What is the Quran and Sunnah rulings on posting pictures of the faces of the deceased?

Published as Posting pictures of the faces of the deceased

· 7 Rabiʻ I 1447 AH1 min readEnglish

Question

What is the Quran and Sunnah rulings on posting pictures of the faces of the deceased?

Answer

Pictures of all animate objects are forbidden and haraam in Islam. Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has sounded severe warnings regarding it.

Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “The people to be inflicted with the worst punishment will be the picture makers.” Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has cursed the one who receives interest, the one who gives interest, the tattooist, the tattooed and the picture maker.

The Hadith also explains that the angels of mercy do not enter a home in which there is a picture of an animate object.

Furthermore, posting pictures of the deceased will be a cause of punishment for them (if they had consented that their pictures be taken). If you have any pictures of the deceased, then you should immediately delete the pictures and repent to Allah Ta'ala.

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

Answered by
Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
Questions about this ruling, answered only from the archive with sources.

Where scholars differ, it’s safer to take the more cautious view.

Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen. It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, please ask a Mufti. Report an issue

For corrections or mistakes, please email us at fatawasa786@gmail.com.

People also ask

Are photographs and taking pictures permissible?

“This is not permissible. Through you building a social media app where users will post pictures of animate objects, you will be involved in the sin of photography as well as inviting others to commit this grave sin.”

Mufti Online · 468 fatawa from 8 Darul Iftas on this

What the Darul Iftas say