Drawing cartoons for children's books for his survival

24-5-2005 | IslamWeb

Question:

I am an American convert to Islam before I took Shahaadah I was a cartoonist. After I took my Shahaadah I stopped drawing because I saw it as Haraam. After a lapse of 8 years I have had a stroke paralyzing my left side, and drawing children's books is my only way to make a living for I have no other skills.
I only draw books for children, and only with a moral lesson. Since I am only doing this because I have absolutely no other recourse accept begging for a living. I see myself as choosing the lesser of two sins.
My Question is: Is doing something Haraam forgiven if you Niyyah is to survive the only way you can? I cannot move my left arm I cannot do manual labor. Drawing cartoons is the only thing I can do. I did stop drawing for almost 10 years, and lived in poverty. Please advise.
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

First of all, we congratulate you upon embracing Islam and we ask Allaah to make you firm and steadfast on this religion until the day you meet Him.

We thank you for visiting our site and we ask Allaah to cure you very soon. We advise you to be patient and we remind you of the saying of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ): "When Allaah wants good for a person, he afflicts him with difficulties and hardship." [Al-Bukhari] So we ask Allaah to reward you for your patience.

Coming back to your question, it is known that drawing animate creatures is strictly forbidden in Islam as there are many narrations that are reported in this regard. For instance, the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "The most grievous torment for the people on the Day of Resurrection would be for those who try to imitate Allaah in the act of Creation." [Al-Bukhari] The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) also said: "Whoever draws a portrait, Allaah will punish him/her until he infuses life into it, and he/she will never be able to do so." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Another narration reads: "Image-makers will be in Hellfire. For every image they made, Allaah will create a soul that will keep on punishing them in Hellfire." [Muslim] The above narrations and others are clear in forbidding image-making of living creatures with the exception of images that are drawn for the purpose of teaching and amusing children, as there are evidences in this regard, so we advise you not to exceed this limit.

Allaah knows best.

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