What is the Islamic ruling on one who takes pictures, whether by video or camera, in front of the worshippers in Ramadan and other times?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Our questioner asks: What is the Islamic ruling on one who takes pictures, whether by video or camera, in front of the worshippers, for example in Ramadan during the tarawih prayer or the obligatory prayers?
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you, the ruling is well known by the consensus of the majority of scholars.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : That image-making is forbidden, and the modern philosophy that distinguishes between hand-drawn images and mechanical photographic images, or camera images, or what? Video images, or so on, this distinction aligns with the old Zahirite school.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And so I say this is a modern Zahirite view, this is an image that was drawn by hand.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the one that was taken by camera.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Or by video, linguistically and legally this is an image, so distinguishing between identical things is not at all part of the system of the Shari'ah.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the harm that may result from hand-drawn images is the same, or even worse, may result from these photographic or video images, which depict a person speaking, moving, walking, and so on. So the imitation here, which is the operative cause of the prohibition of image-making, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:, so all this image-making is forbidden. So some people taking pictures of the worshippers or the mujahideen, where there is no necessity for it, except for purely formal matters, this falls under the rule of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: Mishkat al-Masabih 4498.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And may He reward you.
The questioner : Shall we continue, our Shaykh? Or in another session? We do not want to burden you.
The Shaykh : No, actually, there is another observation, which is: making room for some of those who are waiting for their turn!
The questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh, because these questions came to us from Bahrain.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : So if you wish, meaning tomorrow like this?
The Shaykh : There is no objection.
The questioner : May Allah honor you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner : We do not want to take the right of others, even though, our Shaykh, we do not get tired of talking with you.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you, and welcome.
The questioner : May Allah honor you, our Shaykh, it remains, our Shaykh, that we say: Do we have the honor of our Shaykh's invitation?
The Shaykh : You should contact Abu 'Abdullah.
The questioner : Ah, call him, meaning?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Okay, his phone number, our Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Write it down.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : From the right, of course, nine two.
The questioner : Nine two.
The Shaykh : One five.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Nine eight.
The questioner : Nine eight.
The Shaykh : Record this number in the notebook with you.
The questioner : With the permission of Allah, may Allah honor you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you, the ruling is well known by the consensus of the majority of scholars.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : That image-making is forbidden, and the modern philosophy that distinguishes between hand-drawn images and mechanical photographic images, or camera images, or what? Video images, or so on, this distinction aligns with the old Zahirite school.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And so I say this is a modern Zahirite view, this is an image that was drawn by hand.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the one that was taken by camera.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Or by video, linguistically and legally this is an image, so distinguishing between identical things is not at all part of the system of the Shari'ah.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the harm that may result from hand-drawn images is the same, or even worse, may result from these photographic or video images, which depict a person speaking, moving, walking, and so on. So the imitation here, which is the operative cause of the prohibition of image-making, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection are these image-makers; they compete with the creation of Allah.
إنَّ أشدَّ الناس عذابًا يوم القيامة هؤلاء المصوِّرونَ ؛ يضاهون بخلق اللهEveryone who makes representations of things will go to hell
كلُّ مصوِّرٍ في النارThe questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And may He reward you.
The questioner : Shall we continue, our Shaykh? Or in another session? We do not want to burden you.
The Shaykh : No, actually, there is another observation, which is: making room for some of those who are waiting for their turn!
The questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh, because these questions came to us from Bahrain.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : So if you wish, meaning tomorrow like this?
The Shaykh : There is no objection.
The questioner : May Allah honor you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner : We do not want to take the right of others, even though, our Shaykh, we do not get tired of talking with you.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you, and welcome.
The questioner : May Allah honor you, our Shaykh, it remains, our Shaykh, that we say: Do we have the honor of our Shaykh's invitation?
The Shaykh : You should contact Abu 'Abdullah.
The questioner : Ah, call him, meaning?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Okay, his phone number, our Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Write it down.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : From the right, of course, nine two.
The questioner : Nine two.
The Shaykh : One five.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Nine eight.
The questioner : Nine eight.
The Shaykh : Record this number in the notebook with you.
The questioner : With the permission of Allah, may Allah honor you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.