What is the ruling on photographic and hand-drawn images? And is permitting photography from the category of unlegislated public interests (in calling to Allah)?

The questioner : In a fatwa issued yesterday byThe Shaykh : Ibn Uthaymeen.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : That photographic imaging is not haram

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : He says this is not imaging, or it does not contain imitation. He gives an example, saying: If a person writes and I come and imitate him, writing just as he writes, the closer my handwriting is to his, the more I am imitating him, and the more people take pride in it. But if I take that handwriting and do not imitate it in writing, but rather put it into a camera and a picture comes out, this is not called "so-and-so's handwriting" or "so-and-so wrote it by hand," and there is no imitation. This is how photography is.

The Shaykh : A fitnah, a fitnah.

Another questioner : But he is not pleased to have this fatwa photographed, which he issued at the university.

Another questioner : They wanted to photograph him, so he said, "I do not want to be photographed." Is this from the category of asceticism, or from the category of scrupulousness and wara'?

The Shaykh : We said, and we still say, that photographic imaging is more strictly forbidden than hand-drawn imaging.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Yes, because efforts were expended over many long years until man, and the disbeliever, was able to produce the image.

The questioner : Record it, Professor?

The Shaykh : Do not advise, be careful, Professor. This one wants to record, and the one who does not want to record, what about the one who wants to record? (He laughs)The Shaykh : And the students, may Allah have mercy on them. So many efforts were made over the years until they reached the ultimate precision with this device, such that pressing a button produces the image in the clearest and most imitative manner of Allah's creation.

Another questioner : It lacks only the soul.

The Shaykh: Yes.

Another questioner : It lacks only the soul.

The Shaykh : Subhan Allah. Then they ask, "Where is the imitation?" The intellect today, the intellect by which Allah Mighty and Majestic established the proof against His servants, has reached a level of rigidity that is truly terrifying. When I was in elementary school in Damascus, the drawing teacher would sit on a chair during the break, with the board and chalk in his hand, while the students played in the yard. One of them would call out, "Come here, so-and-so," and he would stand before him. He would look at him like this, take the chalk, and in moments, there would be a clear picture of that child or student on the board. Which is more imitative of Allah's creation: if another person took a picture of that student, or the first one? Undoubtedly, the photographic image is more imitative of Allah Mighty and Majestic than the hand-drawn image, because the hand-drawn image may not encompass all aspects of the person depicted, whereas the photographic image is in the most precise detail possible. May Allah reward you with good for the imaging. So the imitation here is much stronger and more apparent than in the hand-drawn image. Furthermore, this photographic imaging has become a very clear cause for the spread of images among Muslims, to the point that hardly a house is without a camera. Then these devices are used to photograph what is not permissible by the consensus of Muslims, whereas hand-drawn imaging does not allow the artist this wide scope. So it is the ultimate in rigidity to say that photographic imaging, which facilitates photographing what cannot usually be photographed by hand, is to say that this hand-drawn image is forbidden and the photographic image is permissible. And as they say, if I forget, I will not forget. I was once coming from Aleppo after my monthly tour, which was my habit, and a young man accompanied me. He appeared to be a bearded Muslim, which was rare in that time. On the way, he raised this issue, saying that some scholars say photographic imaging is permissible. I said to him, "This is a modern superficiality, a modern superficiality, a rigidity similar to the rigidity of some Zahirite scholars on some issues." And I illustrated this hypothetical image for him. I said to him, "It is claimed that a noble Shaykh visited a student of his at his home. When he sat down, he saw a picture hanging in the front of the room. He spoke to his student, rebuking him for hanging his Shaykh's picture in the front of the room, while praising him for his religion, righteousness, and diligence in knowledge. The student's only response was to immediately take down the picture. Days passed, and then the Shaykh visited his student again and was surprised to find the picture still in its place. He rebuked him as he had before. The student replied, 'Professor, we learned from you that the forbidden image is the hand-drawn one, whereas the photographic one is permissible. That was a hand-drawn image, so I complied with you. But this is a photographic image.' He patted him on the shoulder and said, 'May Allah bless you, you are a jurist.' (He laughs)The Shaykh : Hanging in the front of the room. He spokeThe Shaykh : to his student, rebuking him for hanging his Shaykh's picture in the front of the room, while praising him for his religion, righteousness, and diligence in knowledge. The student's only response wasThe student : to immediately take down the picture. Days passed, and then the Shaykh visitedThe Shaykh : his student again and was surprisedThe Shaykh : to find the picture still in its place. He rebuked him as he had before. The student replied, "Professor, we learned from you that the forbidden image is the hand-drawn one, whereas the photographic one is permissible. That was a hand-drawn image, so I complied with you. But this is a photographic image." He patted him on the shoulder and said, "May Allah bless you, you are a jurist." (He laughs)The Shaykh : May Allah have mercy on him. Is this not a detestable superficiality? The image is the same, but one was drawn with a pen and hand, taking great effort to produce an image, while the other is by a machine on which dozens of specialized scholars bent their efforts until they reached this button press, and the image comes out as beautifully as it can. This one is permissible, while the other is forbidden! This is a detestable modern superficiality. Ibn Hazm would be ashamed if he were in our time today to fall into something like this, and he fell into some things that are laughable. What is said about the widow? The hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in the two Sahihs was interpreted: He said, "If he urinated in a vessel and then poured what was in the vessel into stagnant water, it is permissible." Why? Because it is not linguistically true that he urinated in stagnant water. This is correct in terms of observing the words, because this second man urinated in the empty vessel, not in the stagnant water. But after he urinated in the empty vessel, he poured this urine into the stagnant water. This is permissible, but the result, my brothers, is the same.

