As salaamu alaikum, firstly I would like to thank you for offering such beautiful services to help the Muslims all around the world. However, please excuse my confusion, you had mentioned in other fatwas that looking at or putting photographs or pictures is impermissible. However, I see that in the askimam.org website you have a picture of a mosque on the right hand corner. So are the pictures of mosques permissible?
Also there are pictures of mosques in some mosques in my country as well. Thank you for your understanding. And also I had asked another question previously and it’s quite urgent and I want to write it again.
I am a university student in the USA, but I am from Turkey. My father had financially supported me to study. Now I am no longer studying in university and I am in Turkey because my father brought me back because I started to become more religious, I became friends with people from Tablighi jamaat, went for 3 days, started to grow my beard when I was in college in USA…My father is not sending me back if I grow my beard again (I trimmed it unfortunately…), my father wants me to keep my beard neat and thin, which I don’t want obviously. And I only had 4 classes left to graduate, which is equivalent to 4 months aprrox.
But the real thing is, if I don’t return to USA to study, I would either have to study 2 more years in Turkey, which I’m not sure if I would be able to study anymore in a new environment, as it is hard for me to cope to my new appearance along with the presence of a new and extra-secular environment. If I don’t go to university, I would have to go to military, which is OBLIGATORY for every Turkish citizen and I would have to serve 15 months and I would have to shave there as well. I feel very stuck; your advice would surely help.
As for the moment, I decided to just try to go back to USA somehow with the intention of practicing more Sunnah over there but let me know if I’m doing the right thing.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The usage of images and pictures of structures is permissible. However, the impermissibility is related to animated objects. [1]
Regarding your second query, please refer to answer # 19808 given to you by Moulanā Ismail Desai previously. Follow the link below:
http://askimam.org/fatwa/fatwa.php?askid=5e117193c8e6a4e2ed85bc5601516cfd
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Zaid M Shelia,
Student Darul Iftaa
Chicago, Illinois (USA)
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net
[1] يجب أن يعلم بأن الصورة نوعان؛ صورة جماد كالشجر ونحوه، وصورة حيوان، فصورة الجماد لا يكره اتخاذها والصلاة إليها صغيرة كانت أو كبيرة…وصورة الحيوان إن كانت صغيرة بحيث لا تبدو للناظر من بعيد لا يكره اتخاذها والصلاة إليها…إن كانت الصورة كبيرة بحيث تبدو للناظر من بعد؛ يكره إمساكها والصلاة إليها.. المحيط البرهاني 5/309 دار الكتب العلمية بيروت