Is downloading cartoon images Haram?

Question

Is downloading images of cartoons Haram? I am not talking about copyright, but because of Tasweer is Haram.

Answer 1

This is a very debatable Mas'ala in Fiqh, so no one can give the ultimate Fatwa, but if a good Scholar give a Fatwa (even if you don't feel comfortable with it for any reason) You have to obey the Fatwa he gives you, and it's your 'problem' to find the good scholar and ask, and if someone gives you any answer, that doesn't fit your life style for example, you aren't allowed to ask another one, and another one, seeking for the fatwa that you need, unless you were in doubt of it, you have to ask the Mufti/Imam/Scholar to explain it to you until you really understand and believe in it, then you should worship God by obeying his Servants, Otherwise you can obviously find someone who is totally Jahil and ignorant of Islamic Sharia, and ask him to give you Fatwa , and he will give you such a Good stuff to do bad things while you feel very comfortable , you know aht I mean !

Now for your Question about Cartoon , The Scholars talks a lot about this and it's clear to a certain point, you can search online for well explained answers about the "Tasweer" Mas'ala, islamqa, islamweb are some good websites, also you can search on Sunnah.com etc...

For me, Muslims aren't allowed to imitate the creation of Allah in a way that they try hardly to make something that looks and feels realistically like the creation of Allah, just to show their skills or something,

So if you are drawing a full human in a class of science it's totally okey, but to draw it just for fun and go viral online , it's not okey for me, This is from the Hadith actually :

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) visited me after returning from a journey, and I had a shelf with a thin cloth curtain hanging over it and on which there were portraits. When he saw it, the colour of his face changed (because of anger) and he said, "O 'Aishah! the most grievous torment from Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be for those who imitate (Allah) in the act of His creation." 'Aishah said: We tore it into pieces and made a cushion or two cushions out of that.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

But many scholars don't see that the Haram is only when you try to imitate, but actually any drawing or doll with some criteria.

Scholars state clearly that the Haram is: Full pictures of vital creature (not stones, clouds ..etc) that is complete so it lacks no parts that the life of this creature can't fulfill without it, for example, a horse body without the head , is not Haram .. Some Scholars add: it should be a 3D model, so if the pictures is on a paper it's ok, and if it's like an idol of a horse body isn't allowed even if it's without a head.

Many scholars go very strict in this case, saying that the one who imitate Allah in term of creation, they will be more punished than Pharaoh ,

But the majority of the scholars, exclude the drawings and models, for Children, and here's the Hadith for this:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) laughed so heartily that I could see his molar teeth.

Me: I think he (peace be upon him) laughed because she was a little kid and talked innocently without realizing that he knows everything in Religion!

So according to this Hadith, pretty much anything that is modest and teaches good manners etc.. is allowed to be produced for children to play with. And Ummuna Aicha Radiya Allahu Anha, used to have many dolls (Arabs call them daughters, in the previous Hadith she replied: my daughters, translated as: My dolls), and there's many reasons for allowing children to play with dolls and models and pictures.

But If you sill don't feel comfortable about these Mas'ala, you can find some very good cartoons that aren't drawing humans or animals, or there's those cartoons who draw humans in a way that it looks like a kid drawings, just because they aren't into imitate the creation of God, in this way you would be far of the Shubha and it's totally Halal, and have many benefits for your Kid if you see so.

Answer 2

             In the name of Allah, the most compassionate, the most merciful

Based on what you asked as following:

Is downloading images of cartoons Haram? I am not talking about copyright, but because of Tasweer is Haram.

On the whole, generally, there couldn’t seem to be problem in watching cartoon unless there could be the way of the sin (by attendance of bad persons or doing bad actions which are against Islam). Otherwise it is not considered as a haram practice. Consequently (without paying attention to the law of copyright and other related laws), there couldn’t seem any haram act by downloading cartoon images. For more info. according to the view of Shia it could be permissible to watch halal cartoon which are not consist of any haram scene or act …

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Reference:

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