What is your opinion on cinematic photography, video, and television?

The questioner : Yes, this question, forgive us.

The Shaykh : Good, if Allah wills.

The questioner : What is your opinion on cinematic photography and what is called video? Is it included in the category of forbidden photography that falls under the general meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): and his saying (peace be upon him): the hadith? And what is the evidence for distinguishing between them, if your opinion is that they are distinct? Know that cinema and video films remain for hundreds of years, preserving the images of those who were filmed while they are speaking, eating, drinking, and so on?

The Shaykh : Yes, your companion will answer you; because this question was directed to us recently and we answered it. What was it?
Al-Halabi : The Shaykh : He spoke a few days ago about the issue of photography from two angles. The first angle is the issue of the image itself, that it can be beneficial if it is in an Islamic form. A council of scholars regulates this scope, which is video or cinema, in a way that benefits the community, such as teaching Hajj or establishing things that people benefit from. As for this form, the sinner and the forbidden are equally so, and Allah the Exalted knows best. This is in brief, I mean.

The Shaykh : I confirm what you heard in another way. We say that all images are forbidden, whether they are hand-drawn, photographic, or this new fashion you called video earlier. All of these are forbidden. But we do not agree with the opinion of some of your shaykhs that there is no exception in all these images. We say there is an exception, citing the hadith of Aisha. Do you remember the hadith of Aisha and her toy?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Now I tell you, based on the questions in your inquiry, do we break and smash them all or not? I say: Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) smash Aisha’s toy?

The questioner : He turned away from it.

The Shaykh : You frightened me, O Abdullah. How did he turn away from it when he was teasing her, saying to her: “O Aisha, this is a horse with wings”?

The questioner : And he (peace be upon him) laughed. But in another hadith, he turned away from it.

The Shaykh : How, my brother, may Allah guide you? In the story of Aisha and her toy, there is no “he turned away from it.” You have mixed up the matter, and I do not want you to join the group of those who are confused. Ah, so did he smash it? The answer is no. If we say such an image, we do not smash it. We smash everything else. That is, we have an exception and the thing from which the exception is made. Is the answer clear?

The questioner : Is that clear?

The Shaykh : And the exception is not based on desire or how, but based on observing the benefit that Brother Ali mentioned about me earlier. Do you understand how?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And we gave an example for that. We said, may some of the radio stations or televisions in some Arab Islamic countries utilize this device to teach Muslims the prayer, which the majority of them perform incorrectly, especially the recommended prayers that the people of the schools of jurisprudence do not know in their books, let alone those who do not act according to what is in their books from the general Muslims. May these televisions show Muslims a three-dimensional image of a scholar circumambulating the Ka'bah, showing them the rituals, as Allah the Exalted said on the tongue of Ibrahim (peace be upon him): Now, among the signs of Allah the Glorious is that He shows us the rituals in a way... what? Television. May we have in 'Arafah, Muzdalifah, and all the sacred sites a performance by shaykhs who truly teach people all over the world by way of television. But no, this means, which can be converted to achieve some of the interests of Muslims, has become without doubt either a tool for moral corruption, or a tool for corruption that we might even include scholars in. How? I like to appear on the television screen so that the whole world knows me. I am blond, I am white, I am so-and-so. The one called Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, this is destruction for myself. We were gathered recently and an occasion came up that has nothing to do with us now, but we said that in some hadiths regarding praising an obscure person, one who is not pointed out with the finger, and we said that even if it is for good, because it is feared that this indication will ruin him and throw him on his nose. How did it come in the hadith? The hadith of Mu'adh here, it will ruin him on his nose, on the top of his head. Why? Because the love of showing off cuts off showing off. Those who expose themselves to the radio are feared for in reality. Therefore, we say that the original ruling of television is like the original ruling of images. Is it clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : But some images are permissible, I mean, like personal ID cards now.

The questioner : Necessity.

The Shaykh : Ah, so the toy of Lady Aisha is the key and the proof for us for this exception. And there is no difference at that time whether the image is from a camera, a video machine, or something similar. The important thing is to observe the exception established in the Shari'ah.

The questioner : Your speech is refuted by three objections. I mean, your speech is beautiful and sound, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : The first objection is that some scholars said that the hadith of Aisha regarding images is abrogated after that. Second, that expanding in this is not my right and the right of so-and-so, but this is limited to what the evidences have come with. Third, we say that solar images like cards or passports or the like are not taken from the hadith of Aisha, but are taken from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and that necessities permit the forbidden?

