What is the ruling on children playing with dolls?

The questioner : O Shaykh, regarding the children's toy called the doll, we heard that you issued a ruling permitting it?

The Shaykh : Yes, yes. I do not take a strict stance on children's toys first of all, because the hadith of A'ishah is authentic and established in al-Bukhari and others. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we do not know that the industry had reached the level known today. So we say: as long as the meaning for which playing with dolls was permitted for girls is still present now, even in these images. And so you find that when a girl has a daughter from these dolls, she takes care of her completely, dresses her, washes her... she turns on the air conditioner and puts her in front of it, and if she does not have an air conditioner, she turns on the fan, saying "Oh my sweet one" and "Oh my darling" and the like, is that not so? So that she gets used to it, so that when her daughters come, she is prepared. So the wisdom is for the girl to get accustomed to raising her children. As long as this cause is present in it, but nevertheless, we do not recommend this thing. We say: it is possible to bring this image and shave off its face with a knife and make it something else, so that it is like a girl wearing a veil, with one veil on her, yes.