Is drawing artistic paintings and portraits prohibited or permissible?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
In summary, the ruling on portraiture is the same as the ruling on drawing animate beings. A portrait is a painting or image of a person. It is permissible to draw a portrait if the image is missing limbs that are essential for life (such as only the head or half the body). It is more scrupulous to refrain from drawing anything that includes a head, even if it is by itself. However, drawing a complete image of animate beings is not permissible.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/139524
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 139524
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy