Is it haraam to keep shapes of skulls in the house? My father doesn't like that my telephone looks like a skull.
I want to know if there's any hadith or Qur'aan verse that speaks against this. I know it is haraam to keep images of people and animals on display because they are duplications of things that only Allah(SWT) is able to create, but this?
Bismillah
Some says it's forbidden to show images of living creatures. The argument is this hadith:
Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: ‘Whoever makes an image in this world will be told to breathe the soul into it on the Day of Resurrection, and he will never be able to do that.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim). He [Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him)] also narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Every image-maker will be in the Fire, and every image that he made will be made to appear to him and will torment him in Hell.” Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “If you must do that, then make trees and things that have no soul.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim).
There are also some that says it's permitted, depending on the intentions. The argument is the hadits below.
Narrated A’ishah: When the Apostle of Allah (Peace and blessings be upon him) arrived after the expedition to Tabuk or Khaybar (the narrator is doubtful), the draught raised an end of a curtain which was hung in front of her store-room, revealing some dolls which belonged to her. He asked: What is this? She replied: My dolls. Among them he saw a horse with wings made of rags, and asked: What is this I see among them? She replied: A horse. He asked: What is this that it has on it? She replied: Two wings. He asked: A horse with two wings? She replied: Have you not heard that Solomon had horses with wings? She said: Thereupon the Apostle of Allah (Peace and blessings be upon him) laughed so heartily that I could see his molar teeth. [Abu Dawud]
Rasulullah SAW(PBUH) permitted Aisha to play with the dolls. He even laughed - which could be interpreted a symbol of agreement.
The different views on this matter is not yet settled. However, what categorized as 'living' is objects that live, and able to think - Which includes humans and animals. The paintings of trees, landscapes and abstract paintings are not in this category. So regardless whether painting living things are allowed or not, a skull is not in this category. Therefore, it's not Haram. However, the most important part of an act is the intentions. If one intent to worship the skull, then it goes straight to the Haram, forbidden category. Else, if it's just for decoration or maybe you have a t-shirt with that drawing, Insha Allah it's Halal.
I think what makes your father uneasy is the fact that a skull is very closely related to 'dark' acts. It's scary, it's used in pagan rituals and the list goes on. For this matter, it's up to you, since it depends on your intentions, why do you like that shape. Well, personally i would advise you to just show some respects to your father - he isn't wrong to be uneasy.
Here is some external sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFd-SUP3Two - Dr Zakir Naik. http://www.justaskislam.com/184/pictures-halal-or-haram/
Wallahu a'lam. And Allah knows best.
Do not take/own any of the things that relates to the evil dark fashion or devils or pain or suffering, do everything opposite that of which the people (like myself) love/loved about the evil darkness like fashion because we remind ourself of the devil as our pleasure giver for fashion and it guides us away from Allah. Always be clean because of too many reasons, example is the face itching and you have dirtt hands so you end up spreading bad bacteria which can multiple and most of them like where its warm, so a good place to settle would be inside our faces where they can live happily and keep multiplyin until your body alerts you with a high temperature that you are sick and its sending out anti bad bacteria cells to kill it which can take days and could spread to other people who you love. So the next time you decide to let a dog lick you, know its gonna be a good bacterial festival where it can even lead to serious illness where the doctor doesnt have enough mercy or power to save you with his addicting pills which are mostly made of drugs and your body would like to get used to the pills real bad, the pills nobody is talking about because the adults are too distracted playing the adults while ignoring the fact that we are losing the most important foods,clean air and water. The best of the parents prolly are those who smoke and drive a (gas)car with which they contaminate themselves and others around and the animals and the plants, those are real adults who know what being a man or a woman is, yep so many adults who in truth are blind deaf and dumb or clueless, but here is a more important question: who is bowing their heads when they pray and show shame for that which they did and seek mercy because we cannot pay back Allah for what he has done to us.
It should not be haram as it is not a living thing. Allah's messenger (P.B.U.H) has permitted drawing anything with a soul as the people who drew it will go straight into Hell fire. However a skull does not fall under that category and could be mainly for decoration. However it is a sign of darkness and death which is stressed upon in the Quran. A muslim should try to keep their mind clear and be thankful to God in every situation. So brother/sister, I hope you are not using this image with the intention of evil but purely for decoration. May Allah forgive me and guide if I have said something wrong.
