A man reclining on cushions bearing images

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I hung curtains with pictures in the house. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came home, he took those curtains down. I made cushions out of them, and I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reclining on one of those cushions.

The daughter of Sa'd said: My father brought some pillows from Persia which had pictures on them, and we used to spread those pillows out.

Layth said: I saw Salim bin Abdullah reclining on a red pillow which had pictures on it. I asked him about this, and he said: Pictures are disliked only for the one who hangs them up and makes them.

Hisham bin Urwah said that his father used to recline on pillows which had pictures of birds and men on them.

Hittan bin Abdullah said: A friend of mine came to me and called out to me. I looked out and saw him, and he said: A letter from the Commander of the Believers has been read out to us, in which it is written that the households which have curtains with pictures on them must take those curtains down. I did not think it proper to spend the night in a state of sin, so I took those curtains down.

Muhammad (Ibn Sirin) said: They did not regard pictures that were trodden on and spread out as being like those that were hung up.

Ikrimah used to say about pictures on mats or pillows: This is a humiliation for them.

Ikrimah said: The predecessors considered pictures on things that are hung up to be disliked, but they saw no harm in pictures on things that are spread out.

Ibn Sirin said: There is no harm in a picture being on something that is spread out.

Mujahid considered even the picture of a fruit-bearing tree to be disliked.

Ibn Awn said: In the gathering place of Muhammad (Ibn Sirin) there were some pillows with pictures of birds on them, and people used to ask him about this. Muhammad said: People have begun to say a great deal about this; it would be best if you removed them.

Ikrimah bin Khalid said: There is no harm in a picture being on something that is spread out.

Sa'id bin Jubayr said: There is no harm in a picture being on something that is spread out.

Ata said: There is no harm in a picture being on something that is spread out. As for things that are hung up, I consider it disliked.

Al-Zuhri considered a picture on anything to be disliked, whether it was spread out or hung up.

Ikrimah said: A picture is the name for the head; if that is absent, there is no harm.

Ikrimah said, in explanation of the verse of the Noble Qur'an, 'Those who cause harm to Allah and His Messenger' [Al-Ahzab: 57]: This refers to the people of pictures.

Ibn Awn said: I visited al-Qasim while he was at his home in Makkah. In his bedchamber I saw that there were pictures on it of a beaver and of the bird called the Anqa.

Salim bin Abdullah said: The predecessors saw no harm in pictures on things that are spread out.