Hadith 4002

حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ مُوسَى ، أَخْبَرَنَا هِشَامٌ ، عَنْ مَعْمَرٍ ، عَنْ الزُّهْرِيِّ . ح حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنِي أَخِي ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي عَتِيقٍ ، عَنْ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ ، أَنَّ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا ، قَالَ : أَخْبَرَنِي أَبُو طَلْحَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ , صَاحِبُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَكَانَ قَدْ شَهِدَ بَدْرًا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ , أَنَّهُ قَالَ : " لَا تَدْخُلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ بَيْتًا فِيهِ كَلْبٌ وَلَا صُورَةٌ " , يُرِيدُ التَّمَاثِيلَ الَّتِي فِيهَا الْأَرْوَاحُ .
Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Abu Talha, a companion of Allah's Apostle and one of those who fought at Badr together with Allah's Apostle told me that Allah's Apostle said. "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture" He meant the images of creatures that have souls.
Hadith Reference صحيح البخاري / كتاب المغازي / 4002
Hadith Grading محدثین: أحاديث صحيح البخاريّ كلّها صحيحة
Explanation & Benefits
Maulana Dawood Raz
Hadith Commentary:
The meaning is that the angels of mercy do not enter such a house; rather, that house becomes a center of Allah's displeasure.
Abu Talhah (radi Allahu anhu) is a Badri Companion who is the narrator of this hadith.
This is the connection between the chapter and the hadith.
Source: Sahih Bukhari: Commentary by Maulana Dawood Raz, Page: 4002
Shaykh Abdul Sattar al-Hammad
Hadith Commentary:

This hadith mentions that Abu Talhah (radi Allahu anhu) participated in the Battle of Badr.

In light of other ahadith, it is permissible to keep a dog for guarding and watching, for the protection of crops and livestock, and as a hunting dog. However, even then, the angel of mercy will not enter, because the dog is impure (najis) and emits a foul odor, and angels flee from foul smells.

There is also some allowance regarding images, provided that they are of inanimate objects, or if they are of animate beings, then they are trampled upon, such as those on carpets and the like which are spread on the ground. Some scholars hold the view that although such images are permitted, the entry of angels will still not occur.
However, from the clarification of Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu), it is understood that he holds to a specific exception.
This is also the inclination of Imam Bukhari (rahimahullah).
And Allah knows best.
Source: Hidayat al-Qari: Commentary on Sahih Bukhari, Urdu, Page: 4002
Shaykh Abdul Sattar al-Hammad
Hadith Commentary:
➊ By "angels" are meant the angels of mercy, because there are angels who never separate from a person at any time.
➋ Dogs kept for the protection of crops and livestock, or for hunting, are exempted from this ruling.
Those images which are trampled underfoot and for which no greatness or honor is intended are not an obstacle for the angels of mercy.
And Allah knows best.
Source: Hidayat al-Qari: Commentary on Sahih Bukhari, Urdu, Page: 3322
Maulana Dawood Raz
Hadith Commentary:
From this as well, the existence of angels and their being affected by good and evil is established.
Source: Sahih Bukhari: Commentary by Maulana Dawood Raz, Page: 3225
Maulana Dawood Raz
Hadith Commentary:
Some have said that by "angels" here, what is meant are Jibril and Mika'il (alayhima as-salam), but in that case, this matter would be specific to the blessed life of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), because after his passing, the descent of revelation ceased, and so did the coming of these angels.
The angels referred to here are not those who are appointed over every person, nor those angels who are sent for tasks by the command of Allah.
By "image" (murt), what is meant is the image of a living being.
A certain naturalist objected to me, saying: "If keeping a dog prevents angels from coming near, then we will always keep a dog with us so that the Angel of Death cannot come to us."
I replied to him: "If you do so, then the angel who takes the souls of dogs will come to take your soul." At this, he was left speechless.
The narration of Layth ibn Sa'd has been connected (wasl) by Abu Nu'aym in his Mustakhraj.
Source: Sahih Bukhari: Commentary by Maulana Dawood Raz, Page: 5949
Shaykh Abdul Sattar al-Hammad
Hadith Commentary:
(1)
By "angels" are meant the angels of mercy, who supplicate for mercy and forgiveness for human beings. By "house" is meant the place where a person resides, whether it is a hut or a tent. Furthermore, by "picture" is meant the image of a living being whose head has not been severed, nor is it trampled underfoot.

(2)
In any case, making pictures and keeping them out of fondness are equal in terms of the gravity of the offense. Making a picture of any living being is prohibited (haram), rather, it is a major sin (kabirah), because it involves resemblance to the attribute of creation (khaliqiyyah) of Allah, the Exalted. Then, there is no distinction whether the picture is on cloth, paper, wall, or on dirhams and dinars. However, there is no harm in making pictures of non-living things, such as trees, mountains, rivers, and waterfalls, etc. On this basis, our inclination is that adopting photography and the profession of image-making is prohibited (haram) and impermissible (najā'iz), because a man once came to Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) and said:

Ibn Abbas! My means of livelihood is image-making.

Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) replied:

I narrate to you a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), that he said:

"Whoever makes a picture will be punished until he breathes a soul into it, and he will never be able to breathe a soul into it."

That man began to tremble, and upon hearing this warning, his face turned pale.

Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) said:

If you must make pictures, then make pictures of trees and such things in which there is no soul.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Buyu', Hadith: 2225)
Source: Hidayat al-Qari: Commentary on Sahih Bukhari, Urdu, Page: 5949
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
Explanation:
1:
Such dogs that are kept for guarding fields and property, as well as for hunting, are exempted.
Similarly, images of inanimate objects are also exempted from the ruling regarding pictures.
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 2804
Hafiz Muhammad Ameen
Urdu marginal note:
“If at any place the permissibility of a picture of a ‘possessor of soul’ (dhī rūḥ) is mentioned, what is meant is the picture of something without a soul (ghayr dhī rūḥ), for example: the images from the era of Sulayman (alayhis salam) which are mentioned in the Qur’an. Similarly, the images mentioned in the following hadith.”
Source: Sunan Nasa'i: Translation and Benefits by Shaykh Hafiz Muhammad Amin Hafizullah, Page: 5350
Maulana Ataullah Sajid
Benefits and Issues:


It is permissible to keep a dog for guarding or hunting. (Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Dhaba’ih wa al-Sayd, Chapter: Whoever acquires a dog that is not for hunting or herding livestock, Hadith: 5480)
This can be for guarding the house or for guarding crops. (Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Harth wa al-Muzara‘ah, Chapter: Acquiring a dog for crops, Hadith: 2322)


Keeping a dog for any other permissible purpose can also be analogized, for example:
Searching for criminals and guiding blind individuals, etc.


By “picture” is meant the image of a living being, whether it is a picture of a human or of an animal, bird, fish, etc.


Making an image of a living being, whether it is three-dimensional or not, even if it is not worshipped, is still sinful to keep in the house.
Worship of any created being is forbidden, whether it is the worship of a prophet or a wali, or a jinn or an angel, or a shrine or a grave, or a tree or a stone.
All of it is shirk (polytheism).


The sin of images on currency notes or identification cards, etc., will be upon those who make them, provided that the one who possesses them has aversion to it in his heart.
And in his heart, he wishes that if he had the power, he would stop the making of such images,
and would seek and implement a permissible alternative.


By “angels” is meant the angels of mercy.
The angels of death go, by Allah’s command, even to places they dislike to go.
Source: Commentary on Sunan Ibn Mājah by Mawlānā ‘Atā’ullāh Sājid, Page: 3649