Question: Why do some scholars claim that photography is unlawful while others consider it lawful?
Answered by the Fatwa Department Research Committee - chaired by Sheikh `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî
Al-Salâm `Alaykum wa Rahmah Allah wa Barakâtuh.
Please understand that photography did not exist at the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Therefore, scholars have to compare photography to matters that Islam has ruled about. The ruling, therefore, is not based on an explicit text but on juristic discretion (ijtihâd).
Some scholars have compared photography to hand-drawn pictures. Drawing pictures by hand of people and animals is unlawful by clear and unambiguous textual evidence. Ibn `Abbâs relates from the Prophet (peace be upon him): “Whoever makes an image in this world, he will be requested to breathe life into it on the Day of Resurrection, but he will not be able to do it.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahih Mulsim]
Ibn Mas`ûd also relates that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: “The severest penalty on the Day of Resurrection will be given to image makers.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahih Mulsim]
Photography resembles drawing pictures in that it is a human effort that results in a fixed image of a person or an animal on a flat surface. Therefore, some scholars ruled that photographing people and animals is unlawful, because it falls under the prohibited act of image-making.
There are, however, significant differences between drawing a picture and taking a photograph. Drawing a picture is a fully creative process on the part of the artist. Photography is capturing a reflected image on film or in digital memory. The creative contribution of the photographer is therefore quite different than the creative contribution of a portrait maker. For this reason many scholars, including Sheikh `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî, consider photography to be lawful.
And Allah knows best.
