No strong hadith prohibits paintings and drawings of living things

The issue of whether making pictures or paintings of living things (taṣwīr) is permitted in Islam has led to a great amount of controversy. Mainstream scholars (such as those of al-Azhar University) have chosen to permit it due to considering the evidence for the prohibition not strong enough, while those who consider themselves true followers of hadith have chosen to accept the prohibition. There are also important exceptions, such as the Syrian Shaykh Muhammad b. Amin, a follower of Ibn Tamiyya, who also considers the evidence for the prohibition unsatisfactory and contradictory. See my translation of an important article by him: A Traditionalist Critique of the Islamic Prohibition on Taṣwīr (Making Drawings and Statues of Humans and Animals).

I decided to conduct a study of the existing hadith evidence to find out its strength using the probabilistic hadith criticism method. The result, as I expected, is that none of the hadiths are strong enough to establish the prohibition, and there is one hadith among them that demolishes the rest. Unfortunately this hadith too is not very strong, although this can be explained by hadith scholars choosing to ignore it and not transmit it due to conflicting with their own views. But the hadith’s content happens to be the most believable compared to the rest due to the way it mentions a very realistic scenario. The quality of the hadith’s content is very similar to the strongest hadiths we have.

I ignored hadiths that merely mention that al-muṣawwirūn are punished by God due to the fact that these hadiths could simply be referring to those who make icons and statues meant for worship. The hadiths I included are those that seem to clearly imply that all picture-making is prohibited regardless of the intention behind making them.

Hadith 1

Narrated Ibn Umar:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Those who make these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them. 'Make alive what you have created.'

Sahih al-Bukhari 5951, also in Musnad

Below is a diagram of the hadith’s chains:

The hadith receives an authenticity score of 16%, which is far below the 30% needed for ruling it ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) according to the probabilistic verification methodology.

Hadith 2

I heard [Prophet] Muhammad saying, "Whoever makes a picture in this world will be asked to put life into it on the Day of Resurrection, but he will not be able to do so."

Sahih al-Bukhari 5963, also in Muslim, Musnad, al-Tabarni, Musnad Abi Ya`la, al-Bayhaqi and al-Nasa'i.

Below is the diagram of its chains:

This hadith, despite its convoluted chains, receives an authenticity score of 19.44%.

Hadith 3

I heard from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). I heard him say: All the painters who make pictures would be in the fire of Hell. The soul will be breathed in every picture prepared by him and it shall punish him in Hell ...

Sahih Muslim 2109 c, 2110 a, Musnad

Below is the chain diagram:

This hadith has a score of 8.6%, making it rather weak.

Hadith 4

Narrated `Aisha:

I purchased a cushion with pictures on it. The Prophet (came and) stood at the door but did not enter. I said (to him), "I repent to Allah for what (the guilt) I have done." He said, "What is this cushion?" I said, "It is for you to sit on and recline on." He said, "The makers of these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said to them, 'Make alive what you have created.' Moreover, the angels do not enter a house where there are pictures.'"

Sahih al-Bukhari 5957, the strongest chain is in al-Muwatta

Chain diagram:

This hadith has a score of 21.6%, again below 30%.

Hadith 5

Narrated `Aisha:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) returned from a journey when I had placed a curtain of mine having pictures over (the door of) a chamber of mine. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw it, he tore it and said, "The people who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection will be those who try to make the like of Allah's creations." So we turned it (i.e., the curtain) into one or two cushions.

Sahih al-Bukhari 5954, also in Muslim

Chain diagram:

This hadith gets a score of 10.1%.

Hadith 6

Narrated Abu Zur'a:

l entered a house in Medina with Abu Huraira, and he saw a man making pictures at the top of the house. Abu Huraira said, "I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying that Allah said, 'Who would be more unjust than the one who tries to create the like of My creatures? Let them create a grain: let them create a gnat.' "Abu Huraira then asked for a water container and washed his arms up to his armpits. I said, "Abu Huraira! Is this something you have heard I from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?" He said, "The limit for ablution is up to the place where the ornaments will reach on the Day of Resurrection.'

Sahih al-Bukhari 5953, also in Musnad Ishaq b. Rahawayh

Chain diagram:

This hadith gets a score of 11.5%.

Hadith 7

This is the hadith that refutes the others, in which Aisha (may God be pleased with her) denies having said that angels do not enter a house in which there is a picture (Hadith 4 above).

