Narrated ‘A’ishah: I stuffed for the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) a pillow decorated with pictures (of animals) which looked like a Namruqah (i.e. a small cushion). He came and stood among the people with excitement apparent on his face. I said, “O Allah’s Apostle! What is wrong?” He said, “What is this pillow?” I said, “I have prepared this pillow for you, so that you may recline on it.” He said, “Don’t you know that angels do not enter a house wherein there are pictures; and whoever makes a picture will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and will be asked to give life to (what he has created)?” [Bukhari 4:47]
“The head is what makes something an image. So if the head is cut off, then there is no (forbidden) image.”
Hadeeth Number #3864 of Saheeh al-Jaami as-Sagheer wa Ziyaadatuh’
Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Every image-maker will be in the Fire, and for every image that he made a soul will be created for him, which will be punished in the Fire.” Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “If you must do that, make pictures of trees and other inanimate objects.” (Reported by Muslim, 3/1871)
al-Albani: There is no difference between picture-making with a pen and picture-making with a camera. (AFI 7, afatwa.com)
al-Albânî said: “I fear that Salafiyyûn one day will say: ‘Photography isn’t ‘picture making’. You just press a button.’.” (Silsilat-ul-Hudâ wan-Nûr 393)
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen clarifies his ruling on pictures
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, and upon you peace and Allah’s mercy and blessings.Whoever attributes to me the saying that pictures that has a body is unlawful, but other than that is not unlawful,has lied upon me. I hold the view that it is not not allowed to have any pictures, regardless whether it is a picture onclothes for adults or for children. All pictures, including those kept as memento, are not allowed unless there is anecessity for having or taking one.
Ibn Uthaimin
FATWA ISLAMIYAH VOLUME 8, PAGE 165-166
In the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him), he relayed from the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace): (( الصورة الرأس، فإذا قطع الرأس، فلا صورة )) “The soorah (impermissible image) is the head, so when the head is cut off (i.e. detached, removed), no soorah (impermissible image) remains.” It was collected by al-Ismaa’eelee in his Mu’jam and others. It was authenticated by Al-Albaanee in Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (no.1921), and he added that drawing a line through the neck in pictures (as endorsed by some) is not enough, rather the entire head must be completely removed.
Moosa Richardson commented: This is a hadeeth from our Messenger (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), along with a clarification from one of the top scholars in hadeeth about its proper application. Based on this, putting sunglasses on people (!) or simply blocking out their eyes is not sufficient. And Allaah knows best.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: With regard to dolls made of cloth, where the image does not have clear features, even though it has limbs, a head and neck, but there are no eyes or nose, there is nothing wrong with that, because this is not imitating the creation of Allaah. End quote.
Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (2/question no. 330).
The Shaykh also said:
Everyone who makes something that imitates the creation of Allaah is included in this hadeeth, which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the image makers… and his words “The people who will be most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers.” But as I said, if the image is not clear and if it does not have eyes or a nose or mouth or fingers, then it is not a complete image, and is not imitating the creation of Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted. End quote.
Abu Dawud, Al-Tirmidhy, and Al-Nasa’y related with a good Sanad on the authority of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Jibril came to me and said: ‘I came to you yesterday and nothing prevented me from entering except that there were statues by your door, there was a curtain in your house with suras on it, and there was a dog in the house. Tell someone to cut off the head of the statue by your door, so it will look like a tree; tell someone to tear up the curtain and make it into floor-cushions that will be stepped on; and tell someone to put the dog outside.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did that. The dog belonged to Al-Hasan or Al-Husayn and was under their couch. The Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered that it would be taken outside the house. This is the wording of Abu Dawud and a similar wording was reported by Al-Tirmidhy. The following is the wording of Al-Nasa’y: Jibril asked the Prophet’s permission to enter his house whereupon the Prophet said, “Get in,” but Jibril replied, “How could I enter your house and there is a curtain on which there are suras? Either you cut off their heads or make it (the curtain) into a cushion spread out so that the people may tread on. We, angels, do not enter a house in which there are suras.”
Fatwa no. 15755Q: Here are some pictures I used in my book about life in the desert. I would like to know the ruling about these partial drawings? Please, advise!A: It is not permissible to draw a picture of living beings
(Part No. 1; Page No. 287)
whether the whole body or just the head and the face appear, for the prohibited picture is that of the face. Indeed, the face is the most tempting part of the body. Therefore, it is not permissible to draw the face of the living beings, humans or animals. According to the authentic reports, portraying living beings is prohibited and severe punishment is promised to the doer. May Allah guide us all to what is good and to follow the Prophet (peace be upon him).May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.
Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’
Bakr Abu Zayd
`Abdul-`Aziz Al Al-Shaykh
Salih Al-Fawzan
`Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan
`Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz
(Part No. 1; Page No. 693)
The fourth question of Fatwa no. 9349Q
4: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, Angels do not enter a house in which there is a picture, a statue or a dog. Does this Hadith include the pictures inside books, even if there is no picture on the cover?A: Yes, it is included in the general meaning of the Hadith even if the picture is not on the cover. On the other hand, if the face is effaced or removed, then it is not included in the Hadith.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.
The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’
`Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan
`Abdul-Razzaq `Afify
`Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz