*What are the interpretations of Islamic scholars on the issue ofphotographs or say, selfies?*

Private TV Channel Host Bilal Qutb asked Mufti Muhammad Zubair to discusswhat the Shariah says about pictures and music.

*Mufti Muhammad Zubair: Digital images are allowed in Islam*

“A perception prevails in our society that a lot of ulema first declaresomething haram and later declare the same thing halal,” he said. This isnot a weakness on part of the ulema, he said. “In fact, this can beappreciated. You can see that the ulema are flexible in accordance withchanging society. Through *ijtihaad*, we propose solutions.”

However, *ijtihaad* cannot happen over issues that Allah (swt) or the HolyProphet (peace be upon him) gave clear instructions on, he said. “When wetalk about pictures, it’s very clear that they are haram. There are varioushadiths. Hazrat Ali (RA) has clearly said that whatever image or statue yousee, remove it.” He also cited how the Holy Prophet (PBUH) expresseddiscontent over a curtain with an image that his wife, Bibi Ayesha (RA),had put up.

“One more hadith in *Sihae Sitta* says that on the Day of Judgment, thehardest punishment will be for the *musavvir* [artist],” he said.

However, he added, the situation is entirely different in today’s age.According to him, digital images are permitted in Islam. “The image thatwas declared haram used to have*naqsh*, which was printed and could betouched and held. It was *zildaar*, which means it had a shadow. Such animage is haram and nobody can declare it halal. But the image of a digitalcamera, according to our research, is not included in the category of haramimages. Why? It’s not touchable, it cannot be held.”

“Zubair *bhai*, I can stand with a digital image in front of me and I canalso put it in the third dimension,” Qutb interrupted to ask.

“Bilal *bhai,* it is not like that,” said Mufti Zubair. “You cannot touchthe image. You can only touch the device that has the image. Once youdestroy the phone, where is the image? In computer terminology, it’ssoftware not hardware. Remember this. It’s in the form of 0101 code. Youmay ask an IT expert.”

The scholar then clarified that if you print a digital image, it is haramas you will be able to touch the image then.