pictures??
Ruling on keeping pictures and children’s toys
We know from Hadith that the Angels do not enter into a house where pictures/phograhps of living things (humans or animals )are displased.
What is the ruling for keeping the photographs of family relatives and pictures appearing in magazines/news papers etc. and toys like dolls and sruptures of animals.
Your kind reply based on teaching of Quran and Hadith is most kindly requested. May Allah bless you for this act of kindness.
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Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Image-making is of two types: one by hand and the other by means of machines.
Image-making by hand is haraam, and is in fact a major sin, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the one who does it. He did not differentiate between images that have a shadow (i.e., three-dimensional) or those that are simply drawn (two-dimensional), according to the more correct scholarly opinion, because of the general meaning of the hadeeth.
With regard to image-making by means of machines, i.e. cameras, there is a difference of opinion among the later scholars on this matter. Some of them forbid it and some of them allow it.
In order to be on the safe side, it is better to avoid that, because it is one of the doubtful areas. And whoever is careful with regard to doubtful matters will protect his religious commitment and his honour. But if he needs to do that for a specific purpose such as proving his identity, there is nothing wrong with that because if there is a need, the matter is no longer doubtful.
Secondly:
With regard to keeping pictures, this is also of two types:
The first type is keeping images that are three-dimensional. Keeping them is haraam. Ibn al-‘Arabi narrated that there is consensus on this point. See Fath al-Baari, p. 388, vol. 10). He said: This consensus has to do with things other than girls’ dolls.
It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and I had friends who would play with me. When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) entered they would hide themselves and he would call them to come and play with me. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 5779; Muslim, no. 2440.
The second type is images that are not three-dimensional. These are of different types:
1- Those that are hung up to be venerated and respected, as in the case of pictures of kings, presidents, ministers, scholars etc. This is haraam because it involves exaggeration about a created being.
2- Those that are hung up for the sake of memory, such as hanging up pictures of one's friends. This is also haraam, because of the hadeeth narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhaari from Abu Talhah (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said: “I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: ‘The angels do not enter any house in which there is a dog or an image.’” Narrated by Muslim, no. 2104).
3- Those that are hung up for the purpose of adornment. These are also haraam because of the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came back from a journey and I had hung a patterned curtain on which there were images over (the door of) a room of mine. When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw it, he tore it and said, ‘The most severely punished of the people on the Day of Resurrection will be those who tried to imitate the creation of Allaah.’” She said: “So I made it into one or two cushions.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 5610; Muslim, no. 2107.
4- Those that are treated with disrespect, such as images in carpets and pillows. Al-Nawawi narrated from the majority of scholars among the Sahaabah and Taabi’een that these are permissible.
5- Those that have unfortunately become widespread and are difficult to avoid, such as images engraved on coins etc which have become a problem for the Muslim ummah. It seems to me that there is no sin on the one who acquires these without wanting to acquire images.
Thirdly:
With regard to dolls that children play with:
An exception is made in the case of children’s toys, which are not regarded as haraam or makrooh. But what are the toys which are exempted? We know that the toys of the past did not have eyes and lips and noses as they do nowadays. I think it is better to avoid these toys and limit oneself to those the kind of toys that were known previously.
See Fataawa al-‘Aqeedah by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, p. 66, 663, 679
And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A
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What is the ruling on hanging up pictures of children inside the house?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to hang up pictures at all, whether of children or adults. That is because of the stern prohibition narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) against keeping pictures and his command to ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him): “Do not leave any image without erasing it or any raised grave without leveling it.” Narrated by Muslim, 1/66
Hence pictures must be removed, erased or burned and not kept.
Hanging up pictures of animate beings inside houses or elsewhere deprives the people of that place of a great deal of good, which is the angels’ entering that house. It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah have mercy on him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The angels do not enter a house in which there are statues or images.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1961.
It is permissible to hang up pictures of inanimate things such as trees, mountains, seas and natural views, or other inanimate drawings, without being extravagant.
Islam Q&A
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Keeping pictures on cell phones
I read your answer about the ruling on keeping pictures for memories, and after that I burned the pictures that I had, but there are some pictures of me that my sisters and paternal aunts have. What should I do? If they refuse to give them to me, what should I do? And what is the ruling on keeping pictures on cell phones?.
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Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to keep pictures of animate beings for memories. This has been discussed in the answer to question no. 10668.
There is no sin on you if your sisters and aunts keep these pictures, but you have to explain the shar’i ruling to them and advise them to get rid of them. You should ask them for the pictures that they have of you, but if they refuse there is no sin on you.
Secondly:
With regard to pictures on cell phones, computers and videos, these do not come under the same ruling as photographs, because they are not tangible, unless they are printed. Based on that, there is nothing wrong with keeping them on the cell phone, so long as they do not include anything haraam, such as if they are pictures of women.
