Drawing human profile to show architectural scale

29-12-2012 | IslamWeb

Question:

As-slaamu Alaykum, I am a architecture student and i am requires to use drawings of people to show scale in drawings. i understand we should get rid of the facial features to reduce the sin. If i colour in a drawing of a person standing in profile in black so you cannot see his eyes or mouth or any other facial detail, though the nose sticks out, as it is standing in profile (though theres no detail to it eg nostril since its coloured in black). Is this sufficient as i removed major elements of a human which one needs to live - eyes and mouth?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

 

The Permanent Committee of Iftaa’ in Saudi Arabia was asked about the ruling on some gold coins that are added to jewelry and have the profile of a man’s face on them, like that on a King George Pound Sterling Coin and so forth. Their answer came as follows: "The Ahaadeeth that forbid images of things possessing souls are general, thus including anything of which it can be said: This is an image of something possessing a soul. This also includes the image of a head. Based on this, it is not permissible to use such coins in jewelry."

The case you mentioned in your question, although there is some difference between it and the case mentioned above, we find it more appropriate to avoid such manner which you described and to draw the head as a circle, for example, without showing any details of the face. We suppose that drawing it in that manner would fulfill your purpose of drawing that image, Allaah willing.

Allaah Knows best.