The questioner : No, this is worse.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : This is worse than the first one.

The Shaykh : Lighter in which way?

The questioner : No, worse than the first, meaning he urinates in the vessel and then empties it. That is worse.

The Shaykh : This is like circumventing the rulings of the Shari'ah. Today we see this calamity renewing itself in other forms and images, including the issue of solar imaging being permissible, while hand-drawn imaging is haram.

Another questioner : Allow me to ask.The Shaykh : Now, they rely on the reasoning of imitation. Is the 'illah in imaging confined to this 'illah?

The Shaykh: No.

The questioner : If so, if other 'illahs can be presented that refute this doubt, may Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : First, the scholars have provided two reasons for the prohibition of images by the Wise Lawgiver. The first reason is the one you heard: *mudaha'ah* (rivalry), because it is explicitly mentioned in the hadith . What is the *mudaha'ah* mentioned in this hadith? A weaver who embroidered an image on a curtain. We all imagine that this image was not as precise as a drawing made with a pen; certainly, a pen drawing is more precise. Nevertheless, the Messenger (peace be upon him) described the one who drew the image on the curtain as one who rivals the creation of Allah. So what can be said of the one who draws with a brush, a pen, and paint... etc.? What can be said of the one who uses a photographic camera? However, the scholars mentioned another reason: the prohibition by the Wise Lawgiver of image-making has another cause, which is *sadd al-dhara'i'* (blocking the means to harm), so that the first age of ignorance does not return to the worship of idols and statues, as happened to the people of Noah (peace be upon him). When Noah called them to *tawhid* (the oneness of Allah) and to worshipping Allah alone, with no partner, they consulted among themselves and claimed, saying: . Ibn Abbas, as recorded in *Sahih al-Bukhari*, the *Tafsir* of Ibn Jarir, and others, said that these five were righteous servants of Allah. When they died, Satan came to them in the guise of a sincere, trustworthy advisor and inspired them to place their graves in the courtyards of their houses so that they would remember their righteous deeds. History repeats itself. The idols that began centuries ago are now spreading in many Arab countries that were previously free of such idols. Why? As a memorial to these "heroes." If only they had been true heroes! In fact, most of them are agents of foreigners and open sinners, if not disbelievers. Satan established for the people of Noah (peace be upon him) the practice of placing the graves of these five righteous men in the courtyards of their houses, claiming that this would remind them of their deeds and that they should follow their example. He left them for a period, then returned and said that the graves of these righteous men might disappear due to natural factors such as floods, winds, and rains. Therefore, he advised them to make statues. They complied. Then he left them for a while, then inspired them, saying, "You know that these were righteous servants of Allah, so it is not fitting to leave their statues in an ordinary place. Rather, you must place them in high, respected locations." They did so as well. Then the last generation came and prostrated to them in worship. Thus, evil follows a sequence, as it is said: "Most of the fire comes from what is considered a small spark." It is known in the Shari'ah that among the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is that He prohibits things that are themselves harmless, but He fears they may lead to what entails all harm. This falls under the category of prohibiting means that lead to prohibited ends. For this reason, the Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited image-making and cut off the matter without distinguishing between three-dimensional images and two-dimensional images. This is a philosophy, unfortunately, to which some contemporary writers lean today. They take all the hadiths that prohibit image-making absolutely and apply them only to three-dimensional statues, thereby nullifying explicit hadiths, such as the one about Aisha's curtain and the one about the *murfuqah* (a type of garment) that the Messenger (peace be upon him) used, which had an image on it. This was not three-dimensional, yet they applied the absolute hadiths of prohibition to three-dimensional images. If only they had stopped there and also qualified their statement by saying that if these statues are of a type that is feared to be worshipped other than Allah, then that is the only thing that is forbidden, but if they are for decoration or the like, there is no harm. And so, not a day passes but as he (peace be upon him) said: .

