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.