Is it permissible to keep photographic pictures in an album for remembrance?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
I have a question... regarding photography, obviously family photos and old photos from twenty years ago. If the photography itself is kept and not displayed, is it permissible?
The Shaykh: Kept and not displayed.
The Shaykh: Not displayed, of course. Suppose a person wants to go back and look at the photos, he goes back and then puts them in a bag inside an album, obviously not on display.
The questioner: Kept.
The questioner: Kept, of course, there is nothing... ?
The Shaykh: This is not permissible.
The questioner: It is not permissible. If, suppose, a person has old photos from the days of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, would it be better to tear them up?
The Shaykh: That is the obligatory thing. And you yourself say that if it comes to his mind to look at them, in this case, when he looks at them, is it permissible...?
The questioner: Private photos, meaning there is nothing in them... in terms of the image.
The Shaykh: As usual!! I am only asking because it is one of the matters we know... Take this warning: The question is easy and the answer is difficult. There is no need for a person to learn the easy thing because it is easy by nature, but he needs to learn what? The difficult thing. This is observed particularly among the invalidators or the atheists or the occultists or the like. Their habit is always to ask questions to stump people, because no matter how knowledgeable a person is, no matter how strong he is, no matter how quick and present his intuition is, he may be unable to answer. He gets it right here and right there, and then there may be a question in which he is perplexed...
My purpose in all of this is that you must learn the answer, not just the question, because the answer is harder than the question.
So when I asked you specifically, when it comes to his mind to look at the hidden and not famous photos, that he sees them and looks at them, at this moment, did they become famous or hidden?
The questioner: Famous.
The Shaykh: Okay, it is permissible.
The questioner : It is not permissible.
The Shaykh: So then, what led to this matter that is not permissible? It is that matter which is thought to be permissible. So, what leads from what is permissible to what is not permissible is not permissible.
This is sound speech, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ,Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1865Hasan (Darussalam) What harm does this small amount do to a person who does this with a small spoon of tea and coffee? What harm does it do? It does not harm him. But where is the cover of this spoon? In the forbidden. This forbidden, truly, he is going to leave it here and not use it, like spirit, for example. And spirit is intoxicating, indeed it is the most intoxicating of intoxicants. But it is feared that this forbidden will actually be used, leading to the major shirk. This hadith and others are related to a rule in the Shari'ah called the rule of "blocking the means to harm," which means blocking the path before the wrong, the known wrongness of it. So if you insult the religion of the Zoroastrian, a false religion, you insult the mushrik, then there is nothing on you. But this will lead to them insulting your religion, insulting your Muslim father. So do not insult anyone's religion or insult anyone's father. What is this called? It is called blocking the means.
So do not put pictures in the house, because if we suppose these pictures are in the house - the hidden, not famous ones - no harm results from them, they will be a cause of harm. And you yourself spoke of what comes to his mind to look at a picture of his father, a picture of his grandfather, my brother, who used to ride the beast and go out on it to the mountain, old memories - from here polytheism enters, and this is the path to polytheism. So, to cut off the root of polytheism, photography is forbidden.
The questioner: There is something you can tear up because it is yours, and there is something you cannot... because it belongs to his brothers, ...
Another questioner: To his wife...
The questioner: The wife is different from the brother.
Another questioner: If it truly results in harm.
The Shaykh: In any case, this is also another matter that is weighed with the scale of the Shari'ah.
The Shaykh: Kept and not displayed.
The Shaykh: Not displayed, of course. Suppose a person wants to go back and look at the photos, he goes back and then puts them in a bag inside an album, obviously not on display.
The questioner: Kept.
The questioner: Kept, of course, there is nothing... ?
The Shaykh: This is not permissible.
The questioner: It is not permissible. If, suppose, a person has old photos from the days of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, would it be better to tear them up?
The Shaykh: That is the obligatory thing. And you yourself say that if it comes to his mind to look at them, in this case, when he looks at them, is it permissible...?
The questioner: Private photos, meaning there is nothing in them... in terms of the image.
The Shaykh: As usual!! I am only asking because it is one of the matters we know... Take this warning: The question is easy and the answer is difficult. There is no need for a person to learn the easy thing because it is easy by nature, but he needs to learn what? The difficult thing. This is observed particularly among the invalidators or the atheists or the occultists or the like. Their habit is always to ask questions to stump people, because no matter how knowledgeable a person is, no matter how strong he is, no matter how quick and present his intuition is, he may be unable to answer. He gets it right here and right there, and then there may be a question in which he is perplexed...
My purpose in all of this is that you must learn the answer, not just the question, because the answer is harder than the question.
So when I asked you specifically, when it comes to his mind to look at the hidden and not famous photos, that he sees them and looks at them, at this moment, did they become famous or hidden?
The questioner: Famous.
The Shaykh: Okay, it is permissible.
The questioner : It is not permissible.
The Shaykh: So then, what led to this matter that is not permissible? It is that matter which is thought to be permissible. So, what leads from what is permissible to what is not permissible is not permissible.
This is sound speech, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whatever intoxicates when full, its small amount is forbidden.
ما اسكر ملء الفرق منه، فقليله حرامWhatever a lot of it intoxicates, a little of it is unlawful.
ما اسكر كثيره، فقليله حرامSo do not put pictures in the house, because if we suppose these pictures are in the house - the hidden, not famous ones - no harm results from them, they will be a cause of harm. And you yourself spoke of what comes to his mind to look at a picture of his father, a picture of his grandfather, my brother, who used to ride the beast and go out on it to the mountain, old memories - from here polytheism enters, and this is the path to polytheism. So, to cut off the root of polytheism, photography is forbidden.
The questioner: There is something you can tear up because it is yours, and there is something you cannot... because it belongs to his brothers, ...
Another questioner: To his wife...
The questioner: The wife is different from the brother.
Another questioner: If it truly results in harm.
The Shaykh: In any case, this is also another matter that is weighed with the scale of the Shari'ah.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.