وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَم — And Allah knows best. NoorIlm does not advocate for any particular position. These are scholarly opinions presented for educational purposes only. Consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings applicable to your situation. If you spot an error or have feedback, contact us.
Is Photography and Drawing of Living Beings Haram?
Can you take photos? Draw people? What about selfies, profile pictures, or digital art? The classical scholars were pretty unanimous that hand-drawn images of living beings are prohibited — but photography changed everything. The modern debate is heated, and scholars are genuinely divided on where to draw the line (pun intended).
Positions at a Glance
Hand-drawn or sculpted images of living beings are prohibited. Photography is debated — many modern Hanafi scholars permit it since it's capturing light, not 'creating' an image. Images for necessity (ID, education, security) are allowed.
The Prophet (SAW) said: 'The people who will receive the severest punishment from Allah will be the picture makers.' This is the foundational hadith. The Arabic word used is 'musawwirun' — those who make images. The big question is: does a camera operator count as a 'musawwir'?
Ibn Abbas told a man who made pictures for a living: 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to.' But then he gave him practical advice: 'If you must make pictures, make pictures of trees and unanimated objects.' So even in the strictest hadith, there's a clear exception for non-living things.
Many modern Hanafi scholars (including Mufti Taqi Usmani) distinguish between hand-drawing and photography. Their argument: the hadiths target someone who 'creates' or 'makes' an image — an act of imitating Allah's creation. A camera just captures reflected light onto a sensor. You're not drawing anything. That's fundamentally different from sitting down and sculpting a face. However, they still say images shouldn't be displayed for decoration or veneration.
Creating images of living beings by hand (drawing, painting, sculpting) is prohibited. Photography is permitted by many Shafi'i scholars since it's not hand-creation. Displaying images for decoration is disliked.
Aishah (RA) hung a curtain with pictures over her door. When the Prophet (SAW) came back from travel and saw it, he tore it down and said: 'The people who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection will be those who try to make the like of Allah's creations.' But here's the key detail — they then cut the curtain into cushions, and the Prophet didn't object. The issue was displaying the images, not the material itself.
Aishah (RA) had dolls — actual toy figures of horses with wings. When the Prophet (SAW) saw them, he didn't get upset. He actually laughed so hard you could see his back teeth. If all images of living beings were absolutely haram with no exceptions, why would the Prophet's own wife have toy figures in their home?
Imam al-Nawawi (the great Shafi'i scholar) explained that the prohibition is specifically on creating three-dimensional figures and hand-drawn images intended to imitate creation. Many contemporary Shafi'i scholars extend the dolls exception to argue that images not made for worship or veneration have more flexibility. Photography falls into a grey area that most modern Shafi'i scholars permit, especially for practical purposes.
Hand-made images of living beings with complete features are prohibited. Incomplete images (no face, no head) are permitted. Photography is generally allowed by modern Maliki scholars.
The Prophet (SAW) said: 'Those who make these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them: Give life to what you have created.' The Malikis focus on the phrase 'give life to what you have created' — the sin is in the act of creation, trying to rival Allah. A camera doesn't create, it records.
The Prophet (SAW) said angels don't enter houses with pictures. When he saw Aishah's curtain with images, he showed disapproval and tore it. But after she cut it into pillows (where the images were no longer displayed), he was fine with it. The Malikis take this as proof that the issue is displaying images prominently — not the mere existence of images on material.
The Maliki school has a well-known principle: if an image is incomplete — missing the head, or missing features that a living being can't survive without — then it's not really an 'image' in the prohibited sense. This is why you'll see some Islamic art that depicts bodies without facial features. Modern Maliki scholars in North Africa and the Gulf largely permit photography, considering it fundamentally different from the hand-made image-making the hadiths address.
The strictest position. All images of living beings — whether drawn, sculpted, or photographed — are prohibited except for genuine necessity. Some modern Hanbali scholars have softened on photography specifically.
The Prophet (SAW) said picture makers will receive the severest punishment. Ibn Taymiyyah and the classical Hanbali scholars took this at face value — any image of a living being, by any method, falls under this warning. The hadith doesn't say 'hand-drawn pictures.' It says 'pictures.' Period.
Aishah (RA) used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet (SAW), and her friends would play with her. He even called her friends to come join. Classical Hanbali scholars explain this as a specific exception for young girls' toys — not a general permission for image-making. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani noted this was allowed because Aishah hadn't reached puberty yet.
The traditional Hanbali view treats the prohibition broadly. Ibn Taymiyyah grouped all image-making together. However, even among Hanbalis, there's a modern split. Sheikh Ibn Baz held that photography is prohibited except for necessity (passports, IDs, security). Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen initially agreed but later shifted, saying photographs are permissible because they're not 'made' by the person — the camera captures what Allah already created. That's a significant shift within the Hanbali school itself.