Abu Talha Ansari reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Angels do not enter the house in which there is a picture or portraits. I came to 'A'isha and said to her: This is a news that I have received that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) had said: Angels do not enter the house in which there is a picture or a dog, (and further added) whether she had heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) making a mention of it. She said: No (I did not hear this myself), but I narrate to you what I saw him doing. I bear testimony to the fact that he (the Holy Prophet) set out for an expedition. I took a carpet and screened the door with it. When he (the Holy Prophet) came back he saw that carpet and I perceived signs of disapproval on his face. He pulled it until it was torn or it was cut (into pieces) and he said: God has not commanded us to clothe stones and clay. We cut it (the curtain) and prepared two pillows out of it by stuffing them with the fibre of date-palms and he (the Holy Prophet) did not find fault with it.

Sahih Muslim 2106 f, 2107 a

Chain diagram:

This hadith gets a score of only 3.25% due to the lack of supporting chains, although the first three transmitters are all Companions. If we assume that all three transmitted the hadith with complete authenticity, the hadith’s score rises to 9.03%, which is still not very good.

Hadith 8

We also have the following hadith (considered authentic by al-Albani) in which we find Aisha had toy horses that had wings.

Narrated Aisha:

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) arrived after the expedition to Tabuk or Khaybar (the narrator is doubtful), the draught raised an end of a curtain which was hung in front of her store-room, revealing some dolls which belonged to her.

He asked: What is this? She replied: My dolls. Among them he saw a horse with wings made of rags, and asked: What is this I see among them? She replied: A horse. He asked: What is this that it has on it? She replied: Two wings. He asked: A horse with two wings? She replied: Have you not heard that Solomon had horses with wings? She said: Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) laughed so heartily that I could see his molar teeth.

Sunan Abi Dawud 4932

Chain diagram:

This chain gets a score of 1.4%, again due to the lack of supporting chains. But again its contents seem extremely realistic. My heart is much happier with this kind of hadith that mentions a lot of contextual and seemingly unnecessary details than with hadiths that merely transmit a statement of the Prophet .

What we can conclude

It looks like the instinct of the Azhar scholars is correct in not taking the prohibitory hadiths too seriously. Real prohibitions in Islam have extremely strong support behind them, with hadiths easily reaching 80% or 90% authenticity. The strongest prohibitory hadith only reaches a score of 21.6%.

The question is why the Prophet failed to impart this prohibition to his followers like normal prohibitions. Why did it have to come to us through isolated and rather low-quality hadiths? The most likely answer is that because he never taught such a prohibition. It seems very likely that the culture of the generation of Imam Malik began to confuse the hadiths in which the Prophet spoke strongly against picture-making meant for worship (i.e. idol-making), so that the context was lost and only the part where he mentioned picture-making survived. A prohibition on making religious idols became generalized in people’s minds to a prohibition on all picture-making.

Shaykh Ibn Amin’s study (that I linked earlier) adds further support to this theory. The Companions seem to have had a very casual attitude toward pictures and statues. We also know that Prophet Sulayman had statues built for him as the Quran tells us. The evidence of the Quran is always much stronger than hadith (due to the Quran’s far better transmission process), so the Quranic verse can be taken as strong evidence for the permissibility of picture-making (and even statues). The hadiths mentioned above are rather low-quality to be able to override what the Quran tells us.

We also know that one of the most respected early scholars of Islam (from the generation before Imam Malik) approved of picture-making (al-Qasim b. Muhammad).

The two hadiths of Aisha are also highly suggestive. In both of them the Prophet does not criticize the pictures/statues. In the first one he criticizes using cloth to cover walls, and in the second one he laughs at the toy horse without criticizing it.

There is also a place for human reason in this debate. It seems ridiculous to consider paintings of birds and animals as some sort of insult against God when in our daily lives we feel absolutely no compunction about things like children’s picture books filled with such paintings and drawings. The Quran tells us that the creation of the heavens and the earth is a greater accomplishment than the creation of humans (verse 40:57), so why should God feel jealous about painting humans and animals but not about painting stars and landscapes (which are God’s greater creation)?

All of Islam’s prohibitions seem to have some sense behind them, or they have very strong Quranic evidence. But in this case the evidence for the prohibition is rather weak and contradictory, and our own reason and conscience find no good justification for it.

