because, as the ḥadith states: “Let them create a grain, let them create a barleycorn, or let them create a speck.” ⦗91⦘

Nonetheless, the majority of scholars maintain that there is no harm in depicting anything that has no soul—whether it is something that grows, like trees, or something that does not grow, such as the sun, the seas, the moon, the rivers, and the like.

A third category concerns portraying living beings, but only by coloring and drawing. On this point the scholars have differed. Some deem it permissible, basing their view on what al-Bukhārī narrated from Zayd ibn Khālid—if I recall correctly—who said: “except a pattern on cloth.” He exempted the pattern because it does not correspond to what Allah has created; what Allah creates is a tangible body, whereas this is nothing more than a design and coloring, and so it is allowed even when executed by hand.

The majority of scholars, however, rule that it is impermissible, and that is the sound position: making images of anything possessed of a soul is prohibited, whether by sculpture or by drawing.

During the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ there was nothing like the photographic images we have today, so the question arises: do they fall under the prohibition or not? Careful consideration of the texts shows that they do not, for the one who takes a photograph is not actually creating an image. All he does is project an intense light onto the object before him and capture its likeness in an instant, whereas an image-maker must labor to fashion the picture.