Assalaamu alaykum. Please reply soon. I am thinking of giving a gift to my mom. I have a picture of her college days. I want to enlarge it and gift it to her. There is almost no chance of any non-Mahram (permanently unmarriageable kin) seeing it since she will not hang it up. Given that photographic images are permissible as per a strong scholarly position, can I gift it to her?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no doubt that giving a gift to the mother that makes her happy is considered an act of the dutifulness and kindness enjoined on the children; you shall be rewarded for it, Allah willing. However, you should not gift her this picture; rather, it should be defaced and disposed of given the relevant ahaadeeth emphasizing the need to deface the images of animate beings, rather than enlarging them and keeping them. What you mentioned, that some scholars held that photographic images are permissible, is opposed by the view of other scholars who held that it is impermissible. So avoiding it falls under avoiding doubtful matters, and it is recommended to avoid the areas in which the scholars held different opinions. Moreover, some of those who held that it (photography) is permissible also held that it is impermissible if it is done to keep photos as a memory.

Shaykh Ibn ʻUthaymeen said:

“As for taking pictures with the instant camera that does not involve manual work, there is no harm in it because it is not considered image-making; however, what remains to be seen is the purpose for taking the pictures. If the purpose is to keep them even for memory, it becomes prohibited. The means to an end take the same ruling as the end, and keeping images for memory is prohibited because the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, ‘The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image.’ This indicates that it is prohibited to keep images at homes.”

For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 355198.

We advise you to think of another gift for your mother, such as gifting her a useful book, an item of clothing, or the like.

Allah knows best.