If you enter a place that has pictures on cushions, is it permissible for you to tear them up, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did when he entered Aisha’s room?
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The questioner : Well, esteemed Shaykh, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not enter Aisha’s room when he found pictures on the curtain until he cut that curtain and made it into cushions.
So should I follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in this, if I enter any place, shop, or house?
The Shaykh : Yes, there is no doubt that following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is what Allah commanded, and He said:[Al-Ahzab 33:21].
So if you enter a house and find that pictures have been hung in it, return and do not enter unless, if you speak to the owner of the house to remove them, he removes them. Then you command him or ask him to remove them, and you enter.
Because there are two benefits in that:
The first benefit is removing this evil, and the second benefit is completing your response to the call. But if you know that he will not accept it from you and will not remove these pictures, then there is no doubt that the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), which is that you do not enter this place. Yes, and likewise, what is found of family pictures, or pictures of the head of the family, or pictures of the king, or pictures of the prince, or pictures of the minister, or the like of that which is found hanging in frames, you do not enter as long as this thing is hanging until it is removed.
So should I follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in this, if I enter any place, shop, or house?
The Shaykh : Yes, there is no doubt that following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is what Allah commanded, and He said:
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.
لقد كان لكم في رسول الله أسوة حسنة لمن كان يرجو الله واليوم الآخر وذكر الله كثيراSo if you enter a house and find that pictures have been hung in it, return and do not enter unless, if you speak to the owner of the house to remove them, he removes them. Then you command him or ask him to remove them, and you enter.
Because there are two benefits in that:
The first benefit is removing this evil, and the second benefit is completing your response to the call. But if you know that he will not accept it from you and will not remove these pictures, then there is no doubt that the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), which is that you do not enter this place. Yes, and likewise, what is found of family pictures, or pictures of the head of the family, or pictures of the king, or pictures of the prince, or pictures of the minister, or the like of that which is found hanging in frames, you do not enter as long as this thing is hanging until it is removed.