Ruling on Pictures

31-7-2022 | IslamWeb

Question:

I have my photos of non hijab state & also my childhood photos ,when I didn't know Islamic rulings. Is it sin,if I don't destroy them although I didn't know the ruling while posing for photos? My mother severely warned me not to destroy them. I have no problem doing it,but I fear she will create problem if I do this. Please suggest me,what I'll do? I have read other fatwas, so I'm requesting you to give me specific fatwa for my case.

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Answer:

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 is His slave and Messenger.

The view that we adopt here in Islamweb is that it is forbidden to take pictures for souvenir (remembrance), especially if the picture is of a woman without hijab. So, you have to get rid of these pictures and avoid keeping them because they may be sees by a man who is not permitted to look at them, and he will be tempted as a result. It is an obligation to prevent means that lead to a prohibition. This is the view held by a large group of scholars.

The Fatwas of the Standing Committee reads:

“Looking at pictures of women in newspapers and the like, is a means of enjoying them, and knowing the entity of the picture and its beauty, and this may be a means to obtain such a picture, so it is forbidden because the means have the same ruling as the ends.”

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said about the categories of keeping pictures:

“Taking pictures for remembrance, like for affection, or sympathy, such as those who take the pictures of their children to remember them when they grow old, then this is also forbidden, as the threat in the Hadeeth applies to them, as the Prophet said: “The angels do not enter a house where there is a picture.” [End of quote]

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen also said:

“Taking pictures is not permissible except for a necessity... Therefore, what some people do nowadays, such as taking pictures for remembrance, and acquiring these pictures to remember their children when they are young, or to remember a trip that they made with his friends, then all this is not permissible because the angels do not enter a house where there is a picture.”

Therefore, it is not permissible for you to obey your mother in keeping these pictures, but you have to be wise and gentle in doing so. Try to get rid of these images and destroy them without angering your mother, as a way of acting according to the Hadeeth of the Prophet : “Do not leave an image except that you destroy it.” [Muslim]

Jaabir also narrated that the Prophet forbade keeping a picture at home. [at-Tirmithi]

You should be certain that if you do something that pleases Allah, then Allah will make the creation pleased with you.

‘Aa’ishah narrated that the Prophet said: “Whoever seeks to please Allah on the account of displeasing people, Allah will be pleased with him and will make the people pleased with him as well; and he who seeks to please people on the account of displeasing Allah, Allah will be displeased with him and will make people displeased with him.”[Ibn Hibbaan]

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 355198, 359908, 319273 and 87765.

Allah knows best.