Fatwa ID: 08379

Answered by: Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad

Question:

Is it permissible to buy products (anything for daily use, medicine, cosmetics, etc.) which have pictures on them? Angels do not enter houses which have pictures. And in our houses there are pictures like on shampoos.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Even though you are not the one making these pictures, it would be best to avoid purchasing and keeping these products and consider using alternatives without pictures. There are multiple Ahadith prohibiting pictures, including but not limited to:

The people who will receive the severest punishment from Allah will be the picture makers.^[1]

Those who paint pictures would be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it would be said to them: Breathe soul into what you have created.^[2] Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures.^[3]

If there are alternatives available, you should purchase them instead. If there are no reasonably priced alternatives available or you are forced to buy products with pictures, you must remove or cover the pictures on the product. Since the primary value lies in the product itself rather than the label, and given that the product can still be purchased without the label or pictures, it would be permissible to purchase these products and then remove or cover the label.

References:

[1] إِنَّ أَشَدَّ النَّاسِ عَذَابًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ الْمُصَوِّرُونَ

(Sahih al-Bukhari 5950, Book 77, Hadith 166)

[2] الَّذِينَ يَصْنَعُونَ الصُّوَرَ يُعَذَّبُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُقَالُ لَهُمْ أَحْيُوا مَا خَلَقْتُمْ

(Sahih Muslim 2108a, Book 37, Hadith 148)

[3] لاَ تَدْخُلُ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ بَيْتًا فِيهِ كَلْبٌ وَلاَ تَصَاوِيرُ

(Sahih al-Bukhari 5949, Book 77, Hadith 165)

Only Allah (عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ) knows best.

Written by Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham