DILUTING THE PROHIBITIONS OF THE SHARIAH WITH CORRUPT REASONING
Question
On the question of the prohibition of photography, a senior Mufti suggested that those people who are strict on the matter of prohibition, should consider whether it is permissible to make a passport for Nafl Umrah. Is his comment valid? May the permissibility of taking photos for Umrah be extended in general to all kinds of pictures of animate objects?
ANSWER
The comment/suggestion of the venerable senior Mufti Sahib is palpably baatil. It is a ludicrous gaffe totally unexpected of a senior mufti. Nevertheless, venerable Muftis are sometimes also prone to gaffes, hence his comment. While lamentable, his suggestion is not surprising. Usually, laymen argue in the vein displayed by the Mufti Sahib.
Ulama are supposed to present principled arguments. They should cite valid Shar’i dalaa-il (proofs), not figments of their emotional bias. The Mufti Sahib’s suggestion/comment has far-reaching consequences which could ramify into the domain of kufr. Among “those who are strict on the matter of prohibition”, is the one who had declared the Prohibition, namely, Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The strictness in this regard could be adequately gauged and understood from the many pronouncements of our Nabi (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) on the issue of pictures of animate objects. Among the many Ahaadith of Prohibition are the following:
“The worst-punished on the Day of Qiyaamah will be the picture-makers.”
“On the Day of Qiyaamah (a dragon-like) Neck will emerge from Jahannam and bite the picture-makers.”
“On the Day of Qiyaamah, the picture-makers will be commanded to instil life in their pictures.”
There exists complete unanimity (Ijma’) of the Ummah on the Prohibition of pictures since the age of Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The Mufti’s attempt to dilute this Absolute Prohibition is satanic and despicable.
Pictures of animate objects are condemned and prohibited by the Qur’aan and Ahaadith of the highest category of certitude (Qat’iyyat). The prohibition is Absolute. Denial of this absolute Prohibition is Kufr. The baatil endeavour to dilute and argue away this Absolute Prohibition by means of weird interpretation, is dhalaal (deviation), and tantamount to kufr.
The venerable Mufti’s presentation of an argument which is bereft of Shar’i substance is weird and ludicrous. It is unprincipled in that he has attempted to dilute the rigid Prohibition with an issue which itself is in need of Fatwa. Photos for Nafl Umrah being permissible or not, are the subject of Istifta’. A Fatwa is required for this question.
Assuming that the fatwa is that it is permissible to take passport/visa pictures for Nafl Umrah, then such fatwa does not constitute a principle in the Shariah. The permissibility is simply a ruling of a Mufti who had applied his brains, whether correctly or erroneously. His ruling is never a Principle on which any other Fara’(particular exigency) could be decided. It stands alone on the basis of its peculiar merits which constrained some Mufti to issue the verdict of permissibility – a verdict which has absolutely no certitude. The verdict of permissibility is open to challenge.
The fatwa of permissibility is not a Mansoos hukm and never a principle on which to extract fatawaa for other issues. Other Muftis will have valid grounds to reject the permissibility fatwa, and to issue the fatwa of impermissibility based on sound Shar’i dalaa-il, not on figments of emotional bias which are the effects of nafsaaniyat.
On the assumption that the procurement of photos for Nafl Umrah is permissible, it will be absolutely moronic and exhibit the jahaalat and even kufr of a Mufti to cite such conjecture permissibility as a basis for overriding the strict Prohibition issued by Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The Prohibition of pictures of animate objects is Mansoos. The Nusoos on which this Prohibition cannot be scuttled ion the stupid basis of a Mufti claiming in this fifteenth century that it is permissible to acquire photos for the purpose of Nafl Umrah. Nothing cancels the Prohibition.
Where there is a dire need which renders perpetration of the haraam act unavoidable, the temporary permissibility will be based on the Shar’i principle of Dhuroorat. But the original Prohibition remains undiluted. It is sheer jahaalat to seek to dilute the original Prohibition based on Qat’i Nusoos with the suggestion/comment of a Mufti on an issue which itself is in need of a fatwa.
As for the correct view on the question of whether it is permissible to procure photos for Nafl Umrah, a Mufti who is a genuine Mufti, not some half-baked character posing as a mufti, will unhesitatingly issue the fatwa of Prohibition. It is NEVER permissible to commit a haraam act for the sake of a Nafl ibaadat. Furthermore, for performing this Nafl ibaadat of Umrah, one has to indulge in multiple sins from the time one leaves home until the day one returns.
9 Rabiuth Thaani 1444 – 4 November 2022