Unfortunately we are stuck in this position where we have many low-quality hadiths creating a taboo against paintings and statues, and some (also weak) evidence going against the taboo. We also have the Quranic statement approving of Prophet Sulayman’s statues. So it seems that Muslims will forever have to deal with the ambiguities and uncertainty surrounding the issue, with mainstream scholars taking a tolerant attitude and a minority taking an extreme position in support of the taboo.

My conclusion

My own stance is to fully approve of drawings and paintings of living things, and as for statues, I consider them at worst to be in a gray area. I see no strong Islamic justification for speaking against those who make them.

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Mika
Mika
4 years ago

Do you have legit scholarly sources with the hadiths being weak? How can we say if the hadith is weak or not. Also the sheikh u mention is he sunni?

Sly Nutria
Sly Nutria
9 months ago

A method supported by the scholars?

Monabbar Hossain
Monabbar Hossain
4 years ago

Is it approved to keep pictures (Not Paintings) in house? We have learnt from our childhood that no pictures should be hung in the wall or you can’t pray in a room having pictures in it. You cleared here about paintings & statue. Thanks in advance for your reply.

Mehetab Alam
Mehetab Alam
3 years ago

Is there any strong(80-90%as you previously mentioned) proof of permissibility of painting of a living body. I’m an artist and very anxious about the fact.

Rushaan
Rushaan
1 year ago
Reply to  Mehetab Alam

You should give it up, there are many hadiths about it even if the probability is low, due to the quantity of the hadiths, the prohibition may be true and it’s definitely not worth the risk.

Sly Nutria
Sly Nutria
9 months ago
Reply to  Rushaan

where?

Shabana kauser
Shabana kauser
3 years ago

Hi there.. i love to paint and draw…mainly asked to draw friends family.

Have been told abt the hadiths and have stopped painting until I get a 100% assurance.

Please help..ur Hadiths breakdown or analysis is very good, but people just don’t accept or won’t budge from their Rooted thoughts or culture ways .

I have done Isthikhara and i had a positive sign in real life . This is from Allah swt but again coz of all the confusion in this world my brain is telling me is a test not a sign.

Saad Ahmed
Saad Ahmed
3 years ago

Oh my god the misguidance is real with this one. I wont be surprised if my comment is deleted. This person is regarding SAHIH AL BUKHARI as weak hadiths based solely on a method of his own “probalistic relativity”. Subhan Allah. Allah’s refuge is sought. If only you had learned the extreme level of scrutiny each transmitter goes through and how the chain of transmission is established and the great lengths and efforts the Salaf (righteous predecessors) went through to make sure they are authentic and each person in the chain is an authentic narrator! Did you know a narrator was regarded as weak solely based on the fact he was seen drinking while standing up (contrary to the Sunnah). Such a small act made him a weak transmitter. So you can imagine the high status of these ahadith especially the Saheehayn (Sahih bukhari and sahih Muslim)
I hope this comment isnt deletes. May Allah SWT guide you and all the Muslim brothers and sisters reading this comment.

Anonymous
Anonymous
3 years ago
Reply to  Saad Ahmed

Narrated An-Nazzal: Ali came to the gate of the courtyard (of the Mosque) and drank (water) while he was standing and said, “Some people dislike to drink while standing, but I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) doing (drinking water) as you have seen me doing now.” – Sahih al-Bukhari: USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 7, Book 69, Hadith 519.

Lmao

Anonymous
Anonymous
3 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

This is why Hadith are so confusing to me. They’ll contradict each other even in Bukhari they do. This is really frustrating sometimes. May Allah (s.w.t.) guide us to the right path.

Sly Nutria
Sly Nutria
9 months ago
Reply to  Anonymous

there are many other hadiths from different narrators saying the same thing. It’s also discussed by the scholars of Islam.
What’s your point?

Anonymous
Anonymous
2 years ago
Reply to  Saad Ahmed

You seem to ignore the fact that dar al ifta al masriya also released a fatwa allowing for the drawing of living things, the maliki school and some of the hanbali jurists allowed if. Further more, here’s this hadith
‎‏﷽

– Drawing humans and animals is permissible according to the Maliki Fuqaha (even some of the Salaf and Hanabilah permitted it…)

– The khilaf all rises from the interpretation of the Ahadith, as is well known in the books of Hadith we find the Prophet ﷺ “prohibits” images and pictures. But when the Maliki Fuqaha came to look at these Hadiths they found that he ﷺ only prohibited them in certain places…..

