Is taking pictures of the deceased before burying allowed in Islam. I recently went to a funeral (FOTGEY) and was petrified to see the family taking pictures. This was my first time going to a funeral, atypical experience!
Is that morbid ? or am i the only one who thinks that ?
Years ago, when my fathers sister passed away while in UK, her family took pictures of her lying on her bed before she was to be taken away for burial and sent them to us. I think the underlying reason was so that my aunts brothers/sisters/parents could get her last glimpse.
It is a common practice to see a deceased's face before they are buried. People line up to do just that. Photographs make this possible for relatives living far away as well.
I dont like the practice though, but just wanted to highlight the possible reason behind it.
Thats nothing I know of someone who had a video movie made when one of his parents passed away. Later he had a chaleeswaan khatam and they had a movie made for that too!!! I think it is bizzare. You should pay enough attention to your loved ones while they live, make videos and pictures while they are healthy so you have good memories to linger on to rather than pictures of them being burried. Astaghfaar.
It is clear from the Hadiths that.... "On the Day of Judgement the pictures of living things will be brought to life and they will beat up the person who created them".
(Source is a book... What Happens After Death? By Maullana Aashiq Illahi)
So if you are not creating them but just putting them up on your walls then you can get away with it?
WHy is it forbidden to begin with? If you are not worshipping them how are they going to be a cause of sin for you?
so whats the Religious approach to all this? Is it prohibited or not?
On one level some muslims claim that all kinds of pictures are haraam, so the question of taking pictures of dead people become moot.
Most other muslims don't believe that all pictures are haraam, so then the question then refocuses on the dignity of the dead and proper etiquette in funerals. Taking pictures of a person lying in his/her coffin would not generally violate their dignity, and etiquette is an ever-evolving field. What may have been considered rude in prior times is considered not only acceptable but encouraged now. Using technology to show the last glimpse of a loved one to those who are unable to be there physically would ordinarily be deemed a good deed. Ofcourse, if you haven't seen someone clicking on a digicam during a funeral before, it will seem odd and out of place. So, its all an evolving social culture.
Personally, I would prefer to see their pics when they were alive and happy to remember them, rather than to look at pics of their death. But, thats just me.
^ So It is ok as far as religion is concerned?
Well, read the first sentence I wrote. If you are past that point (mean you don't agree) then, IMO, it becomes more of a cultural issue than religious.
got it :k: thank you
I'v read sumwhere and was also told that every picture u take of a living thing, on the Day of Judgment u'll b asked to bring it to life.
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*Originally posted by MINNA_CHACH: *
I'v read sumwhere and was also told that every picture u take of a living thing, on the Day of Judgment u'll b asked to bring it to life.
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Ok, now that the question of pictures of the dead is answered (hopefully) lets focus on the larger question of pictures in Islam.
At the time Islam was revealed there were no cameras to take pictures. So there is no concept of "picture u take". It was "picture you draw", meaning an artist will draw your picture. Many hours are invested to draw a good resemblance of the person. Hence the ruling that if you draw the picture of a person you will be asked to make it come alive. Meaning its discouraged/prohibited.
Fast forward to today. You take a picture from a camera (film camera, digital camera or video camera etc). You are not drawing the picture. You take a snapshot and the pixels are converted to a picture. Does the same ruling apply?
Some scholars claim, yes. All pictures are prohibited.
Some others say, its permitted to take pictures using cameras, but not ok for a person to draw the picture of another person.
Some others say, its permitted only to take/use pictures if they are used for security or identification purposes (ID card, passport etc).
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*Originally posted by Femme Fatale: *
So if you are not creating them but just putting them up on your walls then you can get away with it?
WHy is it forbidden to begin with? If you are not worshipping them how are they going to be a cause of sin for you?
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It's like, if committing fornication is forbidden, it doesn't mean one can watch others commit it.
