punishment on the Day of Resurrection are those who make these images.” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was pointing to images of winged horses on the patterned curtain that he, peace and blessings be upon him, tore down.

As for hadiths relating to the other issue—keeping images—such as these two hadiths, they do not establish the permissibility of making images in contradiction to what the hadiths in the first category indicate. Rather, they establish only the permissibility of keeping them. The two hadiths in question do not address the permissibility of making images at all, so how can they be cited as evidence for it when that conflicts with the hadiths in the first category?!

The truth is that the preceding hadith of Aisha (119) addresses both issues: the prohibition of making images and the permissibility of keeping images placed on objects put to lowly use. There is a difference of opinion over the details, for which al-Fath and other works may be consulted. The two hadiths in question agree with it in addressing the latter issue, while saying nothing about the former. This is what anyone who studies the import of the hadiths narrated on this subject will understand, provided that his sole concern is to seek the truth. Imam al-Nawawī gave the finest and most complete summary of the discussion of this issue in Sharh Muslim, saying:

“Making an image of an animate being is strictly prohibited and is a major sin, because the severe warning mentioned in the hadiths has been issued against it. Whether it is made on something put to lowly use or otherwise, making it is prohibited in every case, because it involves imitating the creation of Allah Most High. This applies whether it is on a piece of cloth, a carpet, a dirham, a dinar, a copper coin, a vessel, a wall, or anything else. As for depicting trees, camel saddles, and other things that are not animate beings, that is not prohibited. This is the ruling on the act of making images itself.

“As for keeping an object bearing an image of an animate being: if it is hung on a wall, or is a garment that is worn, a turban, or anything similar that is not regarded as being put to lowly use, it is prohibited. If it is on a carpet that is trodden upon, a pillow, a cushion, or a similar object put to lowly use, it is not prohibited. In all of this, there is no distinction between three-dimensional and two-dimensional images. This summarizes our school’s position on the issue. The great majority of scholars among the Companions, the Followers, and those who came after them held the same view, and it is—