What is the ruling on selling books that contain images?
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The questioner : Some scholarly books contain certain images. What is the ruling on selling these books?
The Shaykh : Some of what?
The questioner : Images. What is the ruling on these books, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Books containing images fall into two categories. One category is dedicated to the images, such as what is now called the Burdah magazine. This magazine is dedicated to the Burdah. It is not permissible to buy or possess this, because the primary and ultimate purpose of it is the images.
The other category is not intended for the images, but rather for the benefit, though it may contain an image of the person who wrote the article. There is no harm in possessing these, because avoiding them is difficult, and it is also difficult for him to go through all of them and black out the faces.
The questioner : Selling them?
The Shaykh : Selling them is permissible, because whenever their use is permissible, their sale is permissible.
The questioner : Even if they are images of women, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, but as I told you, does a person buy them for the sake of the image? It depends on the intention.
The Shaykh : Some of what?
The questioner : Images. What is the ruling on these books, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Books containing images fall into two categories. One category is dedicated to the images, such as what is now called the Burdah magazine. This magazine is dedicated to the Burdah. It is not permissible to buy or possess this, because the primary and ultimate purpose of it is the images.
The other category is not intended for the images, but rather for the benefit, though it may contain an image of the person who wrote the article. There is no harm in possessing these, because avoiding them is difficult, and it is also difficult for him to go through all of them and black out the faces.
The questioner : Selling them?
The Shaykh : Selling them is permissible, because whenever their use is permissible, their sale is permissible.
The questioner : Even if they are images of women, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, but as I told you, does a person buy them for the sake of the image? It depends on the intention.