Question: Taking Photographs @ Hajj

[Strivin4Jannah]

Asalamu alaykum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuhu,

If Ustadh Muhammad Al Shareef could answer this question, I would really appreciate it. Maybe this was discussed in the Rizq Management class but I wanted to know if taking a camera to Hajj is permissable.

I was reading Ustadh Muhammad Al Shareef's translation of Common Mistakes You Don't Want to Make and it stated:

"Do not take pictures of yourself in Ihraam. You came to worship Allah and taking pictures for showing others later may contradict your sincerity of doing this for the sake of Allah."

Is this limited only to taking pictures of yourself in Ihraam or should one also avoid taking pictures of oneself w/o Ihram, or taking pictures of Masjid Al Haram and Masjid An-Nabawi from far distances?

I was also reading a book given to me at a Hajj workshop at the Mahad (Islamic Institute in Fairfax, VA) in which the author, Dr. Saleh ibn Fouzan Al-Fouzan also mentioned that, "Photgraph taking is disobedience and a great sin, so they should not start their Hajj with such a thing."

If Ustadh Muhammad Al Shareef could address this question, I would really appreciate it and if anyone could lead me to where I can find the answer, that would be very helpful.

[Muhammad Alshareef]

alhamdulillah.
I've taken pictures of hajj and the surrounding sites. My intention was for education. Thus, no one from my hajj group was in any of the pictures. If I found an intriguing hajji, i would take a picture of him from afar to record the diversity in hajj. I did this one year, got my pictures. Now I don't bother taking any camera with me, i find it distracting to be at a holy place, connected to one's heart, and then go digging for a camera ... instead of just enoying the moment.

Note, cameras are not allowed in certain areas. You can get your camera taken away.

On the other side, people take pictures of themselves making dua, standing in holy places, and show it to people when they go home. That's a little dodgy. Would you put a camera on auto-shot while you were praying Dhuhr, to show people later how sincerely you were praying? Y'know what i mean?

Bottom line, I would suggest taking a cheap digital camera that you wouldn't mind losing only if you wish to take pics of the masjid from afar, that kind of thing (which is not haram). However, perhaps more beneficial, is taking a journal with you, and recording your memories in writing. That's what all the great scholars did. Every year I purchase a clean journal to take with me and record my learnings and reflections on my blessings. That's what I would suggest.

And Allah knows best.
Note in this answer i'm not really addressing the halal/haram part of photography, just my personal take and experience with it in Hajj.

[Strivin4Jannah]

Jazakalahu khair

[cruising seeker]

I'm leaving for Hajj in 2 days inshallah and will be taking a cheap digicam with me. The purpose is for memory purposes since Hajj is also a huge adventure and it would be nice to have picture memories of it, much like a diary or blog. I won't be taking any close shots of pilgrims.


I am however tempted to sneek a camera into the Haram to take my own personal pics of the Kaaba and tawaf It must look amazing.