Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterThe ruling on the magic wand tool that appears on some software
Question
As-Salamu Alaykum dear Brothers and Sisters. I am thinking of a career as a web developer but there is an issue, I was planning on learning adobe photoshop but it has a certain tool called the magic want tool, and since magic is unlawful in Islam I decided to find a substitute, another photo editing program named GIMP also has an animated logo and a similar logo to the magic want tool in adobe photoshop. Then I tried Inkscape but Inkscape has fonts with the cross. My question is, are these programs permissible even if they contain such symbols as tool icons?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallllaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
The fact that such symbols appear on the icons of some programs does not necessitate that such a program is impermissible for Muslims to use, because the matters are widespread and there is a general need for the programs, and the fact that they are there does not constitute any reverence of such symbols in the first place.
A group of Muslim jurists considered it disliked for a Muslim to wear anything that has an image of a cross. According to Kash-shaaf Al-Qinaa', “It is disliked to wear clothes, hats, rings, or use coins with an image of a cross. This is because ‘Aa’ishah 
said, 'The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, never left in his house anything containing an image of a cross without destroying it.' [Abu Daawood] The author of Al-Insaaf says, 'It may be considered forbidden and it is the apparent meaning of Saalih’s report (from Imaam Ahmad). I (i.e. Al-Buhooti, the author of Kash-shaaf Al-Qinaa`) said: This is the sound opinion.”
Based on that (i.e. the fact that it is disliked for a Muslim to wear anything that has an image of a cross), it is not impermissible with greater reason to use programs containing cross-like symbols or a magic wand tool.
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 200753.
Allaah Knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
