Fatwa ID: 06552
Answered by: Alimah Zakiratul Hoque
Question:
- Is it permissible to create an application which may hold the digital image of a person’s face in it for identification?
- is it permissible to work on an app that records video from a camera and live streams it?
These are two different apps for each question. for question 1, the app doesn’t take a picture. it just downloads it from a database and shows it
For the first one, the purpose of the image is used to identify an individual. the individual may choose not to take his picture and instead use another image to identify himself i.e. his initials
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
- The permissibility of picture-taking is debated among scholars. More information regarding this can be found on our Darul Ifta Birmingham website. Regardless of which position you follow regarding its permissibility, picture-taking would be permissible for identification purposes, and in other situations where it is necessary (Qawaid Fiqhiyyah, Pg 43). Therefore, it would be permissible to create an application which allows picture taking/saving for identification purposes.
- It would be permissible to develop an app which records and live streams videos, as long as the contents of the videos would be Halal. This is because videos are different to pictures as they are not permanent, unlike pictures. More information regarding this can also be found on tour Darul Ifta Birmingham website.
الضرورات تبيح المحظورات
Only Allah knows best.
Written by Alimah Zakiratul Hoque
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
