The questioner says, “I read a book of yours on image-making in which you stated that image-making, whether by machine or by hand-drawing, is forbidden. And I heard you say regarding children’s toys that those made by hand are permissible, while those made by machine are forbidden. What is the difference between the two? I hope you will clarify this.”
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The questioner : All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and the badness of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can mislead, and whom He misleads, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. Our Shaykh, some of the brothers or sisters have sent us questions... specifically these questions so that they can be recorded and sent to them. Among these questions is one written by a diligent young woman, as some of the brothers mentioned to me. She says, “I read a book of yours on image-making in which you stated that image-making, whether by machine or by hand-drawing, is forbidden. And I heard you say regarding children’s toys that those made by hand are permissible, while those made by machine are forbidden. What is the difference between the two? I hope you will clarify this?”
The Shaykh : I do not say this; rather, this is a misunderstanding by some people of what I always say. There is a scientific principle: if there are texts forbidding something, and then a text comes that excludes a specific category from that thing, we stop at that exception and do not add to it through observation or analogy. The authentic hadiths are all consistent in forbidding image-making absolutely, whether it is three-dimensional or not. Then some hadiths came permitting children’s toys, meaning the toys that were made in the time of the Prophethood and the Message through home-based production to amuse children and train them, such as the toys of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). We say that the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) approval of this type of toy is proof that it is an exception to the previously mentioned rule, which is prohibition.
And when toys come from European countries, we forbid them. Not because they were made by machine or by hand, but because they fall under the general rule of prohibition. These imported toys are not the ones the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved and permitted, like the toys of ‘Aishah. This is what we say and testify to before Allah, and nothing more than what the questioner understood.
The Shaykh : I do not say this; rather, this is a misunderstanding by some people of what I always say. There is a scientific principle: if there are texts forbidding something, and then a text comes that excludes a specific category from that thing, we stop at that exception and do not add to it through observation or analogy. The authentic hadiths are all consistent in forbidding image-making absolutely, whether it is three-dimensional or not. Then some hadiths came permitting children’s toys, meaning the toys that were made in the time of the Prophethood and the Message through home-based production to amuse children and train them, such as the toys of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). We say that the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) approval of this type of toy is proof that it is an exception to the previously mentioned rule, which is prohibition.
And when toys come from European countries, we forbid them. Not because they were made by machine or by hand, but because they fall under the general rule of prohibition. These imported toys are not the ones the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved and permitted, like the toys of ‘Aishah. This is what we say and testify to before Allah, and nothing more than what the questioner understood.