Drawing Inanimate Objects (Hadith No. 1923)

Bismillah.

The majority of scholars say that it is permissible to make pictures of inanimate objects such as trees, buildings, etc, and they quote several texts as evidence for that. Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) issued a fatwa regarding this:

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 428 :
Narrated by Said bin Abu Al-Hasan
While I was with Ibn ‘Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu) a man came and said, “O father of ‘Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures.” Ibn ‘Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu) said, “I will tell you only what I heard from Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam). I heard him saying, ‘Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.‘ ” Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn ‘Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu) said to him, “What a pity! If you insist on making pictures I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other inanimate objects.”

This hadith indicates that the punishment has to do with images of animate beings, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that they will be told, “Bring to life that which you have created!”

Read more on it here.

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