Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

A.A. Brother Burhan, may ALLAH reward you for all that you are doing for the muslim community. I have a few questions. First of all, i heard from somewhere that if one has a photo in his/her house, angels will not enter it. But what if you have photos of your family members, when they were small just for memories, should we get rid of them, and if we don`t, is it a sin?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Can one keep photos in house

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. We humbly hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accept our humble and weak efforts, forgive us our shortcomings, and save you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

The Chief of the Angels, Hadrat Jibrael (a.s.) told Prophet Mohamed (saws) that the Angels of Mercy do not enter a house where there are pictures (or photos) of animate objects. Thus, it would be inappropriate for a believer in Allah and the Last Day, to display photos or pictures of animate objects in his house.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.841 Narrated by Abu Talha

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Angels (of mercy) do not enter a house where there are pictures."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.845 Narrated by Abu Juhaifa

that he had bought a slave whose profession was cupping. The Prophet forbade taking the price of blood, and the price of a dog, and the earnings of a prostitute, and cursed the one who took or gave (Riba') usury, and the lady who tattooed others or got herself tattooed, and the picture-maker.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.450 Narrated by Abu Salim

Once Gabriel promised the Prophet (saws) that he would visit him, but Gabriel did not come, and later on he said, "We, angels, do not enter a house which contains a picture, or a dog."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.834 Narrated by Muslim

We were with Masruq at the house of Yasar bin Numair. Masruq saw pictures on his terrace and said, "I heard 'Abdullah saying that he heard the Prophet (saws) saying, "The people who will receive the severest punishment from Allah will be the picture makers.' "

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.448 Narrated by Abu Talha

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying; "Angels (of Mercy) do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or a picture of a living creature (a human being or an animal)."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.428 Narrated by Said bin Abu Al Hasan

While I was with Ibn 'Abbas a man came and said, "O father of 'Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn 'Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle. I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn 'Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures, I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects."

The opinion of most scholars in Islam is that there is no harm if one has his pictures taken for identification purposes, passports, driving licenses, etc., or keeping pictures of loved ones in albums, etc. What is prohibited is the open display of pictures or photos of human beings and/or animals.

And Allah Alone Knows Best.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan