so that the two creations seemed alike to them? Say, ‘Allah is the Creator of all things.’” In an authentic hadith, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, relates that Allah said:

“Who is more unjust than one who sets out to create as I create? Let them create a tiny ant! Let them create a mosquito!”

It is also established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cursed image-makers. He said:

“Whoever makes an image will be required to breathe a soul into it, but he will never be able to do so.”

He also said:

“Those who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection are those who imitate Allah’s creation.”

Such image-making involves neither deception nor fraud, for everyone knows that an image depicting an animal is not an animal. Hence, in image-making, a distinction is drawn between animals and other things: it is permissible to depict trees and minerals on clothing, walls, and the like. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever makes an image will be required to breathe a soul into it, but he will never be able to do so.”

For this reason, Ibn ‘Abbās told the man who sought his legal opinion: “Depict trees and things that have no soul.” In the Sunan collections, it is reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that Gabriel said to him concerning an image: “Order that its head be cut off.”

The imams therefore expressly stated this, saying: “The head is what constitutes the image; without it, no soul remains in it, and it becomes like an inanimate object.” Such image-making involves neither fraud nor deception, for everyone can distinguish between a depiction and a created thing.

As for alchemy, manufactured things are made to resemble created things, and its practitioners’ aim is either