In the past people used to create a statue of a Prophet to remember him after he left them. It wasn't long before they had rituals, rules and regulations on how to respect (eventually becoming religion) of that statue.
Another words it leads to polytheism.
People only put pictures of someone on the wall who they really really like (or praise). Only Allah should be praised .
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*Originally posted by MINNA_CHACH: *
I'v read sumwhere and was also told that every picture u take of a living thing, on the Day of Judgment u'll b asked to bring it to life.
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That's correct.
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*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Ok, now that the question of pictures of the dead is answered (hopefully) lets focus on the larger question of pictures in Islam.
At the time Islam was revealed there were no cameras to take pictures. So there is no concept of "picture u take". It was "picture you draw", meaning an artist will draw your picture. Many hours are invested to draw a good resemblance of the person. Hence the ruling that if you draw the picture of a person you will be asked to make it come alive. Meaning its discouraged/prohibited.
Fast forward to today. You take a picture from a camera (film camera, digital camera or video camera etc). You are not drawing the picture. You take a snapshot and the pixels are converted to a picture. Does the same ruling apply?
Some scholars claim, yes. All pictures are prohibited.
Some others say, its permitted to take pictures using cameras, but not ok for a person to draw the picture of another person.
Some others say, its permitted only to take/use pictures if they are used for security or identification purposes (ID card, passport etc).
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Prophet Muhammed (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) forbade the creation of pictures of himself or his family.
The Companions of the Prophet (Peace And Blessings Be Upon Him) used to say, if you have to create pictures, then create them of tree and rocks or other non-living things.
Cameras might not have been invented in them days but if there's anything that's in doubt (whether it's allowed or not), it should be avoided altogther. Doubts lead to 'Bidda' (innovation).
Before people used to invest time to create a picture, distracting them from other things like sayng their prayers. Nowadays, we're getting the cameras to do the same thing for us. if it's wrong to do it by hand, then it's wrong to ask someone else or 'it' to do for us too.
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*Originally posted by Gupistani: *
Before people used to invest time to create a picture, distracting them from other things like sayng their prayers. Nowadays, we're getting the cameras to do the same thing for us. if it's wrong to do it by hand, then it's wrong to ask someone else or 'it' to do for us too.
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Thats a jump you are making (drawing this inference) that is neither supported nor agreed by a majority. You are free not to take pics. But your conclusion is your own.
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Thank you for reading my rights out to me.
Well, the Mujahideen in Chechnya do seem to put a lot of photos of their dead, particularly their most prominent dead, online.
I remember after Commander Khattab was martyred, several photographs of his body were released by the Mujahideen themselves.
Praise be to Allaah.
Photography (tasweer) means the taking of pictures of living, animate moving beings, like people, animals, birds, etc. The ruling is that it is forbidden on the basis of a number of reports, such as the following:
'Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Those who will be most severely punished by Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, see al-Fath, 10/382).
Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah, may He be exalted, says: 'Who does more wrong than the one who tries to create something like My creation? Let him create a grain of wheat or a kernel of corn.'" (Reported by al-Bukhaari, see Fath al-Baari, 10/385).
'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "Shall I not send you on the same mission as the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent me? Do not leave any built-up tomb without levelling it, and do not leave any picture in any house without erasing it." (Reported by Muslim and al-Nisaa'i; this is the version narrated by al-Nisaa'i).
Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Every image-maker will be in the Fire, and for every image that he made a soul will be created for him, which will be punished in the Fire." Ibn 'Abbaas said: "If you must do that, make pictures of trees and other inanimate objects." (Reported by Muslim, 3/1871)
These ahaadeeth indicate that pictures of animate beings are haraam, whether they are humans or other creatures, whether they are three-dimensional or two-dimensional, whether they are printed, drawn, etched, engraved, carved, cast in moulds, etc. These ahaadeeth include all of these types of pictures.
