Photography NOT allowed in Islam.

Never mind what fatwas are dished out making photography halal………………. and never mind what  excuses you come up with in your mind,  photography is not allowed in Islam.

Those who believe photography is right,  then try justifying to yourself , your claims against the following  hadeeth and the argument below :

Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah, may He be exalted, says: ‘Who does more wrong than the one who tries to create something like My creation? Let him create a grain of wheat or a kernel of corn.'” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, see Fath al-Baari, 10/385).

Abu Zur’a reported: I visited the house of Marwan in the company of Abu Huraira and he found pictures there. whereupon he said: I heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, said: Who is a more wrongdoer than one who tries to create creation like Mine? . Let him create an atom or a grain of wheat or that of barley.

The above two hadith make it clear that Allah does not like it that any creation should resemble or even bear a likeness to His creation.

A camera captured picture bears even more resemblance to God’s creation than a painted picture.

In the book Al-I’laam bi naqd kitaab al-halaal wa’l-haraam, the author says: “Photography is even more of an imitation of the creation of Allaah than pictures which are engraved or drawn, so it is even more deserving of being prohibited… There is nothing that could exclude photography from the general meaning of the reports.” (p. 42, see also Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/355).

A couple more hadith and a couple more arguments below which I have collected from the net.

‘Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Those who will be most severely punished by Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, see al-Fath, 10/382).

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Every image-maker will be in the Fire, and for every image that he made a soul will be created for him, which will be punished in the Fire.” Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “If you must do that, make pictures of trees and other inanimate objects.” (Reported by Muslim, 3/1871)
These ahaadeeth indicate that pictures of animate beings are haraam, whether they are humans or other creatures, whether they are three-dimensional or two-dimensional, whether they are printed, drawn, etched, engraved, carved, cast in moulds, etc. These ahaadeeth include all of these types of pictures.

Those who say that photography is permitted have “frozen” the meaning of the word “tasweer,” restriciting it only to the meaning known at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and not adding the meaning of photography, which is “tasweer” or “picture-making” in every sense – linguistic, legal, and in its harmful effects, and as is clear from the definition mentioned above.  (Aadaab al-Zafaaf by al-Albaani, p. 38)

If we think about just one aspect of the evil caused by the prevalence of photographs and pictures in our times, we will understand something of the wisdom behind this prohibition: that aspect is the great corruption caused by the provoking of physical desires and subsequent spread of immorality caused by these pictures.

Photographs which are essential are permitted – such as those required for identity documents, or for identifying or pursuing criminals , or for educational purposes which cannot be achieved otherwise or those which are clicked for an occasional keeping as a memory of a person or a place or thing.  But making it a hobby as all teenagers do today is wrong.  Being broad and open minded in deen does not mean doing away with the hijab or declaring lawful what has been declared forbidden.