Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa BarakatuhuAll Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi Sallam Jazak'allah for yopur question. In the world that we live in today, the use of pictures representing living forms does not seem to be a matter of discretion. The scholars of the Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jama'ah, the pious predecessors, to the extent that the Beloved Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam himself, had placed some form of prohibition upon those pictures, which contained, and had pictures of live beings/animals.
In the
ahadith book of
Bukhari, also known as the
Bukhari Shareef, there are
ahadith narrated from Qasim bin Muhammad who narrated form Hadrat A'isha
Radi Allahu anha, that she purchased a pillow which had pictures on it. When the Beloved Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam saw this, he did not enter the room, but stayed at the door. Hadrat A'isha Siddiqa
Radi Allahu anha saw the dislike on the Beloved Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam's Ennobled Face. She says 'I said, I ask for forgiveness in the presence of Allah and His Messenger
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam, what is the sin that i have committed? Thus the Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam replied, what is with this pillow. She said that she stated that I have purchased this for you, so that you may rest, and lean against it. Upon this, the Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam said, the producers of these pictures will undergo a great torment on the day of judgement, and they will be ordered that what you have made, put life in it, and the Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam also stated that the angels of mercy do not enter into that house which contains pictures in it.
In another
hadith it is stated that the angels of mercy do not enter into that house which contains pictures, dogs, and he who is impure. (
junbi)
Here we have the foundation
ahadith of why we should not have pictures of live beings in the house. The above
hadith clearly states that the Beloved Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam foretold, that on the day of judgement, those people who made such pictures would be subject to punishment, on the day of judgement. Further
ahadith also clarify that the angels of mercy, who travel amongst the Muslims, no longer remain with them once they carry pictures with them, or are in a place which has them.
Modern day scholars however have drawn a line between the use of pictures i.e. Television, and pictures which you see in photos, posters, and magazines. Since all Islamic literature does not contain pictures, however, there maybe pictures on T.V. for example which are Islamic. For the purpose of learning the religion of Islam, it's propogation and it's message, those programs which do appear on T.V. which contain a theme based on Islam, whether they are documentaries, news reports, speeches and lectures, or the history and geography about Islam, have been deemed permissable, on the basis that Islam is a religion that needs to be propogated in modern times, using the correct methods. One of those methods is the transmission via media, television, which is used throughout the world, as even the slightest interest towards Islam by viewers who are Muslim as well as non-Muslim, could create a genuine interest into the religion. Furthermore, this would be regarded as the correct use of the T.V. rather than having it used solely for the purpose of leisure.
As far as tape recorders c.d's and d.v.d's are concerned, then the same ruling applies, using the same principle, for its correct use. One could argue that Islam can be spread throughout the world using these instruments throughout modern times, as the use of other non -islamic material remains, so why should we not use the spreading of Islam, in this method too. There would be more merits of using it, and more of the principles relating to Islam and the spread of it's message would be observed, than if they werent used. In addition, our understanding of Islam is a modern one, far from the ancient one that used to be, so this is a good step to begin, and later can be transformed into a more modest and realistic approach.
May Allah the Almighty keep us all interested in our religion, so that we know what the truth is, and may He keep all the methods open to us, which would bring the Muslim people together, in one form or another. (Amin)Wallahu A'almu BiththawaabM. Waseem Ashrafi
Previous archived related questions :
Pictures in housesPhotographsPermissibilty of Videos and photos