A shopkeeper in a grocery store sells and buys children's toys that contain images of living creatures, such as monkeys, birds, and cats. What is the ruling on this?
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The questioner : A shopkeeper in a grocery store sells and buys children's toys that contain images of living creatures, such as monkeys, birds, and cats, and so on. What is the ruling on this?
The Shaykh : The original ruling regarding three-dimensional images of animals is that they are forbidden, and it is not permissible to keep them, whether for children or adults. If it is not permissible to keep them, then it is not permissible to sell or buy them, because when Allah the Exalted forbids something, He forbids its price.
However, some scholars have granted a dispensation for toys intended for young girls, to be used by a young girl so that she can accustom herself to raising girls, in case Allah the Exalted grants her a daughter. Some of them said that these images, in which a dispensation is granted, must not be in the form of a realistic image; they should not have two eyes, a nose, two lips, or a face, except that it is blurred like a shadow. Others said that there is no harm in the image with which the girl plays being in the form of a realistic image, because the intended purpose is achieved by this and that. I do not insist on strictness in this matter, so I say: if the guardians of the young girl are able to bring her toys that do not have a face, but are like a shadow, that is more preferable and better.
As for images of other animals, such as horses, birds, and the like, the original ruling is to prohibit them and that it is not permissible to keep them. Based on this, it is not permissible to sell or buy them. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This questioner says.
The Shaykh : The original ruling regarding three-dimensional images of animals is that they are forbidden, and it is not permissible to keep them, whether for children or adults. If it is not permissible to keep them, then it is not permissible to sell or buy them, because when Allah the Exalted forbids something, He forbids its price.
However, some scholars have granted a dispensation for toys intended for young girls, to be used by a young girl so that she can accustom herself to raising girls, in case Allah the Exalted grants her a daughter. Some of them said that these images, in which a dispensation is granted, must not be in the form of a realistic image; they should not have two eyes, a nose, two lips, or a face, except that it is blurred like a shadow. Others said that there is no harm in the image with which the girl plays being in the form of a realistic image, because the intended purpose is achieved by this and that. I do not insist on strictness in this matter, so I say: if the guardians of the young girl are able to bring her toys that do not have a face, but are like a shadow, that is more preferable and better.
As for images of other animals, such as horses, birds, and the like, the original ruling is to prohibit them and that it is not permissible to keep them. Based on this, it is not permissible to sell or buy them. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This questioner says.