Is there a difference between photographic images and moving television images?

The questioner : So, is there a difference between photographic images or between moving television images; is there a difference between these and those?

The Shaykh : We do not see a difference between the two matters, but the point is that we believe that Allah did not forbid anything except for the harm in it. This harm may be apparent and clear to some people, and it may be hidden from some people. This means that the Muslim must submit to the Shari'ah ruling, whether its wisdom is revealed to him or hidden from him. Images are forbidden; why are they forbidden? He explicitly stated in some hadiths: as a rival to the creation of Allah. This is what you alluded to just now. Some scholars bring another 'illah (operative cause); which is that they were a cause for the misguidance and corruption of some previous nations. So we can say: the prohibition of images has two 'illahs (operative causes): the first 'illah is because of the rivalry with the creation of Allah.
And the second 'illah is from the perspective of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm); that this image or that one can one day become a cause for taking some people out of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) related to us the story of Noah with his people who said to him when he called them to worship their Lord alone, having no partner: . You know the statement of Ibn Abbas, narrated in "Sahih al-Bukhari" and "Tafsir Ibn Jarir" and others, that these five were righteous servants of Allah. Then the accursed Shaytan came to them and the first thing he beautified for them was to deviate from the path they were previously walking on, which was not to bury these five with the dead in the usual graveyards, but rather in the courtyards of your houses. Shaytan beautified their evil deeds for them and led them astray from the straight path. He does not bring anything except that he beautifies that thing in the minds of those people he wants to mislead. As they say today, in justifying the placement of statues in courtyards and public squares; so that people, when they pass by these statues, remember the heroics of those whose likenesses are represented in these statues, and may they have been like that!! So Shaytan said like this: Make their graves in the courtyards of your houses so that you remember them, and remember their righteous deeds so that you follow their example. And he left them for a generation of time. Then he came to the second generation and reminded them that these graves might be taken by floods, storms, and rains, and carried away and scattered in the land. So what do we do? They made statues for them that would remain for eternity, so they made them statues, and it continued for as long as Allah willed. Then he came to the third generation and inspired them to place them in respectable places; because these were righteous servants of Allah. And so Shaytan gradually leads the children of Adam to evil such that they do not feel or perceive it. They say in some countries: such that water flows from under it and he does not feel or perceive it.
So what is the difference, then, in terms of the first 'illah (operative cause) which is explicitly stated, and in terms of it being forbidden as sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm)?
So the image that causes harm, whether from the moral aspect as we said just now, or the image that is feared to be exalted besides Allah secondly; there is no difference whether it was drawn by hand or made by a machine. But some people, and perhaps you hinted at that in your question; they feel that this machine does not contain rivalry with Allah in His creation. So I say: the rivalry here is more than there. Because if you bring a skilled artist, as they claim, and place one of you in front of him, he will draw what his sight reaches, no matter how sharp it is. But there might be a short hair here that he does not see with his eye, so it is missed and does not appear in his image. But the photographic image misses nothing; it depicts the human being exactly as Allah depicted him, as Allah created him. So how can it be said that this manual machine does not have rivalry with the creation of Allah? This has more and more rivalry. And the proof is that you find some images of some great men and kings, like al-Husayn here, for example, and others; the cloth on which the image is painted might be three meters by three meters, four meters, and so on. So the image is greatly enlarged. If you look at his true photographic image, you find a big difference between this photographic image and that image which was painted on the cloth. So which is more accurate in depiction? Is it this one made by the machine or that one made with paint and brush? Subhan Allah! Here the rivalry is more than there. So this machine and imaging with it is more dangerous than imaging by hand; especially since in a few moments it captures many images; while that one stays day and night until it produces one image. Allah is the Helper.

The questioner : ... placing a mirror, meaning the images reflected in the mirror. If we reflect a person's image in a mirror and look at it; is there in that rivalry with the creation of Allah?

The Shaykh : No, may Allah reward you; but we will say if it is captured and defined, it becomes an image. But as for these images in the mirror, we do not know that all the scholars of the Muslims used to look at themselves in the mirror and adorn their hair. So this is a case of what? Qiyas (analogical reasoning) with a difference. This image is not fixed!

The questioner : I mean, they say here: this image that is displayed, for example, on television or such, is like the image reflected in the mirror; the intention is not rivalry with the creation of Allah, but rather the intention is to display this image and convey it to people, like video cameras?

The Shaykh : Excuse me = -- And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah --
= We should not mix one thing with another. You were discussing the mirror and you started wanting to compare video to the mirror, then you resorted to something else saying: the intention is not.

The questioner : My intention is that.

The Shaykh : I say the intention is not now; because this also applies to any image. Was not the beginning of your research not holding to the intention that its intention is good or bad, but rather your research which you started with was: what is the difference between this image in the mirror and these images? Now I tell you: the difference is big. We tell you now: You... once, come to us, bring the image of yours that you saw in the mirror? You cannot.

The questioner : If someone did it?

The Shaykh : Fix it and it becomes video; okay, it becomes enlarged!! Because the harm arises from fixing or stabilizing, and not from this which disappears and vanishes.
Other than that?