Chapter 48. Picture Making

This applies to pictures on clothes, walls, stones, coins and all things whether they are made from wax, pastes, steel, copper, wool or otherwise.

Allah, the Almighty said,

Those who annoy Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment. (Al-Ahzab: 57)

Ikrimah said, what is meant by "Those who annoy Allah and His Messenger are picture-makers."

On the authority of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"On the Day of Judgment, the picture-makers will be punished and will be told, 'Bring to life what you have created.'" [Bukhari]

On the authority of Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said, "Once the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came back from a journey while I unintentionally covered myself with a curtain on which there were pictures of statues. Upon seeing it, the face of the Messenger of Allah was changed and said,

"O Aishah, the most severely punished among people (on the Day of Judgment) will be those who try to create something similar to what Allah has created. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with he) said, 'I cut it off and made from it two cushions." [Bukhari]

On the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said,

"I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, "Every picture-maker will be in Hell-Fire, in which there will be, with every picture he has made (in the worldly life), a soul with which he will be tortured." [Muslim]

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) also reported that, I heard the messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying,

"In the worldly life, whoever made a picture, he would be ordered, on the Day of Judgment, to put life into it which he would never be able to do." [Bukhari]

The Prophet (pbuh) has also been reported to have said,

"Allah the Almighty says, who does greater wrong than he who desires to create the like of what I create? Let them create a grain of barely! Let them create an atom." [Bukhari]

The Prophet (pbuh) said,

"On the Day of Judgment, a neck (person) will come out from the Hell and will say, "I am entrusted with three persons, whoever associated with Allah other partners, every tyrant and oppressor and picture-maker." [Tirmidhi]

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture." [Bukhari]

In Sunan Abu Dawud, it is reported on the authority of Ali Ibn Abi Talib that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog, a picture or a person who is in a state of ritual impurity." [Abu Dawud]

Concerning this hadith, Al-Khattabi (may Allah bestow mercy upon him) said, "What is meant by angels is those who descend with mercy and blessings and not those who are entrusted with recording the actions of the servants who accompany those who are in a state of ritual impurity or otherwise. It is also said that what is meant by "a person who is in a state of ritual impurity" is not the one who delays washing until the time of the Prayer comes but the one who does not wash himself from this impurity and neglects it to the extent that it becomes a habit for him. The following narration lends support to the previous meaning, "The Prophet used to have sexual intercourse with all of his wives and wash himself only once." This means that the Prophet (pbuh) delayed washing from ritual impurity and did not have body-washing directly after it became obligatory.

Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "Sometimes the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) retired to his bed while he was in a state of ritual impurity and did not touch any water." [Tirmidhi]

As for keeping dogs, it is prohibited if they are used in purposes other than guarding groups of people or for hunting. But if a person is obliged to keep them, for certain purposes, there will be no wrong in this. By the same token, if the person keeps dogs for guarding his house, there will also be no wrong in this.

As for pictures, it includes everything, which has a soul, whether they are erected bodies, or painted in a ceiling or on a wall or placed in a certain pattern or woven in clothes or places. In all these cases, pictures should be avoided.

Pictures should be defaced and removed in cases where the person is able to do so. In his Sahih, Muslim reported on the authority of Hayyan Ibn Husain who said, "Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) told me saying, "Should I teach you something on which the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has brought to me? Do not leave a picture until you erase it, or a raised grave unless leveling it." [Muslim]

• Wife Rebelling Against Her Husband
• This is the end

Chapters