About
the Use of Pictures in This Book
Imam at-Tahawi al-Hanafi said: "The Lawmaker (s) first
forbade pictures entirely, even stripes on clothes, because
people had only recently turned away from worshipping images,
so that was prohibited across the board. When his prohibition
of such images became solidly ingrained, he permitted striped
clothes due to the necessity of using clothes, and he permitted
whatever is practiced as a matter of trade, because the ignorant
are safe from exalting such practice. As for what is not practiced
as a matter of trade, it remained forbidden."
The scholar of comparative fiqh ("jurisprudence")
cAbdur Rahman al-Jaziri wrote in his three-volume Fiqh cala-l-Madhahib
al-arbaca: "The prohibition of making pictures stems,
in the eye of the Law, from the use of pictures towards the
corruption of belief, as for example the use of statues for
the worship of other than Allah... As for their utilization
in the context of a sound matter, such as teaching and learning
something, then pictures are permitted and there is no sin
in them."
Readers are invited to look up further
discussions of the views of the Fours Schools in the aforementioned
book.
Muslim relates on the authority of
cA'isha (r): 'We had a curtain on which was the picture of
a bird, and which every person would face upon coming in.
The Prophet (s) said one day, 'Put this somewhere else, for
every time I come in I remember the dunya (the world).''
The scholar of "Salafi"
thought, which follows the strictest mashrab ("Drinking-well")
of Ibn Taymiyyah, Sayyid Sabiq, after mentioning the hadith
of Muslim quoted above, said: "This hadith indicates
that pictures are not unlawful (haram), because if it were
unlawful in the final analysis, he would have ordered that
it be destroyed, and not contented himself with having it
placed somewhere else. He then mentioned that the reason for
placing it somewhere else was that it made him remember dunya.
This is also the view of at-Tahawi.
"As for pictures that have no
shadow, such as engravings on the wall or on metal; and pictures
which are found on clothes and curtains and photographic prints
[in books, calendars, passports, and nowadays videotapes for
a didactic purpose etc.]: these are all permitted (fa hadhihi
kulluhaja'izah)."
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