| Photographs
Thus far the word picture (suar) has been used in reference to what is drawn, painted, or imprinted on a flat surface. Photography is a recent invention which was obviously non-existent in the time of the Prophet (peace be on him) and the early generations of Muslims. Thus, the question naturally arises whether the Islamic rulings concerning pictures and artists apply to photographs and photographers. Those jurists who consider the prohibition to be restricted to statues alone do not see anything objectionable in photographic pictures, especially if they are not of the full figure. Others raise many questions. Are photographs similar to drawings? Is it not true that the reason stated in some ahadith concerning the punishment of figure-makers, namely, imitation of Allah's attribute of Creatorship, does not apply in the case of photographic pictures? Does not the absence of the cause of prohibition nullify the prohibition? The late Sheikh Muhammad Bakhit, the Egyptian jurist, ruled that since the photograph merely captures the image of a real object through a camera, there is no reason for prohibition in this case. Prohibited pictures are those whose object is notpresent and which is originated by the artist, whose intention is to imitate Allah's animal creation, and this does not apply to taking photographs with a camera. 'See the pamphlet, Al-Jawab al-Shafi fi Ibahat al-Taswir al-Fotografi.Even those who are very strict in classifying all kinds of figures, including photographs, as detestable, exempt, according to necessity, pictures retained for identity cards, passports, keeping a record of suspects and criminals, pictures for instructional purposes, and so on, with the proviso that there is no intention of respect or sanctification of these pictures which would affect Islamic belief. The need for such pictures is definitely greater than the "prints" on cloth which were exempted by the Prophet (peace be on him).
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