The Shaykh Al-Albani’s (may Allah have mercy on him) comment on Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s permissibility of photographic images while forbidding their possession for remembrance.

The questioner : The Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s statement on the ruling of image-making: "And what is in it of imitating the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And in the authentic hadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And the curse is expulsion and distance from the mercy of Allah. And in the Qudsi hadith, Allah (the Exalted) said: . [Regarding] the instantaneous nature, I do not see that it is image-making, and that is because the photographer did not plan or attempt to imitate the creation of Allah. And for this reason, we see that if people were shown an image in a photographic camera according to how the photography occurred, they would not say, 'How skilled is this photographer' or 'How clever is he.' But if they were shown an image he drew with his hand and planned with his hand, and it appeared to match what he depicted, they would say, 'How beautiful is this' and 'How clever is this.' That indicates the difference between one who makes an image with his hand and one who photographs with a photographic camera. And I think that if a person writes a book by hand and then puts it in a copying machine and it comes out of the machine, people do not attribute this drawing to the one who copied it with the machine, but rather to the original writer. And people still preserve documents in this manner today, and they do not say that the one who captured it with the machine is a creator or skilled or good. Rather, the one who handles this might be a blind man, or it might be handled by a blind man, or by a sighted man in darkness. But if a person came and was shown the handwriting of another man, and he came to imitate this handwriting until it appeared as if it were the handwriting of the first man, people would say, 'How creative is he' and 'How clever is he' in how he depicted this depiction that matched the original. And with these examples, it becomes clear that photographic photography is not, in reality, an image-making attributed to the doer, and it is not said that this is imitating the creation of Allah, because he did not make anything. Because permissible things, if they lead to something forbidden, are forbidden, because the means have the rulings of the ends. And likewise, we do not see that it is permissible for a person to take this photography for remembrance, as they say, because of the possession of the image, which is feared to fall under the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . May Allah reward you." If you would allow me, he says he fears that hanging these images falls under the hadith prohibiting image-making and prohibiting the entry of angels. How is this understood with all his previous statement?

The Shaykh : A clear contradiction, a clear contradiction. The meaning of his statement is that it is permissible to take photographic images and not permissible to hang them.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : This, if it is referred back to the rule: , is sufficient.

The questioner : Because the essence of this is in this.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : The essence of this is in this.

The Shaykh: Of course.

The questioner : The one who wants to hang [them] wants to say, "He photographed them," [but] the hanging precedes the photography.