The Ruling on Image-Making and What Is Permissible and Forbidden of It

Question:
What is your opinion regarding the ruling on image-making, which has become a widespread affliction and in which people have become engrossed? Please provide a comprehensive answer regarding what is permissible and what is forbidden of it. May Allah reward you.

Answer:
Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. As for what follows: Numerous hadiths have come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic collections, musnads, and sunan, indicating the prohibition of making images of every living being, whether human or otherwise, tearing down curtains containing images, ordering the defacement of images, cursing the image-makers, and clarifying that they are the most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection.
I will mention to you a collection of authentic hadiths in this chapter, and I will mention some of the scholars' words regarding them, and I will clarify what is correct in this issue, if Allah wills. In the two Sahihs, it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Allah the Exalted said: This is the wording of Muslim. Also in them, it is narrated from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
And in both, it is narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is the wording of al-Bukhari.
Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Abu Juhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) : That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited the price of blood, the price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute, and he cursed the one who eats riba (usury or interest), the one who feeds it, the one who tattoos, the one who gets tattooed, and the image-maker. And from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Muslim narrated from Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan that he said: A man came to Ibn 'Abbas and said: I am a man who makes these images, so give me a ruling on them. He said: (Come closer to me), so he came closer to him, then he said: (Come closer to me), so he came closer to him, until he placed his hand on his head and said: I will inform you of what I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: And he said: (If you must do it, then make trees and things that have no soul).
Al-Bukhari narrated the statement: If you must do it... etc. at the end of the hadith before this, in a manner similar to what Muslim mentioned. Al-Tirmidhi narrated it in his Jami' and said: Good and authentic, from Abu al-Zubayr from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited images in the house, and prohibited making them. And from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon me and I had covered my terrace with a curtain containing statues. When he saw it, he tore it down and his face changed color, and he said: 'A'ishah said: So we cut it up and made it into a cushion or two cushions. Muslim narrated it.
And from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from a journey and I had covered my terrace with a curtain containing statues. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw it, he tore it down and said: She said: So we made it into a cushion or two cushions. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it, and Muslim added after his statement: (he tore it down): (and his face changed color). End of quote. And from her that she said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from a journey and I had hung a curtain containing statues, so he ordered me to take it down, so I took it down. Al-Bukhari narrated it, and Muslim narrated it with the wording: And I had covered my door with a curtain containing horses with wings, so he ordered me to take it down.
And from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from 'A'ishah also that she said: I bought a carpet containing images. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw it, he stood at the door and did not enter, so I recognized the dislike on his face. She said: O Messenger of Allah, I repent to Allah and to His Messenger for what I have committed. He said: She said: I bought it for you to sit on and use as a pillow. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he said: Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it. Muslim added from the narration of Ibn al-Majshun that she said: So I took it and made it into two footstools, and he used them in the house.
And from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim, and the wording is from Muslim. And Muslim narrated from Zayd ibn Khalid from Abu Talhah, traced to the Prophet, that he said: .
And in the Sahih of al-Bukhari, from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that Jibril (peace be upon him) said: And Muslim narrated from 'A'ishah and Maymunah similarly.
And Muslim also narrated from Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi that he said: 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: (Shall I not send you with what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me with, that you not leave any image except that you deface it, and not leave any raised grave except that you level it)? And Abu Dawud narrated with a good chain from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered 'Umar ibn al-Khattab during the Conquest, while he was at al-Bat'ha, to go to the Ka'bah and erase every image in it, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not enter it until every image in it was erased.
And Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi narrated in his Musnad from Usamah that he said: I entered upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Ka'bah and he saw images, so he called for a bucket of water and I brought it to him, and he began to erase them and said: The Hafiz said: Its chain is good. He said: And 'Umar ibn Shabih narrated from the path of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahrhan from 'Amir, the freed slave of Ibn 'Abbas, from Usamah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the Ka'bah and ordered me, so I brought him water in a bucket, and he began to wet the cloth and strike the images with it and said: End of quote.
And al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from 'A'ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not leave anything in his house containing crosses except that he removed them. Al-Kashmihani narrated it with the wording And al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) titled it "Chapter on Removing Images" and cited this hadith.
And in the two Sahihs, from Busr ibn Sa'id from Zayd ibn Khalid from Abu Talhah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Busr said: Then Zayd fell ill and we visited him, and there was a curtain with an image on his door. So I said to 'Abd Allah al-Khawlani, the foster son of Maymunah, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Did not Zayd inform us about images the other day? 'Abd Allah said: Did you not hear him when he said: Except a drawing in a garment? And in a narration from them from the path of 'Amr ibn al-Harith from Bakir al-Ashaj from Busr: So I said to 'Abd Allah al-Khawlani: Did he not narrate to us about images? He said: He said: Except a drawing in a garment, did you not hear it? I said: No. He said: Yes, he mentioned it.
