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Is it unlawful to sell photographic images to entities that engage in usury or operate in forbidden fields, such as hotels?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The ruling on photography and trading in it varies according to the type of images. What is not of living beings is permissible, but what is of living beings, if it is sculpted, is forbidden by consensus. If it is drawn, it is forbidden according to the preponderant opinion. As for photographic images of living beings, scholars have differed on their ruling: 1. One group permitted them with conditions, including that they should not contain anything that calls to a forbidden act, vice, or falsehood, and that they should not be a means to what the Sharia prohibits. They permitted trading in them as long as they do not aid in disobedience. 2. Another group held that the prohibition of photography is general, and nothing is excluded from it except for necessity or dire need. They consider trading in these images to be forbidden.

It is preferable to adopt the more cautious opinion, based on the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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