Fatwa ID: 07388
Answered by: Mufti Syed Johir Miah
Question:
What’s the ruling of photoshop?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Before classifying anything as permissible or impermissible, we need to look at what its functions are and what the aim of such an item is.
Photoshop is a photo editing and manipulation software. Its uses range from the full-featured editing of large batches of photos to creating intricate digital paintings and drawings that mimic those done by hand.
Photoshop can be found in the advertisements to magazines as we are endlessly surrounded by unrealistic images.
This is because we live in such a society that promotes a flawless physique and features as the “norm”.
Sayyiduna Abu Huraira ( رضى الله عنه ) reported that the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) of Allah (عز و جل) said,
مَنْ حَمَلَ عَلَيْنَا السِّلَاحَ فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا وَمَنْ غَشَّنَا فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا
“Whoever raises arms against us is not one of us. Whoever deceives us is not one of us.”1
The usage of technology is dependent on its usage.
If it is used in line with the Shariah, then it will be permissible2. However, if it is used in a haram method or cause such as to completely distort a person’s body into something it is not, then it will be impermissible.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Mufti Syed Johir Miah
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
1 Sahih Muslim, Hadith Number 101, 99/1, Dar Ihyat Turath, Beirut, Lebanon, 1412 H.
2 الأمور بمقاصدها
Al-Ashbaah Wan-Nazair, Ibn Nujaim, 23/1, Darul Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, 1419 H. Al-Qawaidul Fiqhiyyah, Abdullah Bin Juday, Page 12.
