A picture of the face

Question

Is it permissible in Islam to have a photograph taken of the upper half of a living person or not? Kindly write with a transmitted proof.

Answer

Whatever the ruling is for a full picture, the same is the ruling for the upper half; indeed, if the photograph is only of the face and head, it too has the same ruling: [ar]كل شيء له رأس فهو صورة[/ar] “Everything that has a head is an image” (Ithaf al-Sada, the commentary on al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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