Pictures, Magazines, and TV - and Putting them in a Place of Prayer

Question :

In your letter you didn't mention photographs, so we still have a disagreement among ourselves concerning the ruling on photographs: do they come under the ruling of hand drawings or not? Some claim that it is permissible to take a photograph because unlike a drawing, it simply involves capturing the reflection of a person without doing anything other than pressing a button.

One of my friends showed me a picture of you in the Kuwaiti magazine Al-Mujtama', and the Egyptian magazine Al-'Itisam with an article wherein you gave religious rulings about the fasting of Ramadan. Does the presence of that picture indicate that photography is permissible or was your picture placed there without your knowledge or consent?

And if photos are not allowed, then what is the ruling on buying newspapers and magazines that are replete with pictures, but that are also replete with important information and some less important information? Also, can we put these magazines in places where we pray? What if we cover them with a garment for example? Or do we have to destroy these magazines after having read them? Finally, what is the ruling on moving pictures, by which I mean the television? Can we turn on a TV in a place of prayer?

Answer:

First, photos fall under the category of unlawful pictures; photos and all other forms of pictures, no matter what instrument is used to create them, share the same ruling: theyPictures, the Media, Singing and Music are unlawful. Also, it makes no difference what you mentioned about the photo requiring no effort. It makes no difference, as all photos are unlawful regardless of the means to produce them.

Second, the appearance of a picture of me in the magazines Al- Mujtama and Al-'Itisam accompanying my Fatwas on the regulations regarding fasting in the month of Ramadan is not an evidence that I allow pictures. I had no idea that they had even taken my picture and I certainly did not consent to them doing so.

Third, it is permissible to buy educational magazines, maga- zines filled with useful information, even if they have pictures of humans or animals in them. This is because we buy the magazine not for the pictures, but for the news and the information. The pictures are secondary while the news is primary. The Islamic ruling is given to what is primary, not to what is secondary. And it is permissible to place such a magazine in a place of prayer, but by either covering the pictures or obliterating the heads of the pictures.

Fourth, it is not permissible to put a television set in a place of prayer because of the falsehood and frivolity that television signifies. It is also forbidden to look at naked or base pictures that come on the screen.

May Allah send peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and Companions.

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