you obliterate it, and do not leave any raised grave except that you level it.
And in a wording: Do not leave any statue except that you obliterate it).
And because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (when he saw the carpet that had images on it, displeasure was known on his face, and he did not enter the house,And he said: The people of these images will be punished,It is said: Bring to life what you have created) .
So here are two things: The first thing: the image on a three-dimensional statue, this is forbidden without doubt.
The second thing: The image by coloring by hand, this is a matter of difference,And the correct view is: That it is forbidden and included in the curse.
And as for image-making with modern devices; cameras,So these are two types: 1- A type that requires developing and adjustment by hand, this is closer to being forbidden; because the person has work with his hand in it.
2- A type that is instant and does not require work from the person, this does not fall under the forbidden image-making; because the man did not actually make an image,And image-making is the verbal noun of the verb "to make an image of a thing," meaning: He placed it in a specific form, and the one who captured the image with the camera did not do anything, the most that is there is that he directed certain lights at a body and this body was imprinted, for this reason this image-making happens from the blind man and from the seeing person, and he is in darkness, and he has no work in it whatsoever.
But some people are unaware of the difference between image-making and keeping images, so they think that they are two sides of the same coin, and they are not.
For this reason the jurists distinguished between them,So they said: Image-making and using what has an image in it is forbidden, so they made image-making one thing, and they made using what has an image in it another thing.
So we say: Keeping images is not permissible except out of necessity, or if the image is not given attention as found in cartons and cans of some beverages, this is not given attention and is not intended; but the intended thing is what is preserved, so this is not permissible except out of necessity, and on this basis, what some people do now of taking pictures for remembrance and keeping them to remember; to remember their children when they are small, or to remember a trip they took with their companions, this is not permissible; because the angels do not enter a house in which there is an image.
Some people might say: This is a contradiction,How do you say at the first moment when capturing the image: This is not image-making,Then you say: Keeping this image is forbidden except for a need?So we say: There is no contradiction; because the image exists now even by the device,It is said: This is an image you do not keep.
And the evidence for this is: That the man faces the mirror -for example-So when facing the mirror it is said: This -Meaning: The one in the mirror- is an image even though it does not remain, so the image is broader than being made by hand or made by a device,And the generality of the hadith: (The angels do not enter a house in which there is an image) includes this and that.
Question: What is the ruling on images on children's clothes?Answer: Images on clothes, whether for children or adults, are forbidden, it is not permissible for a person to wear something that has an image in it, whether the image is patterns in all the clothing, or the image is attached at the top of the clothing, a plastic image or sewn.
Question: Buying bottles of perfumes and shampoo and other things that have images on them, what is your opinion on that?Answer: There is no doubt that the images found on bottles of perfumes or shampoo or the like; there is no doubt that they are indecent and corrupt images, intended to tempt people; but how do we get rid of them? If we are going to buy shampoo for the sake of benefiting from it, how do we get rid of it?! I see that if you are afflicted with such a thing, obliterate its face and let it remain with you, and if the one in the house is not given attention and not cared for, it is of the kind of humiliated images.
Question: And images in video?Answer: What is recorded in video is not images.
The questioner: What is your opinion on video recording?The Shaykh: I do not assert the prohibition; but it involves wasting time and money, and the issue is not just wasting time when recording, but wasting time even when watching it, Satan tempts him to watch it all the time, whenever he thinks of it he goes and turns on the video and looks at these images, so at the least it is a distraction, and I do not assert the prohibition.
But if the video recording is for a beneficial religious or scientific interest, there is no harm.