You are on page 1of 4

Ruling of Photography in Islam

(6) (
)
Allah said:'' It is He who forms you in the wombs however He wills. There is no deity
except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise'' 3:06
According to the above verse, TASWEER means forming , shaping and creation, which
is prohibited, but that ruling is not applicable on photography because there is no
forming, creation or shaping in photography, how ever it is applicable on painting or
shaping bodies with Clay, Cement or Sand and so forth
Narrated By Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): Allah's Apostle (Peace Be Upon
Him) returned from a journey when I had placed a curtain of mine having pictures over a
chamber of mine. When Allah's Apostle saw it, He tore it and said, "the people who will
receive the severest punishment on the day of Resurrection will be those who try to make
the like of Allah's creations" so we turned it into one or two cushions (narrated by AlBukhari)
Ibn Umar narrated that, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said: "the painter of these
pictures will be punished on the day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them, "make
alive what you have created" (narrated by Al-Bukhari)
According to the above two hadeeths, making pictures of alive things is not allowed
because the maker of pictures and paintings is making the like of Allah's creations, but
the one who takes the picture of a creation of Allah and take it with a camera in order to
copy it to a paper as is without changing it, does not fall under that threat because he is
not creating but copying the original creation of Allah, so generally, taking pictures with
cameras or video recording is permissible, keeping pictures in albums is also allowed but
not to hang them on walls or tables which may lead to sanctification of images which is
Haraam
There are separate issues relating to picture-making (TASWEER), hence it would be
good to understand each issue separately and the Islamic ruling on it:
1) Drawing/Painting Pictures of Humans and Animals
As it is common knowledge, there are countless Hadeeths narrated from the Messenger of
Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) that strictly prohibit painting pictures of animate objects, for

example:
Jabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah
(Peace Be Upon Him) forbade the keeping of pictures at home and making them. (Sunan
Tirmidhi, no: 1749)
Abu Talha (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Peace
Be Upon Him) said: Angels (of mercy) do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or a
picture. (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5609)
Due to these and many other similar narrations, most classical scholars are of the opinion
that painting and drawing pictures of humans and animals is unlawful and sinful. They
state that picture-making (tasweer) of human or animal life has been explicitly
forbidden by the Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him) and as such it will be sinful. Only
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) is reported to have differed with this
position of general prohibition.
In one of his narrations, Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), contrary to the
other three Imams, is reported to have stated that only those pictures are unlawful that are
three-dimensional and have a body to them, such as statues and sculptures. A picture that
does not have a body or shadow to it will not be unlawful although somewhat disliked,
such as drawing a picture on a paper, cloth or on any other object. This is one of two
positions narrated from Imam Malik, with his other position being similar to that of the
vast majority of classical scholars.
The position of the vast majority of classical scholars is based on the fact that there is no
distinction in the various Hadeeths between a tangible and intangible picture. The
Hadeeth indicating the permissibility of intangible and non-solid pictures refers to
pictures of other than humans and animals.
Based on this, the reliable and mainstream opinion of the classical jurists is that picturemaking is unlawful, whether by painting a picture on an object or making a sculpture.
This is the position held by the three main Sunni Schools of Islamic law (i.e. Hanafi,
Shafii & Hanbali) and also one of two positions related from Imam Malik.
2) Photography
In view of the above-mentioned one position of Imam Malik, there is no question with
regard to the permissibility of taking photographs, for according to that position, painting
pictures of human or animal life on a paper or fabric is allowed, hence camera pictures
would hold the same ruling.
However, in view of the mainstream and majority position of classical scholars, the
question arises as to whether photos of humans and animals fall under the type of picture-

making prohibited by the Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) in numerous


Hadeeths. Camera photos were not in existence when classical scholars were discussing
the issue of picture-making, hence one will not find an express ruling regarding
photography in their works. As such, it was left to contemporary scholars to determine
whether photos held the same ruling as that of painting and drawing pictures.
Contemporary scholars have differed on this issue:
a) The position of the overwhelming majority of Indo-Pak and some Arab scholars is that
photographs of human or animal life are not permissible for the very same reasons that
paintings of these are not permissible. They state that the ruling on picture-making does
not change by changing the tool with which the picture is produced. Whether an image is
produced by painting it or using a camera, as long as it is an image of a human or animal,
it will remain unlawful (haraam).
b) The second position on the issue, held by most present Arab Scholars (from all four
Madhabs) and most Ulama of Makkah, Madinah, Egypt and Ulama from the Indian
Subcontinent, is that there is a difference between photos and the prohibited picturemaking (tasweer), in support of this view of permissibility. Their basic understanding is
that the reason behind the prohibition of painting pictures (in the words of the Hadeeth) is
challenging Allah in His attribute of creating living creatures. However, in camera
photos, one does not produce an image through ones own imagination. It is merely a
reflection of a living being already created by Allah Most High. This is the more arguably
stronger opinion.
3) Live Broadcasting
Scholars have declared that live broadcastings of images do not fall within the ambit of
picture-making (tasweer). A picture is something that is permanent and static, whilst the
image broadcasted live is not permanent hence cannot be termed a picture. A live
broadcast is in reality a reflection of the actual image, similar to seeing an image in a
mirror.
Therefore, if an image of a human or animal is broadcasted live, then this does not fall
into the unlawful picture-making. It will be permitted to broadcast something live or view
a live programme, provided the content of the programme is lawful (halaal).
4) Video Recording
Video recording in a videotape or DVD is also not considered a prohibited picture. In a
videotape, the particles of an image are gathered and then re-opened in the same order to
view the image. This is the reason why it is not possible to see the picture in the reel of
the tape without playing it.

These are the two positions of contemporary scholars on the issue. There are great
scholars of knowledge, wisdom and piety on both sides of the fence; hence, it would be
wrong to criticize anyone for following any one of these positions. It is a matter of
genuine and valid difference of opinion. It is not an issue where one may condemn
another, and one must respect others right to follow their conscience.

You might also like