Fatwa ID: 06914
Answered by: Mufti Muhammad Asadullah Anwar Adam
Question:
Is it Islamic to read comic books?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
No
Ibn `Abbas (R.A) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “There are two blessings that many people are deceived into losing: health and free time.” [1]
Reading comics is just wasting your free time that could be better spent doing anything that could benefit you in this world or the hereafter, furthermore comics normally contain drawn images of animate beings which makes them Haram to produce.
Mulla Ali Qari, commentating on the hadith, said that Imam Nawawi has said that, “Whoever draws pictures of living things to worship them or to emulate or compete with Allah, then such a person becomes a kafir. If a person does not practice art for the aforementioned reasons, then the ulama have said that such a person is still a sinful person although he does not become kafir. However, with regards to other things besides living creatures, then the scholars have given permission for drawing them and to make an earning from it.”[2]
So how can it be “Islamic” to use something thats Haram to make.
[1][Sahih Bukhari hadith 6412]
[2][Mirqatul Mafatih, vol.7, 2852, hadith 4497]
Only Allah knows best
Written by Mufti Muhammad Asadullah Anwar Adam
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham