What is the ruling on photographic imaging in traffic accidents, where sometimes some people appear in the images?
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The questioner : Peace be upon you, O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : We work in the traffic department handling traffic accidents, and sometimes we need to photograph the accidents to preserve the rights of our fellow citizens. Some of the people present at the accident scene are removed, but some remain, and the camera captures the men present, especially if we are in the city. This does not happen outside the city. What is the ruling, O honorable Shaykh? And if something happens, for example, should we leave the job if it occurs?
The Shaykh : There is nothing wrong with this work, because it is imaging for a benefit, or rather for a pressing need or dire necessity. It does not matter if the imaging of this place includes someone who is not a party to the accident. It is well known that imaging with a camera is not what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended, in our view, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) only cursed the image-makers who compete with the creation of Allah, meaning those who are the makers of the image, i.e., the doers of the image. As for capturing images with a photographic device, it is not the act of the maker, meaning he did not design the eye, the nose, the lip, the forehead, or the head. The most that is done is that he preserved this image, which is the act of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), in this card. What indicates this to you is that if you wrote a letter to a person by hand, then it was put into a copying machine and came out, would it be said that this is the writing of the one who operated the machine? No, it is the writing of the first person, but it was preserved by means of the materials that people have now developed in this card. So it does not fall under image-making at all.
But if a person images with an instant photographic device that he keeps with him and collects, that is forbidden, not for its own sake, but for the intended purpose. And the purpose you intend by imaging accidents is a correct purpose, and a matter that is necessary. The important thing is to remain as you are, and there is no blame on you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : We work in the traffic department handling traffic accidents, and sometimes we need to photograph the accidents to preserve the rights of our fellow citizens. Some of the people present at the accident scene are removed, but some remain, and the camera captures the men present, especially if we are in the city. This does not happen outside the city. What is the ruling, O honorable Shaykh? And if something happens, for example, should we leave the job if it occurs?
The Shaykh : There is nothing wrong with this work, because it is imaging for a benefit, or rather for a pressing need or dire necessity. It does not matter if the imaging of this place includes someone who is not a party to the accident. It is well known that imaging with a camera is not what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended, in our view, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) only cursed the image-makers who compete with the creation of Allah, meaning those who are the makers of the image, i.e., the doers of the image. As for capturing images with a photographic device, it is not the act of the maker, meaning he did not design the eye, the nose, the lip, the forehead, or the head. The most that is done is that he preserved this image, which is the act of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), in this card. What indicates this to you is that if you wrote a letter to a person by hand, then it was put into a copying machine and came out, would it be said that this is the writing of the one who operated the machine? No, it is the writing of the first person, but it was preserved by means of the materials that people have now developed in this card. So it does not fall under image-making at all.
But if a person images with an instant photographic device that he keeps with him and collects, that is forbidden, not for its own sake, but for the intended purpose. And the purpose you intend by imaging accidents is a correct purpose, and a matter that is necessary. The important thing is to remain as you are, and there is no blame on you.