Are Muslims forbidden to draw living animals? Netizens debate in a compelling social media post
ONE man's meat is another man's poison. But it doesn't always have to be a comparison between meat and poison.
It could be about spirituality and that is what a recent topic is about which garnered quite the attention on the cyberspace.
According to netizen @taufiq_tuah in a post on X, it is forbidden for an artist of the Islamic faith to draw a living animal.
'Every painter will be in hell. Every picture he draws represents a spirit for him, and he will be punished with it in hell,' he said.
Ya haram
Melukis makhluk bernyawa ialah haram.
'Setiap pelukis akan berada dalam neraka. Akan dijadikan untuknya setiap gambar yang dia lukis satu roh, lalu dia akan diazab dengannya di neraka.'
(HR. Muslim no. 2110)
Wallahualam pic.twitter.com/VznhdFTwuP
— Taufiq Tuah (@taufiq_tuah) June 16, 2025
But what constitutes a living animal? @taufiq_tuah said that according to scholars, what was forbidden depends on two distinguishing features in the artwork:
1/ It has a head.
2/ If it has a head, it is not forbidden as long as it doesn't have eyes.
@taufiq_tuah continued that this applies to sketching and carving too which were included as forbidden acts as according to the Hadith.
For the non-muslims and some muslims, this is certainly something new.
Netizen @KaiserMalaya said those cartoonists who drew for the magazine Ujang, Gempak and Gila-Gila will be in hot water. However, @NShnauzer said this was stupid.
Another sceptical netizen also cautioned against believing in what @taufiq_tuah said. 'It is best to consult with the people who are good in the religion. A simple google and you can get answers from Ustad Azhar Idus or the other ustaz who can be trusted,' he advised.
Netizen @nurulainiRM further pointed out that the magazines used for preaching also used such drawings. 'But why is no one complaining?' she wondered.
But @siRedssssss was a believer. He said artists will begin by drawing portraits. Two years after drawing, he will then hang it on the wall.
Subsequently, flowers would be placed there as an act of worship, and much later, it becomes a doll.
Despite the bleak tone of the topic, @mazin_lufiass managed to inject some humour in it by stating that it was fine to draw Gundam robots.
'Gundam robots do not have a soul as they are machines. So draw the portrait of a Gundam robot holding a flower or a Gundam wearing a Kebaya, or a Gundam bathing in the water fall,' he said.
Perhaps @aratilah29 has a solution to this predicament too. According to her, the artist could draw living figures but make an 'X' on their necks to deny them life. She said this was something she learned a long time ago as a child. —June 17, 2025
Main image: Anisa Creative Studio
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