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Fatwa CenterRuling on wearing a cross - Building a model brain
Question
Assalaamu alaykum, my first question is whether or not this statement is correct: It is disbelief if someone intentionally wears a crucifix and while knowing that this is haram. Is it haram to say that? What if someone wears a crucifix but does not believe that Jesus, may Allaah exalt his mention, was crucified? My second question has to do with science. If I take a science class, and we have a project called 'Build a brain', does that imply that humans are trying to create brains. What the directions tell us is to make a model brain out of clay on a mannequin, and then in the directions, it says things like, "Place the frontal lobe you created on..." Is this haram given that it obviously is not a real brain? May Allaah reward you
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 
is His slave and Messenger.
Wearing the cross is forbidden, and it may lead its doer to disbelief as we have already clarified in fataawa 25725 and 114983. You should know that a Muslim is not automatically ruled to be a disbeliever (committing an act of disbelief) just by wearing the cross. The scholars have set conditions for declaring someone a disbeliever; in this regard, please refer to fataawa 8106 and 87963. This is in respect to the first question.
As regards the second question, there is nothing wrong with this project, and this is not creating or imitating the creation of Allaah; rather, it is using the mind and materials that Allaah has blessed the human being with in making this model brain, unless this is linked to a forbidden belief such as denying the Creator or claiming that the human being is able to create in the same manner that Allaah creates.
Also, making this brain is not included in forbidden images, as there is nothing wrong with making an image of only the head. Al-Buhooti 
said in Sharh Al-Iqnaa’, “...or making for it (the image) a head that is separate from its body, or images of heads without the body, then this is not disliked; as this is not included in the prohibition...”
Finally, it should be noted that the images made for the purpose of education, although they are of the kind that is prohibited, are excused because of the necessity.
Allaah knows best.
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