And in the Musnad and the Sunan of al-Nasa'i, from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah that he entered upon Abu Talhah al-Ansari to visit him, and he found Sa'ad ibn Hanif with him, so Abu Talhah ordered a man to remove a carpet under him. Sa'ad said to him: Why are you removing it? He said: Because it has images in it, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said about them what you know. Sa'ad said: Did he not say: Except a drawing in a garment? He said: Yes, but it is more pleasant for my soul. End of quote. And its chain is good, and al-Tirmidhi narrated it with this wording and said: Good and authentic.
And Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i narrated with a good chain from Abu Hurayrah that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did so, and the dog was Hasan or Husayn, who was under a blanket for them, so he ordered it to be taken out. This is the wording of Abu Dawud, and the wording of al-Tirmidhi is similar. And the wording of al-Nasa'i: Jibril asked permission to enter upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he said: He said: End of quote.
And there are many hadiths in this chapter other than what we have mentioned.
These hadiths and what came in their meaning clearly indicate the prohibition of image-making for every living being, and that this is among the major sins for which the threat of the Fire is pronounced.
They are general for all types of image-making, whether the image has a shadow or not, and whether the image-making is on a wall, a curtain, a shirt, a mirror, paper, or otherwise; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not distinguish between what has a shadow and what does not, nor between what is placed on a curtain or otherwise. Rather, he cursed the image-maker and informed that image-makers are the most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection, and that every image-maker is in the Fire, and he stated this without excluding anything.
And supporting the generality is that when he saw the images on the curtain with 'A'ishah, he tore it down and his face changed color and said: And in a wording, he said when he saw the curtain: So this wording and similar ones are explicit in the inclusion of images on curtains and the like in the generality of the threat.
As for his statement in the hadith of Abu Talhah and Sa'ad ibn Hanif: This is an exception from the images that prevent the angels from entering, not from image-making itself. This is clear from the context of the hadith, and the intended meaning is if the drawing is in a garment or the like that is spread out and used, and similar to it is the used cushion, as indicated by the aforementioned hadith of 'A'ishah regarding cutting the curtain and making it into a cushion or two cushions.
And the hadith of Abu Hurayrah and the statement of Jibril to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did that, and it is not permissible to interpret the exception as applying to an image on a garment that is hung or placed on a door or wall or the like; because the hadiths of 'A'ishah are explicit in prohibiting such a curtain and the obligation to remove or tear it down, as mentioned previously with their wordings.
The hadith of Abu Hurayrah is explicit in that such a covering prevents the angels from entering, until it is spread out or the head of the statue in it is cut off, so that it becomes like a tree. And his hadiths—(peace and blessings be upon him)—do not contradict one another; rather, some of them corroborate others. And whenever it is possible to reconcile them in a suitable manner that does not involve forcing the meaning, that is obligatory and takes precedence over the methods of preferring one over the other or abrogation, as is established in the sciences of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) and hadith terminology. And reconciliation between them has been possible here, as we have mentioned. Praise be to Allah.
Al-Hafiz preferred the reconciliation of the hadiths in al-Fath, as I mentioned earlier, and said: (Al-Khattabi said: The image that prevents the angels from entering the house in which it is located is that whose possession is forbidden, and that is what is among the images that contain a soul, whose head has not been cut off or which has not been worn out). End of quote.
Al-Khattabi also said—(may Allah have mercy on him): (The punishment for the image-maker is great because images were worshipped in place of Allah, and because looking at them causes fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), and some souls are inclined toward them). End of quote.
Al-Nawawi—(may Allah have mercy on him)—said in his commentary on Muslim: "The chapter on the prohibition of drawing the image of an animal and the prohibition of taking what contains an image that is not worn out, such as carpets and the like, and that the angels (peace be upon them) do not enter a house in which there is an image or a dog."
(Our scholars and other scholars said: Drawing the image of an animal is haram (forbidden) with severe prohibition, and it is among the major sins; because it is threatened with this severe warning mentioned in the hadiths. And whether it is made in something that is worn out or not, its creation is haram (forbidden) in all cases; because it involves imitating the creation of Allah the Exalted. And whether it is on a cloth, a carpet, a dirham, a dinar, a fils, a vessel, a wall, or anything else. As for drawing the image of a tree, camel saddles, and other things that do not contain the image of an animal, it is not haram (forbidden). This is the ruling on the act of drawing itself.