The Shaykh : Okay, the first answer was that the hadith of Aisha is abrogated. And also abrogated in their view, and not in ours, is the hadith of the Ansar. When fasting on the Day of Ashura was obligatory upon them, we used to amuse our children with toys until the evening. Do you remember this hadith?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : From wool, mentioned in the hadith. Also, this is abrogated. What is the abrogating factor? The hadiths of prohibition. Okay, the abrogation of these hadiths by the hadiths of prohibition is from the aspect of the indication of the general text or the specific text?

The questioner : The general text.

The Shaykh : Well done. Okay, is it possible to reconcile the general text and the specific text?

The questioner: Perhaps.

The Shaykh : And here, is the possibility missing or present?

The questioner : Here it is missing, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : Because images of wool and such are not like bringing out a person in his image and form as Allah the Glorious and Exalted created him.

The Shaykh : I did not understand you, or I understood and you are wrong, and the sweetest of them is bitter.

The questioner : I say, O Shaykh, the boasting that came in the prohibition in some hadiths...

The Shaykh : Do not expand the topic. We are talking about the hadith of Aisha.

The questioner : The hadith of Aisha is just a doll, from which no resemblance to the creation of Allah the Glorious and Exalted appears, as appears in this photography.

The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest. My brother, the hadith of Aisha was before photography. Today it is abrogated or before?

The questioner : Abrogated before.

The Shaykh : Okay, why are you mixing the old topic with the new machine?

The questioner : You mean, O Shaykh, to argue that this has no specificity, that these are generalities and it is possible to reconcile generalities and specificities.

The Shaykh : And included in the generalities is video and this machine, what is its name?
Al-Halabi : The camera.

The Shaykh : The camera. It is necessary to mention it now. And I ask you, the hadith of Aisha is abrogated by the general hadith. Is it not possible to reconcile the hadith of Aisha and the general hadiths except by you mentioning the new machines?

The questioner : No, O Shaykh, but...

The Shaykh : Okay, do not mention the new machines, and you have mentioned them now. Is it not possible to reconcile the hadith of Aisha and the hadith and the hadith etc.? Is it not possible to reconcile except by applying these hadiths to the hadith of Aisha and others and saying that they are abrogated? Is it not possible except this way?

The questioner : It is possible, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Okay, what is the possibility? It is reconciliation, and it is the original principle. The original principle is reconciliation between hadiths, because it is what the scholars of the principles of hadith mention, let alone the scholars of the principles of jurisprudence. They say the following, especially al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his explanation of al-Nukhba. If two hadiths from the category of acceptable ones are contradictory, he said, it is obligatory to reconcile them by one of the ways of reconciliation. If that is not possible, the people consider the abrogating from the abrogated between them. If that is not possible, the authentic or more authentic is preferred over the authentic, or the authentic over the good, and so on. If that is not possible, the matter is left to its scholar and we say Allah knows best.
Al-Halabi : We pause.

The Shaykh : That is, we do not say, as the Hanafis do, "They contradict each other, so both are dropped." So the first stage is reconciliation and combining. For example, regarding the one who enters the mosque and prays two rak'ahs, based on the hadith , we do not say that this is abrogated by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , because reconciliation is possible by applying the specific to the general. It is said: There is no prayer after such-and-such except the greeting of the mosque, there is no prayer after such-and-such except the sunnah of wudu', and so on, which is not hidden from you, if Allah wills. Is that clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Likewise, we say: , except for a permissible image. What is the evidence? The hadith of A'ishah. So why do you say the hadith of A'ishah is abrogated? And why do you say the hadith of the Ansar regarding playing with wool is abrogated, when reconciliation is possible? The default is not to claim abrogation unless we have no way but to resort to the claim. But if combining and reconciling is possible, we say this is specific and that is general, and there is no contradiction between a specific and a general text. This is first. Second, what did I say? Did I say first, second, and third?

The questioner : ... I forgot.

The Shaykh : You are putting me to a great strain, Shaykh. If you do not remember what you are saying, how can I remember what I am hearing you say?

The questioner : Because thoughts come to mind, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : No problem, thoughts, but they stem from knowledge, they stem from knowledge. Yes, in any case, does nothing come to your mind except the first one?

The questioner : Necessity.

The Shaykh : Necessity. I would add to it pressing need. Because what is with A'ishah is not a necessity for playing, but it is a benefit and a pressing need. Is that clear? In fact, those who resorted to necessity are the ones who said there was abrogation.

The questioner : Yes, the card and the passport today ...

The Shaykh : No problem, O Allah. I have lost my patience, Shaykh.