The questioner : A year or a day?

The Shaykh: What is it?

The questioner : A year or a day?

The Shaykh Yes. So the prohibition of images does not have a single cause, which is *mudaha'ah* (rivalry); it is also a matter of *sadd al-dhara'i'* (blocking the means to harm). We see today that when the door to image-making was opened, corruption spread, and images of every color and kind appeared through this lightweight device that can be placed in a pocket. I clearly remember that I debated some Muslim brothers long ago, about thirty years ago, and they argued that this device was not known at that time, and therefore applying the hadiths to it is an expansion of the meaning of these hadiths beyond what is justified, so they claimed. When I mentioned that the one who says and says is not an ordinary man like us, so that we would say he means only the known images, but rather this is the Messenger of Allah, whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described with His saying: , he means what he says: . Whether this image-maker draws with a pen, a chisel, a sculptor's brush, a blacksmith's tool, or any other method, he is an image-maker. He did not accept this, so I brought him the following example. I said to him, "What is your opinion of these idols that are now produced in the hundreds, indeed in the thousands, with the press of a button? A very large machine pours copper into a place, and it comes out in the shape of a lion, a dog, or a dancing woman, as you find on some tables. This was not carved in the way it was in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him); this is like the photographic device, just a press of a button. What do you think of this? Is it permissible or forbidden?" He said, "This is forbidden." I said, "This is like that; there is no difference between the two." So the point is that the prohibition has two causes, and both causes are realized in reality with photographic or video imaging, as they call it today. *Mudaha'ah* (rivalry) is in its most complete form, and *fitnah* (trial, discord or temptation) is at its strongest. So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make us among the strangers about whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said in a narration: , and in the other narration, he (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) said: .
Al-Halabi : Our Shaykh, we hear and sometimes read from some preachers on this same topic, and sometimes they expand into other topics, saying that we permit these things for the sake of *maslahah* (public benefit) to spread the *da'wah* (calling others to Islam) and the like. Sometimes they add to the word *maslahah* a jurisprudential term they prefer to influence the minds of some young people who are enthusiastic about religion, saying it is for the sake of *al-maslahah al-mursalah* (unrestricted public benefit). It would be desirable if you would shed light on the response to this *shubhah* (doubtful matter), and may Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : It is not hidden from the people of knowledge that *al-maslahah al-mursalah* (unrestricted public benefit) is a means that in itself is not contrary to the Shari'ah. If it realizes a *maslahah* (public benefit) that is in accordance with the Shari'ah, then it is permissible or obligatory to adopt it, because first, it is a means that is not contrary to the Shari'ah, and second, it realizes a *maslahah* (public benefit) in accordance with the Shari'ah. Although this rule is not absolute, as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) explained in his book *Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim fi Mukhalafat Ahl al-Jahim* (Following the Straight Path in Opposing the People of the Hellfire), where he said, "It is not permissible to adopt *al-maslahah al-mursalah* (unrestricted public benefit) absolutely; rather, it must be detailed." He mentioned the following briefly: If the cause necessitating *al-maslahah al-mursalah* (unrestricted public benefit) is found after the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him), one looks to see if adopting this cause was present in the time of the Prophet (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) and yet he did not adopt it, or if this cause was not present. If it is the first case...