During our wedding my husband and I took pictures to send to his mother back home in Yemen. Is it Haram that we took pictures, and the pictures were only for his mother, no one else?

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

There are two forbidden matters in your taking pictures.

Firstly, it is something whose permissibility is not agreed upon among the scholars. Many people of knowledge consider it Haram, as the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Image-makers will be in hell-fire. For every picture they made Allah will create a soul that will keep on punishing him in hell-fire." (Reported by Muslim and others.)

The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) also said: "Portrait-makers will be punished on The Day of Judgment; they will be told to infuse life into what they have drawn, and they will not be able to do so." (Reported by Muslim.)

The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) further said: "Whoever draws a portrait, Allah will punish him/her until he infuses life into it, and he/she will not be able to do so." (Reported by Al-Bukhari.)

There are many Ahadith in this regard. And there is no difference for those who forbid them between the photographic pictures and what is drawn by hand.

Secondly, it is not certain that a man who is not allowed to see you will not see your picture. So, we advise you to destroy these pictures and throw them away as a sign of repentance to Allah.

Allah knows best.