Varied Questions Regarding the Permissibility of Drawing Living Beings - islamqa.com

Varied Questions Regarding the Permissibility of Drawing Living Beings

Question: My friends and I draw frequently, and I have read extensively and followed your fatwas. I understand that drawing is prohibited based on the hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that drawing people is permissible provided the facial features are obscured, etc. However, we have some specific questions:

1. When drawing a person with their head, is it permissible to draw the hand or foot, for example, like drawing a woman from behind with no facial features visible at all? Or, if I draw the body with hands and feet, should I avoid drawing the head, even without features?

2. When drawing people, whether the whole body or just the head, is it permissible to draw only the mouth, only the nose, only one eye, or only the eyebrows? Which of these cases is permissible?

3. Is it permissible to draw the eyes of a woman wearing a niqab, or to draw a line like ^^ in place of her eyes? Is it permissible to draw a woman in a hijab with her hand covering her face, so no facial features are visible? Is it permissible to draw glasses over the eyes without drawing other features? Or to draw only the mouth with glasses?

4. Is it permissible to draw facial features—nose, eye, or mouth, or all three together—on something like a glass cup, without drawing any other part of the body, even if the features look realistic?

5. Do the same rules apply to drawing animals as they do to people? When drawing an animal, should I draw its mouth or avoid doing so?

6. Cartoon characters resembling people are certainly prohibited, but what about drawing something like Mickey Mouse, which doesn’t resemble a real animal but has facial features? Is it permissible to draw it? And what about dolls with features that don’t resemble animals, like those used in children’s toys? Is it permissible to draw them?

7. Is it permissible to color the hair of animals as it appears in nature, and to color people as well?

8. Is it permissible to draw with food, whether depicting people or objects? If it is permissible, does the rule of obscuring facial features apply here too?

I apologize for the lengthy question, but we are confused, as some permit drawing. Please provide a detailed response.

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Answer: Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To address your questions:

First:
As previously stated in multiple answers on this site, depicting living beings (those with souls) is prohibited, whether through sculpting, hand-drawing, photography, or digital means, including cartoon depictions of living beings, whether imagined or distorted.  
See answers to questions (137174), (110352), (22660), (8954), and (82731).

Second:
As mentioned in answers to questions (240837) and (87720), an incomplete image or one devoid of facial features (e.g., no nose or eyes) is not considered a prohibited image, as it does not qualify as a depiction and does not imitate Allah’s creation. Additionally, in answer to question (106042), a rear-view image was deemed permissible.

Based on this, the answers to your questions are as follows:

1. There is no issue with drawing a woman from behind, where no facial features are visible, whether you include hands, feet, or a head, provided the rear view does not provoke desire or cause temptation. Temptation from a woman is not limited to her front view, as is well-known.

2. There is no issue with drawing a face with only a mouth, only a nose, only one eye, or only an eyebrow, provided the other eye or eyebrow is completely omitted, making it distinct from the natural form of creation. Similarly, there is no issue with drawing a complete figure if the face is obscured or includes only the mouth or similar, as mentioned above.

3. It is permissible to draw facial features—nose, eye, mouth, or all three together—on something like a glass cup without depicting any part of the body, as this does not count as a complete image.

4. The above rulings apply to drawing all living beings, whether human or animal.

5. Cartoon characters are not permissible to draw if they depict living beings, even if distorted, as mentioned earlier.

6. It is permissible to draw or create images and dolls for children, whether placed on a wall, bed, or similar, based on the allowance for making images for children. See answer to question (119056).

7. It is permissible to color what is allowed to be drawn, such as images without facial features. However, coloring is not permissible for images that are prohibited to draw.

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta stated (1/479): “The prohibition of depicting living beings applies whether through sculpting, coloring on walls, fabric, or paper, weaving, or using a brush, pen, or device, and whether the depiction is true to nature, altered, exaggerated, diminished, beautified, distorted, or reduced to skeletal outlines. The prohibition hinges on depicting living beings, even imaginary ones, such as those representing ancient Pharaohs, Crusader leaders, or soldiers, or images of Jesus and Mary venerated in churches, due to the general prohibition in the texts, the imitation of Allah’s creation, and the potential for leading to idolatry.”

8. Drawing with food, if it involves creating a three-dimensional figure (e.g., from dough or candy) resembling a living being, is not permissible, as explained in answer (146628). If the food is discarded afterward, this adds another reason for prohibition, namely wastefulness and squandering resources. Similarly, drawing with food on paper or a wall constitutes spoilage and waste. If it depicts a prohibited image, it remains prohibited, regardless of whether the medium is ink, paint, or food.

Advice: It is best to avoid drawing living beings altogether, even if facial features are obscured, and to limit drawing to non-living things like plants and inanimate objects, as this is safer and more cautious.

And Allah knows best.

Original Fatwa here

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