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Question

What is the Shar‘ī ruling regarding a person who considers photos and videos to be permissible?

Answer

Taking pictures and having pictures taken – all of this is impermissible and ḥarām, and considering it to be permissible is misbelief (bad-‘aqīdah). And video is, in reality, also a form of picture (taṣwīr).

• Shaykh al-Islām wal-Muslimīn, Qāḍī al-Quḍāt fi’l-Hind, the successor of Ḥuḍūr Muftī-e-A‘ẓam-e-Hind, Ḥuḍūr Tāj al-Sharī‘ah Badr al-Ṭarīqah ‘Allāmah Muftī Muḥammad Akhtar Riḍā Khān (may Allah have mercy on him) states:

“Taking photos and having photos taken – all of this is impermissible and ḥarām. And the aḥādīth concerning the prohibition of making images of living beings have reached the level of tawātur ma‘nawī (mass-transmitted in meaning). To commit this act without a Shar‘ī necessity is impermissible and ḥarām, and to consider it permissible is misbelief.”

For reference, a link is given below; you may listen to it:

https://youtu.be/FSU01N-NvK0?si=1rYebk2Qe5xTAlXI

And in one place he writes:

“TV also runs fixed (still) pictures quickly on the screen and thereby makes them into moving images. Just like ordinary films, 24 times per second pictures are shown in it.” (Video aur TV kā Operation, p. 108)

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• In Ḥāshiyah Ṭaḥṭāwī ‘alā al-Durr al-Mukhtār it is stated:

وظاهر كلام النووي في شرح مسلم : الإجماع على حرمة تصوير صورة حيوان وهو من الكبائر؛ لأنه متوعد عليه بوعيد شديد وهو ما في الصحيحين عنه : أشد الناس عذابًا يوم القيامة المصورون، يقال لهم أحيوا ما خلقتم، ثم قال : وسواء صنعه لما يمتهن أو لغيره فصنعته حرام بكل حال؛ لأن فيه مضاهاة لخلق الله تعالى، وسواء كان في ثوب أو بساط أو درهم أو دينار أو فلس أو إناء أو حائط وغيرها، انتهى.

And the apparent wording of Imām Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him) in Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim is that there is consensus (ijmā‘) on the prohibition of making images of living beings, and this is among the major sins, because there is a severe threat (wa‘īd) reported concerning it – as in the ḥadīth of the two Ṣaḥīḥs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim):

“The most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers; it will be said to them: ‘Give life to what you created.’”

Then he says:

“And this ruling is the same whether the image is of something that is trampled underfoot or of something else; in every case making images is ḥarām, because in it there is imitation (muḍāhāt) of the creation of Allah Most High. And it is the same whether the image is on a garment, or a carpet, or a dirham, or a dīnār, or a small coin (fals), or a vessel, or a wall, or other things.” End of quote.

(Ḥāshiyah Ṭaḥṭāwī ‘alā al-Durr al-Mukhtār, vol. 2, p. 368)

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Now a few aḥādīth are presented as proof for the prohibition of image-making:

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1. Ḥadīth of Ibn ‘Abbās (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

قَالَ مُسْلِم قَرَأْتُ عَلَى نَصْرِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ الْجَهْضَمِيِّ عَنْ عَبْدِ الْأَعْلَى بْنِ عَبْدِ الْأَعْلَى حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ أَبِي إِسْحَقَ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ قَالَ جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ فَقَال إِنِّي رَجُلٌ أُصَوِّرُ هَذِهِ الصُّوَرَ فَأَفْتِنِي فِيهَا فَقَالَ لَهُ ادْنُ مِنِّي فَدَنَا مِنْهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ ادْنُ مِنِّي فَدَنَا حَتَّى وَضَعَ يَدَهُ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ قَالَ أُنَبِّئُكَ بِمَا سَمِعْتُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ كُلُّ مُصَوِّرٍ فِي النَّارِ يَجْعَلُ لَهُ بِكُلِّ صُورَةٍ صَوَّرَهَا نَفْسًا فَتُعَذِّبُهُ فِي جَهَنَّمَ و قَالَ إِنْ كُنْتَ لَا بُدَّ فَاعِلًا فَاصْنَعْ الشَّجَرَ وَمَا لَا نَفْسَ لَهُ فَأَقَرَّ بِهِ نَصْرُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ

Imām Muslim said: I read (this ḥadīth) before Naṣr ibn ‘Alī al-Jahḍamī, from ‘Abd al-A‘lā ibn ‘Abd al-A‘lā, who narrated to us from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Isḥāq, from Sa‘īd ibn Abī’l-Ḥasan, who said:

A man came to Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: “I am a man who makes these images; so give me a legal ruling about them.”

Ibn ‘Abbās said to him: “Come closer to me.” So he came close. Then he said: “Come closer to me.” So he came even closer, until he placed his hand on his head and said:

“I shall inform you of what I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

‘Every image-maker will be in the Fire. For every image that he made, a soul will be made for him (i.e. for that image), and it will punish him in Hell.’

And (Ibn ‘Abbās) said: “If you must do it, then make images of trees and of things that do not possess a soul.”

And Naṣr ibn ‘Alī affirmed this (chain and wording) when I recited it before him.

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Libās wa’l-Zīnah, ḥadīth no. 5540)

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2. Ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلَاءِ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ فُضَيْلٍ، عَنْ عُمَارَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي زُرْعَةَ، سَمِعَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ، قَالَ : سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ :
قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ : وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ ذَهَبَ يَخْلُقُ كَخَلْقِي، فَلْيَخْلُقُوا ذَرَّةً ، أَوْ لِيَخْلُقُوا حَبَّةً، أَوْ شَعِيرَةً.

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I heard the Prophet ﷺ say:

‘Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: Who is more unjust than the one who goes to create like My creation? Let them create a speck, or let them create a grain of wheat, or a grain of barley.’”

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, ḥadīth no. 7559)

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3. Ḥadīth of Ibn Mas‘ūd (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، حَدَّثَنَا الْأَعْمَشُ، عَنْ مُسْلِمٍ ، قَالَ : كُنَّا مَعَ مَسْرُوقٍ فِي دَارِ يَسَارِ بْنِ نُمَيْرٍ ، فَرَأَى فِي صُفَّتِهِ تَمَاثِيلَ ، فَقَالَ سَمِعْتُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ ، قَالَ : سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: إِنَّ أَشَدَّ النَّاسِ عَذَابًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ الْمُصَوِّرُونَ.

Masrūq said: “We were with (al-‘Allāmah) Masrūq ibn al-Ajda‘ in the house of Yasār ibn Numayr. He saw some images (figures) in the portico of his house, so he said:

‘I heard ‘Abdullāh (ibn Mas‘ūd) say: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say:

“Indeed, the most severely punished people before Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers.”’”

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Libās, ḥadīth no. 5950)

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4. Ḥadīth of ‘Ā’ishah (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنْ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: إِنَّ أَصْحَابَ هَذِهِ الصُّوَرِ يُعَذَّبُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيُقَالُ لَهُمْ أَحْيُوا مَا خَلَقْتُمْ.

Our mother ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Indeed, the makers of these images will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them: Give life to what you have created.”

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, ḥadīth no. 7557)

Wallahu Ta’ala A’alam