The Muslim should submit to the teachings of Islam and not argue with them by saying, "But I am not worshipping them or prostrating to them!" If we think about just one aspect of the evil caused by the prevalence of photographs and pictures in our times, we will understand something of the wisdom behind this prohibition: that aspect is the great corruption caused by the provoking of physical desires and subsequent spread of immorality caused by these pictures.
The Muslim should not keep any pictures of animate beings in his house, because they will prevent the angels from entering. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or pictures." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, see al-Fath, 10/380).
But nowadays, unfortunately, one can even find in some Muslim homes statues of gods worshipped by the kuffaar (such as Buddha etc.) which they keep on the basis that they are antiques or decorative pieces. These things are more strictly prohibited than others, just as pictures which are hung up are worse than pictures which are not hung up, for how easily they can lead to glorification, and cause grief or be a source of boasting! We cannot say that these pictures are kept for memory's sake, because true memories of a Muslim relative or friend reside in the heart, and we remember them by praying for mercy and forgiveness for them.
Taking pictures with a camera involves human actions such as focusing, pressing the shutter, developing, printing, and so on. We cannot call it anything other than "picture-making" or tasweer, which is the expression used by all Arabic-speakers to describe this action.
In the book Al-I'laam bi naqd kitaab al-halaal wa'l-haraam, the author says: "Photography is even more of an imitation of the creation of Allaah than pictures which are engraved or drawn, so it is even more deserving of being prohibited… There is nothing that could exclude photography from the general meaning of the reports." (p. 42, see also Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/355).
Among the scholars who have discussed the issue of photography is Shaykh Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani, who said: "Some of them differentiate between hand-drawn pictures and photographic images by claiming that the latter are not products of human effort, and that no more is involved than the mere capturing of the image. This is what they claim. The tremendous energy invested the one who invented this machine that can do in few seconds what otherwise could not be done in hours does not count as human effort, according to these people! Pointing the camera, focusing it, and taking the picture, preceded by installation of the film and followed by developing and whatever else that I may not know about… none of this is the result of human effort, according to them!
Some of them explain how this photography is done, and summarize that no less than eleven different actions are involved in the making of a picture. In spite of all this, they say that this picture is not the result of human action! Can it be permissible to hang up a picture of a man, for example, if it is produced by photography, but not if it is drawn by hand?
Those who say that photography is permitted have "frozen" the meaning of the word "tasweer," restriciting it only to the meaning known at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and not adding the meaning of photography, which is "tasweer" or "picture-making" in every sense - linguistic, legal, and in its harmful effects, and as is clear from the definition mentioned above. Years ago, I said to one of them, By the same token, you could allow idols which have not been carved but have been made by pressing a button on some machine that turns out idols by the dozen. What do you say to that?"
(Aadaab al-Zafaaf by al-Albaani, p. 38)
It is also worth quoting the opinion of some contemporary scholars who allow the taking of photographs but say that the pictures should not be kept: "The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or pictures." (See al-Sharh al-Mumti', 2/198).
There are many bad things involved in the making of pictures. Besides the element of imitating the creation of Allaah - which is an accusation denied by many of those who make pictures - reality bears witness to the great extent of immorality and provocation of desires caused by the prevalence of pictures and picture-making nowadays. We must remove or blot out every picture, except when it is too difficult to do so, like the pictures which are overwhelmingly prevalent in food packaging, or pictures used in encyclopaedias and reference books. We should remove what we can, and be careful about any provocative pictures that may be found.
"So keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him as much as you can…" [al-Taghaabun 64:16 - interpretation of the meaning]
Photographs which are essential are permitted - such as those required for identity documents, or for identifying or pursuing criminals [e.g. "wanted" posters and the like - translator's note], or for educational purposes which cannot be achieved otherwise. The principle in sharee'ah is that we should not exaggerate about what is necessary.
We ask Allaah to accept our repentance and have mercy on us, and to forgive our excesses, for He is the All-Hearing Who answers prayers. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.
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