As for taking an image of an animal, if it is hung on a wall, or a cloth that is worn, or a turban, or the like of what is not considered worn out, it is haram (forbidden). And if it is on a carpet that is stepped on, a pillow, a cushion, or the like of what is worn out, it is not haram (forbidden)... until he said: There is no difference in all of this between what has a shadow and what does not have a shadow.
This is a summary of our school's position on the issue, and the majority of scholars from the Companions, the Tabi'un (the generation after the Companions), and those after them said the same, and it is the school of al-Thawri, Malik, Abu Hanifa, and others.
And some of the Salaf (the earliest generations) said: It is only forbidden regarding what has a shadow, and there is no harm in images that do not have a shadow. This is a batil (invalid) school of thought, for the covering in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disapproved of the image, no one doubts that it is blameworthy, and its image does not have a shadow, along with the other absolute hadiths regarding every image). End of quote.
Al-Hafiz said, after mentioning this summary of al-Nawawi's words: (I say: What supports the generalization regarding what has a shadow and what does not have a shadow is what Ahmad narrated from the hadith of 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning to obliterate it. The hadith. End of quote.
I say: And whoever reflects on the aforementioned hadiths will see that their indication is the generalization of the prohibition, and that there is no difference between what has a shadow and what does not, as was clarified earlier. If it is said: It was mentioned earlier in the hadith of Zayd ibn Khalid from Abu Talhah that Basr ibn Sa'id, the narrator from Zayd, said: Then Zayd fell ill and we visited him, and if there was on his door a covering with an image in it, the apparent meaning of this indicates that Zayd considered it permissible to hang coverings that contain images.
The answer is: The aforementioned hadiths of 'Aishah and what came in their meaning indicate the prohibition of hanging coverings that contain images and the obligation to tear them down, and that they prevent the angels from entering. And if the hadiths from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) are authentic, it is not permissible to oppose them with the saying of any person or his action, whoever he may be. And it is obligatory for the believer to follow them and adhere to what they indicate, and to reject what contradicts them, as Allah the Exalted said: [al-Hashr:7] And Allah the Exalted said: [al-Nur:54] Allah the Exalted has guaranteed guidance in this verse for whoever obeys the Messenger. And Allah the Exalted said: [al-Nur:63].
Perhaps Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) did not know about the covering mentioned, or the hadiths indicating the prohibition of hanging coverings that contain images did not reach him, so he acted according to the apparent meaning of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: so he is excused due to his lack of knowledge of them.
As for whoever knows the authentic hadiths indicating the prohibition of setting up coverings that contain images, he has no excuse for contradicting them. And whenever a servant contradicts the authentic, explicit hadiths by following desires, or by imitating one of the people, he incurs the anger and hatred of the Lord, and it is feared for him the deviation of the heart and its fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), as Allah the Exalted warned against that in His saying: the verse [al-Nur:63]. And in His saying: [al-Saff:5] And His saying: the verse [al-Tawbah:77].
And it was mentioned earlier in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah the indication that if the head of the image is cut off, it is permissible to leave it in the house; because it becomes like a tree. And that indicates that drawing trees and the like of what has no soul is permissible, as was explicitly mentioned earlier from the narration of the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) from Ibn 'Abbas, stopping at him.
The aforementioned hadith is also used as evidence that cutting off parts of the image other than the head, such as cutting off its lower half or the like, is not sufficient and does not permit its use, and does not remove the barrier to the angels entering; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the tearing down and erasing of images and informed that they prevent the angels from entering except what is worn out or has its head cut off. So whoever claims a justification for the image remaining in the house other than these two matters, he must have evidence from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that if the head of the image is cut off, the rest of it is like a tree, and that indicates that the justification for its remaining is its exiting the form of living beings and its resembling inanimate objects. And if the lower part of the image is cut off and its head remains, it is not of this nature due to the remaining face, and because the face has of the wondrous creation and depiction what is not in the rest of the body, so it is not permissible to analogize the rest to it for one who understands what Allah and His Messenger intended.
And by this, it becomes clear to the seeker of truth that drawing the head and what is adjacent to it of an animal falls under the prohibition and prevention; because the authentic hadiths mentioned earlier encompass it. And no one has the right to exclude from its generality except what the Lawgiver has excluded. And there is no difference in this between three-dimensional images and others engraved on a covering or paper or the like, nor between images of humans and others of every living being, nor between images of kings and scholars and others. Rather, the prohibition in images of kings, scholars, and the like of those who are honored is more severe; because the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) with them is greater, and setting up their images in gatherings and the like and honoring them is among the greatest means of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and worshipping the lords of images in place of Allah, as happened to the people of Noah, and the reference to this was mentioned earlier in the words of al-Khattabi.
