Is Drawing Faces Prohibited?

Question: 72915

Is it permissible to draw a face of a human without features? If it is permissible, can I draw a human’s face from all sides, without features, as in some programs?

Summary of answer

Images which do not have complete features, which do not have a nose or eyes, are not included under the heading of prohibited images, and the ones who make them are not included in the Prophetic warning, because they cannot truly be said to be images, and these images do not imply imitating the creation of Allah.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stated that whose who make images – by drawing or engraving – will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and these prohibited images are images of animate beings , such as humans, animals and birds, based on the fact that in the Hadith it says that they will be told: “Bring to life that which you have created.”

It was narrated from `Abdullah ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Those who make images will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them: `Bring to life that which you have created.’” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, 5607 and Muslim, 2108)

It seems that images which do not have complete features , which do not have a nose or eyes, are not included under the heading of prohibited images, and the ones who make them are not included in this warning, because they cannot truly be said to be images, and these images do not imply imitating the creation of Allah.

It was narrated that `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The people who will be most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection will be those who imitate the creation of Allah.” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, 5610 and Muslim, 2107)

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-`Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“With regard to dolls made of cloth , where the image does not have clear features, even though it has limbs, a head and neck, but there are no eyes or nose, there is nothing wrong with that, because this is not imitating the creation of Allah.” (Majmu` Fatawa Ash-Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymin, 2/question no. 330)

The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:

“Everyone who makes something that imitates the creation of Allah is included in this Hadith, which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed the image makers… and his words “The people who will be most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers.” But as I said, if the image is not clear and if it does not have eyes or a nose or mouth or fingers, then it is not a complete image, and is not imitating the creation of Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted.”

For more details, please refet to the following answers: 365 , 20325 , and 7222 .

And Allah knows best.

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