When it comes to hobbies and how I spend my free time, writing is certainly my first love. I receive a lot of enjoyment out of taking individual words and stringing them together to make something meaningful and entertaining. According to my mother I have been writing stories all of my life thanks to a very active imagination. I do not know if that’s true, but I can remember authoring some creative stories in elementary school!
If writing is my first live, then photography is certainly my second love. I do not consider myself to be a professional – or even a good – photographer; currently, I am limited by only owning a simple camera. Instead, it is simply a hobby, although I will admit it might be something I would be interested in possibly doing professionally insha’Allah. For now though, I will stick to photography as a pastime.
In becoming a Muslim, I must change parts of my life to fit within the bounds set forward by Shari’ah law. For example, with my writing, I must be sure to avoid writing anything haram or anything that might promote/encourage others to do something haram. As a fiction writer, this requires more care and attention that say writing non-fiction.
I must also be sure to understand the permissibility or impermissibility of photography. If it is impermissible, then I obviously should not do it. If it is doubtful, then again I should not do it. If it is permissible, than I can continue with this pastime.
However, it is a bit hard to establish the ruling on the permissibility of photography. This is because there were no cameras at the time of the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam. He could not say exactly whether or not photography was okay. So scholars must analyze the action and the rulings on similar actions to decide the permissibility. In this way, there can become different opinions; that is so for photography, in which two major opinions exist.
The first opinion, held by a few, mainly South Asian, scholars is that photography is haram, illegal. This is based on the known impermissibility of drawing or creating any image or figure of what Allah has created. Painting, drawing, sculpting, and so on are all haram activities; even a child’s doll is haram. Why is this so?
These activities are seen as a challenge to Allah, the Ultimate Creator. He created everything and none can create like Him. When someone draws a tree for example, it is as though he is challenging Allah, saying, ‘You are not the only creator.’ The artist is creating something that was not there before. The same is true for someone who sews a stuffed dog for her grandchild. She is challenging Allah by creating something when only He is the Creator.
The second view is the opposite of the first: photography is permissible. The basis for such an opinion is that photography is not creating anything; rather it is copying the image of something Allah created. Instead of taking a paintbrush and creating another tree, the photographer takes a photo – an exact copy – of the tree.
This second opinion holds that photography is simply taking a record of what Allah has made. Indeed, this is my intention when I take a photo of a tree, a flower, or anything else. My intention is to capture the beauty, the wonder, the absolute greatness of Allah’s Creation.
Looking back at past work, I can only shake my head in wonder and utter, ‘Allahu akbar!’ Photography certainly shows the intensity of Allah’s power and how truly transcendent He is.
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If you’re interested in seeing any of my photography, I have some of it posted online at the art website deviantART. Come check it out!
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