we say: this is permissible, because the original object is made by a human being; and if the original is permissible, then its depiction is all the more permissible.

The second type is to depict something without a soul which only Allah creates, yet which has life, though not a soul—for example, depicting trees, crops, and the like.

The majority of scholars hold that this is permissible and unobjectionable. (1)

Mujāhid, however, held that it is prohibited (381). Thus, a person may not depict a tree, a crop, clover, or any other living thing that does not possess a soul.

The third type is to depict a living creature possessing a soul, such as a human being, a camel, cattle, sheep, rabbits, and so on. The early generations differed concerning this (381). Some held that it is prohibited if the image is three-dimensional—such as making a statue in the form of a human being or an animal—but permissible if it is drawn or painted, that is, not three-dimensional.

Others—the majority, and this is the correct view—held that it is prohibited whether it is three-dimensional or drawn or painted. (2) Thus, one who draws an image with his hand is no different from one who fashions and makes it with his hand. Indeed, it is among the major sins, due to the hadith of Ali ibn Abi Talib, who said to Abu al-Hayyāj al-Asadī: “Shall I not send you on the same task for which the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent me: that you do not leave any image without ...”