* In the place of prayer ( Bukhari 374)
* To be all over the curtains and walls ( Muslim 2107)

– Even the Hadith of Aicha عليها سلام الله where the prophet ﷺ prohibits the curtain from being hung as it has an image, we say the only reason he forbade it was it had the image of a horse with wings on it, and this is how the Arabs would draw the angels during the times or Jahilliyah, and when we look at the Hadith he ﷺ turned the curtain into a pillow…….

– THE SAHABA

* it is well recorded that many of the sahaba had images on their rings, I.e Hudaifa R.A had a bird engraved on his ring.

– THE TABIE’EN

* Imam Al Qassim who is regarded as one of the greatest ulama of his time and one of the greatest Fuqaha of Madina, and he was known to have drawings on his bed protection……

روى ابن أبي شيبة بإسناد صحيح عن ابن عون قال: “دخلت على القاسم وهو بأعلى مكة في بيته، فرأيت في بيته حجلة فيها تصاوير القندس والعنقاء” (المصنف 25301).

Ibn ‘Awn said, “I entered upon Al-Qasim in his house which was located in the upper part of Mecca and saw a hajla [a net placed over a bed as a protection against flying insects] with the images of a phoenix and a beaver.”

THE ATHAR IS SAHIH ( authentic)

SOURCES:

1. https://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=5987
( by Dar Al Ifta of Egypt…… )

Abdal-Haqq Guni
2 months ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Maliki scholars said the making of 3 dimensional images is haram, and said if the image if flat, then it is not haram, but it is makruh. I found nothing from the sahaba except what Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه and he said it was forbidden and advised the picture maker to make images of trees or inanimate objects (bukhari 3:428 – sahih) So this opinion of Maliki scholars that it is makruh, but not haram, to make 2D images is surely incorrect and an err in their madhhab.

Shu'aib
Shu'aib
11 months ago
Reply to  Saad Ahmed

There was no salaf in the time of Imam Bukhari. Imam Malik who was much closer to the salaf would have forbidden all image-making if all of these ahadith were sahih

Last edited 11 months ago by Shu'aib
Abdal-Haqq Guni
2 months ago
Reply to  Shu'aib

Imam Ahmad رحمه الله is close to the salaf and collected ahadith of rasoolullah ﷺ and authenticated them as well. It is possible that Imam Malik رحمه الله erred in respect to this – the Maliki opinion says it is makruh to make 2D images, and it is haram to make 3D images. For you to say ahadith are not sahih because of this opinion is an aspect of blind following – it is more possible that he didn’t know of these ahadith. Also, all 4 imams said, if you find something authentically narrated from Muhammad ﷺ which goes against my speech, throw away my speech and follow it. So follow their advise, even they knew their limits.

anonymous
anonymous
2 years ago

hatred

Anonymous
Anonymous
2 years ago

نَعُوْذُبِالله

Khaled
Khaled
2 years ago

I don’t know, but the idea that a person can be perfect not making any sinn ( small ones) goes against Islam as far as I know there is a hadith ( if you don’t sinn then allah will replace you with another people who will sinn and ask for forgiveness and Allah will forgive them ) if you do haram ( small sins ) Allah will forgive you but when you say the haram is halal even if you don’t do it you will be committing kofr . Unless you have a scholar with you ( in fact you need two or more one for the hadith and one for feqًh ) I recommend to stop and get some scholars I recommend al Albany student abo Isaac al howaini ( hadith scholar) . PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE A LAW AND I MAY BE MISTAKEN.

Huzaifa
Huzaifa
1 year ago

Hi, the article was a good read. However, I am a bit confused about how you calculated the probabilities. Can you explain how you got those numbers?

Byz
Byz
1 year ago
Reply to  Huzaifa

I would like to know it
as well

Last edited 1 year ago by Byz
Aurelius
Aurelius
11 months ago

Saying that image makers will recieve the worst punishment doesnt even make any sense, Shirk is the worst sin.
What the Prophet AS was rather saying is that the people who make pictures to worship their fake gods (Pagans) will recieve the severest punishment.

Abdal-Haqq Guni
2 months ago

This is completely incorrect and corrupt, and you skipped some ahadith, especially the Hadith of ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه where he explained to the man, if you must make images, then make images of things without a soul in it. This Hadith explains very well the prohibition on images. I see you didn’t include it. Also, I am suspicious of you and your “methods” and I can say you shouldn’t be trusted because I checked these ahadith and they are graded sahih.