In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

Peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you.

I own a photography store in the United States. Is this kind of business prohibited in Shari`ah? And does the Hadith: "The most tortured people on the Day of Judgment are the photographers" apply on this kind of photography, though I do not take abnormal (nude) photos in spite that all the people here in this country are dressed in semi-nudity? And if this is prohibited and Haram, what should I do after I had signed a lease for five years? And does this kind of work abolish good deeds? Jazakumu Allahu Khairan.

In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

Peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you.

Praise be to Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon His kind Messenger, family members, companions and true followers to the Day of Judgment.

The ruling on this issue needs to be divided into two sections: (1) if developing the films to make pictures and photos that people need for a necessity or for a need or for a general and respected interest, then developing the films for making such photos and taking that craft as a profession for earning the living would be permissible in Shari`ah, because what is made permissible for necessity or for general interest is made permissible in dealings with all transactions once there is a necessity in that, and if the business is made permissible, then its value is made permissible, too. Because adopting this division of photos and its gears as a means to fend off necessity for those who need it badly, and the means have the same rulings as the purposes but with the degree that would only fend off necessities and meet the need or realize the interest only, in accordance with the Shari`ah rule: "Necessity is governed by its nature". (2) As for the second division of photos, which are not required by necessity or by interest, the ruling on this division is prohibition and that it is not permissible to be involved in these photos, and accordingly, it is prohibited to develop the films of such photos.

It is known that photography was a detested act that goes as far as the pre-Islamic era, and that Shari`ah has warned us against being involved in it, and there are many Hadiths that clearly prohibit them, and those who are involved in them are cursed and will face severe punishment in Hell-fire, as it is reported in the Hadith by Muslim about Ibn Abbaas, may Allah be content with them, who narrated direct from the prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, who said: "Every photographer is in Hell-fire: every photo he has done will be made as a soul that will torture him in Hell-fire".

And this applies to photographing and imaging all creatures that have souls, humans and non-humans, and it does not make a difference whether the photo is pictorial or not, or taken by a camera, or done by paints or inscriptions or by any means, according to the general Hadiths in this connection.

Whoever would claim that ID photos are not included in this generality of prohibition, and that prohibition is limited to pictorial images, and to any depictions that have shadows, then we would say to him that his claim is incorrect, because the Hadiths are general in this issue, and did not differentiate between an image and another, and the Shari`ah scholars have declared that prohibition is generally meant for ID pictures and all images, like Al-Imam Al-Nawawi and Al-Hafiz Ben Hajar, and others. The Hadith narrated by `Aiyysha about the embroidered heavy gown, or curtain or furniture in a tent (Qeram) is very clear, which denotes that the image imprinted upon the Qeram is not a pictorial one but it is an inscription on the gown, and the prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, counted it as an image that depicts Allah`s creatures.

However, if the image is incomplete from the beginning, as photographing the face, or the head, or the chest, etc, and it is removed from the image that would eliminate life demonstration from it, many Shari`ah scholars would permit this kind of partial imaging if there is a need for it. Anyway, a Muslim must fear Allah as much as he could and avoid doing anything that Allah and His Messenger, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, have warned us against, and remember the great following verse concerning this rule: "

", (Quran, 65:2-3). Allah knows best.