What is the ruling on drawing and hanging the pictures of the Messenger of Allah and the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt?

It is not permissible to draw or hang the pictures attributed to the Messenger of Allah and the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt for several reasons:

Firstly, it is the depiction of beings with souls, which is not permissible in the Quran and the Sunnah[1].

Secondly, it is an imitation of Christians who draw and hang the pictures attributed to Jesus the apostles, and the righteous, and that is not permissible; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا﴾[2]; “O you who believed! Do not be like those who disbelieved,” and it has been narrated that Umm Habiba and Umm Salma mentioned to the Prophet a church they saw in Abyssinia with pictures in it. Therefore, he said: «إِنَّ أُولَئِكَ قَوْمٌ إِذَا كَانَ فِيهِمُ الرَّجُلُ الصَّالِحُ فَمَاتَ، بَنَوْا عَلَى قَبْرِهِ مَسْجِدًا، وَصَوَّرُوا فِيهِ تِلْكَ الصُّوَرَ، فَأُولَئِكَ شِرَارُ الْخَلْقِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ»[3]; “They are people who, when a righteous man is among them and then dies, will build a mosque over his grave and draw those pictures in it, so they are the worst people in the sight of Allah on the Day of Judgment.”

Thirdly, it is a lie; because it is not known exactly what their faces and bodies were like.

↑[1] . See saying 146 from the words of Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani .

↑[2] . Al Imran/ 156

↑[3] . Muwatta’ Malik, vol. 2, p. 102; al-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa‘d, vol. 2, p. 239; Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 3, p. 30; Musnad of Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, vol. 2, p. 264; Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 40, p. 296; Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 93; Sahih of Muslim, vol. 1, p. 375; Sunan of al-Nasa’i, vol. 2, p. 41; Musnad of Abi Ya‘la, vol. 8, p. 92; Sahih of ibn Khuzaymah, vol. 2, p. 7; Mustakhraj Abi Awanah, vol. 1, p. 334; al-Sunnah al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 4, p. 135