As for the images that a person genuinely needs—such as the photograph in his civil-status booklet, his passport, or any other proof of identity—these have become necessities. They are not kept out of a love for picture-making, but only because need and necessity demand them.

Any other kind of picture, however, may not be retained: not for memories, not for casual viewing, nor for anything of that sort. A Muslim must destroy such images and, as far as he can, purge his house of them.

If a home contains pictures hung or set up on the walls—whether three-dimensional statues or drawings on paper—of animate beings such as livestock, birds, human beings, or any creature that possesses a soul, they must be removed.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once became angry when he saw a curtain that ʿĀʾishah had hung on a wall and that contained images. He refused to enter the house until she tore it down and turned it away. This shows that keeping images—erecting them, sticking them to walls, placing them in frames, and hanging them up—is all a source of temptation and is forbidden.

Therefore, if a place contains pictures and wall hangings, it is not proper to pray there, for that resembles the worship of images practiced by those who adore idols and pictures. One must not pray in any location where images are displayed, as Imām Ibn al-Qayyim and others have stated.

The jurists say, “He should not face an image while praying.” This is well known among the scholars; indeed, one should not pray at all in a place that contains images.