Question:
Is it permissible (ḥalāl) in Islam to draw or illustrate living creatures?
Answer:
This question has been discussed by scholars for centuries, and it’s important to understand the context of the Islamic rulings related to images. Islam strongly discourages anything that could lead to idol worship, especially during the time of the Prophet ﷺ when people used to worship physical statues. But when we look closely at the Hadith and the practice of the Companions, we find that not all images are treated the same way. The ruling actually depends on the type of image and how it’s made.
Carving or Sculpting Living Creatures
The Prophet ﷺ warned those who made lifelike images by hand, especially sculpted ones, calling them muṣawwirīn. In one Hadith, he said that on the Day of Judgement, they will be told: “Bring life to what you created.” This was mainly directed at people who carved figures from stone, wood, or clay that resembled living beings—often used as idols and worshipped.
Because of this, the majority of scholars from the main schools of thought say it’s not allowed to sculpt or carve full figures of humans or animals using hard natural materials like stone, wood, clay, or metal.
Carving Non-Living Objects
However, sculpting or carving things that are not alive, like trees, bowls, vases, buildings, or geometric patterns, is completely fine. The prohibition only applies when the shape clearly mimics a living creature.
Toys for Children
During the Prophet’s ﷺ time, children had toys shaped like animals and dolls made from simple materials like cloth or wool and stuffed with straw or wheat shafts. These kinds of toys were allowed.
One example is from ʿĀ’ishah (RA), who had a doll the Prophet ﷺ saw and didn’t forbid. Another report says Umm Salamah (RA) used to make small animal figurines to entertain children during Ramaḍān so they could pass the time while fasting. These soft, simple, and playful items were permissible because they weren’t realistic, lifelike statues, and they served a harmless purpose.
Drawings and Digital Illustrations
As for flat images, like drawings on paper or digital illustrations on screens, they are permissible according to the majority of scholars. There is a Hadith where the Prophet ﷺ saw curtains with drawings on them in ʿĀ’ishah’s house. He didn’t say they were ḥarām, but he asked for them to be taken down from the prayer direction (qiblah) because they were distracting him during prayer—not because the images themselves were forbidden.
So from this, we learn that two-dimensional images—whether on cloth, paper, or digital screens—are allowed, as long as they don’t encourage anything inappropriate or disrespectful.
What About the Hadith: “Angels Do Not Enter a House with Pictures”?
That Hadith is often misunderstood. When we look at the full narration, it mentions the presence of a statue, and even refers to a church bell (jaras), which shows that the “picture” in this context was actually a three-dimensional statue, not a flat image. That’s why scholars explain that the prohibition was specifically about statues, not drawings or paintings.