Ustadh Abu al-Wafa Darwish, in his refutation of the eminent Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim, Mufti of Saudi Arabia (pp. 43–45), sets out how photographic imaging is executed. He concludes that a photographer must perform eleven separate actions before the picture comes into existence; yet, fully aware of these steps, he still avers without the least hesitation: “This picture is not a human act.” The upshot of their distinction is that one may hang, for example, a man’s portrait in the house if it was taken with a camera, but not if it was drawn by hand. And if a photographer were to photograph that very hand-drawn picture with a camera, they would again allow it to be displayed. Reader, have you ever seen such obstinate literalism and denial of plain reason? I know nothing comparable except the rigidity of certain early Zahiri literalists. One of them, commenting on the hadith “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade urinating into still water,” claimed that the prohibition applies only to urinating directly into the water, whereas if one urinates into a vessel and then pours it into the water, that is not forbidden! He said this even though the water is polluted either way; his fixation on the wording prevented him from grasping the purpose of the text. In like manner, those who permit photographic images have frozen their reasoning on the method of depiction known at the time of the prohibition and have not extended the ruling to the newer technique.