Photographs: please clarify where you stand
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Question
I say this with no offense to you because this website is amazing… but in terms of photography, you say that it is forbidden to have pictures of living beings, but some of the advertisements on this website contain pictures of people. Can you clarify?Answer
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
Jazak Allah khayr for your genuine counsel (nasiha). However,
a) The answers explain that there are two sound scholarly positions on photography, and that my teachers and I adhere to the more precautious and (in our understanding) stronger position: that photographs of humans and animals constitute impermissible picture-making, which the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade.
However, the opinion that photography differs from picture-making is also a position adopted by many genuinely god-fearing scholars and jurists of Islam, and is permitted (and not blameworthy) to follow. There is no condemnation or blame in matters of genuine scholarly disagreement—as opposed to aberrant or very weak positions.
b) The pictures are on external links we have no control over.
And Allah alone gives success.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani
This answer was published by SunniPath and is preserved as written. Rulings can depend on circumstances; for your own situation, consult a qualified scholar.
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