And the images in the age of jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance) were numerous, honored, and worshipped in place of Allah, until Allah sent His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and he broke the idols and erased the images, and Allah removed shirk (associating partners with Allah) and its means through him. So whoever draws an image or sets it up or honors it has imitated the disbelievers in what they did, and opened for the people the door of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and its means. And whoever orders drawing or is pleased with it, his ruling is the ruling of the doer in terms of prohibition and deserving the warning; because it is established in the Book and the Sunnah and the words of the scholars the prohibition of ordering sin and being pleased with it, just as doing it is forbidden. And Allah the Exalted said: [al-An'am:68] And Allah the Exalted said: [al-Nisa:140] The verse indicates that whoever is present with the munkar (what is wrong) and does not turn away from its people is like them.
So if the one who is silent about the munkar (what is wrong) while having the ability to forbid it or leave it is like the one who did it, then the one who orders the munkar (what is wrong) or is pleased with it is a greater crime than the silent one, in a worse state, and more deserving of being like the one who did it. The evidences in this meaning are numerous, and whoever seeks them will find them in their proper places.
And by what we have mentioned in this answer of hadiths and words of the scholars, it becomes clear to the seeker of truth that the people's expansion in drawing living beings in books, magazines, newspapers, and letters is a clear error and an apparent sin. It is obligatory for one who advises himself to be cautious of it and to warn his brothers of it after sincere repentance for what has passed.
It also becomes clear to him from the evidence mentioned previously that it is not permissible for these images referred to to remain as they are; rather, it is obligatory to cut off their heads or obliterate them, unless they are on a carpet or the like of what is stepped on and treated with contempt, in which case there is no harm in leaving them as they are, as the evidence for that has been mentioned in the hadiths of Aisha and Abu Hurayrah. As for toys depicted in the form of something that has a soul, the scholars differed regarding the permissibility of making them for girls.
It is established in the two Sahihs from Aisha that she said: "I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I had female companions who played with me. Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered, they would hide from him, so he would send them to me to play with me." Al-Hafiz said in al-Fath: "This hadith was used as evidence for the permissibility of making images of dolls and toys for the purpose of girls playing with them, and this was specified from the general prohibition of making images. Iyadh affirmed this and reported it from the majority, who permitted the sale of toys for girls to train them from a young age in the matters of their homes and children. He said: Some of them held that it was abrogated, and Ibn Battal inclined to this. He also reported from Ibn Abi Zayd from Malik that he disliked a man buying images for his daughter. Therefore, al-Dawudi preferred that it was abrogated."
Ibn Hibban titled a chapter: "The permissibility for young women to play with toys," and al-Nasa'i titled a chapter: "The permissibility for a man to allow his wife to play with dolls," so he did not restrict it to youth, and there is a point of consideration in this.
Al-Bayhaqi said after tracing the hadiths: "The prohibition of making images is established, so the dispensation for Aisha in that matter was before the prohibition. Ibn al-Jawzi affirmed this... until he said: Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i narrated from another route from Aisha that she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from the expedition of Tabuk or Khaybar, and he mentioned the hadith about tearing the curtain she had hung on her door. She said: He uncovered a side of the curtain where Aisha's dolls -toys- were, and he said: She said: They are my daughters. She said: And he saw a horse tied in it with two wings, so he said: I said: A horse with two wings. I said: Did you not hear that Sulayman had horses with wings? So he laughed... until he said: Al-Khattabi said: In this hadith, playing with dolls is not like playing with other images for which a warning was given, and he only granted a dispensation to Aisha in them because she was not yet of age at that time.
I said: There is a point of consideration in affirming this, but it is possible; because Aisha was fourteen years old in the expedition of Khaybar, either she had completed it or passed it or was close to it, whereas in the expedition of Tabuk she had definitely reached maturity. So the narration of the one who said "in Khaybar" is more probable, and it is reconciled with what al-Khattabi said; because that is more appropriate than contradiction. This is the end of the intended quote from the words of al-Hafiz.
Once you have known what al-Hafiz (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, the most cautious course is to refrain from making depicted toys; because there is doubt in their permissibility due to the possibility that the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) approval of Aisha making depicted toys was before the command to obliterate images, in which case it would be abrogated by the hadiths containing the command to erase and obliterate images except those whose heads are cut off or are treated with contempt, as al-Bayhaqi and Ibn al-Jawzi held, and Ibn Battal inclined to it. It is also possible that she was an exception to the prohibition as the majority said, for the benefit of training, and because playing with them by girls is a type of contempt. With the mentioned possibility and doubt in their permissibility, the most cautious course is to refrain from them, and to train girls with non-depicted toys to cut off the means of the preservation of three-dimensional images, and to act upon his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): and his saying in the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, narrated in the two Sahihs as marfu': And Allah knows best.
And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.