Analogy with Pictures on Coins and Rupees, and Reading “Huda” and the Like in the Mosque

Question

Is it proper or not to read, while sitting in the mosque, a book containing photographic pictures — for example the “Huda Digest” published from Delhi — and books of this kind? After all, there are pictures on coins, rupees and matchboxes, and these stay in one’s pocket; rupees and coins are taken out of the pocket and given in the mosque as donations. May one look at photographs or pictures of some person while sitting in the mosque or not?

Answer

The pictures that are on coins, rupees and matchboxes are generally very small; sometimes it is not even clear whether it is a picture of a living being or some flower or the like. For a thing bearing such small pictures there is a relaxation in the ruling.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.