Discretion in using photos, Videos & images despite permissibility:
The proliferation of photography, videos and the ability to host, distribute and share this material has added a new dimension to distance Islamic learning and gaining beneficial knowledge of our religion. Many Islamic Scholars have not only permitted videos but have also appeared in them and given explicit or implicit permission to host their video talks on YouTube and other social media sites around the internet thus these are permissible and a detailed article on the subject is produced below.
However, we have been grappling with the issue of "Islamic videos" for some considerable time and due to associated and inherent dangers in photography and videos and the actions of of YouTube in continuing to host (thus implicitly support) the defamation of Islam and our beloved Sayyidina Rasul-ullah (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) with alarming frequency, and we would like to note that that it is not our place to issue Fatwaas as we have no doubt that Islamic Scholars are aware of their responsibilities in this regard. We would like to voice a few concerns with regards to photographs, videos & images which are as follows:
1 Necessity: In a vast majority of cases, is it really necessary to have an Islamic talk video-taped? What benefit is there in watching a Tafseer session (for example) as compared to listening to it (without video)?
2 Guarding the gaze: It is incumbent upon a Muslim man to lower his gaze and refrain from focusing visual attention towards a strange (unrelated) woman and it is equally incumbent upon a Muslim woman to lower her gaze and refrain from focusing visual attention towards a strange (unrelated) man and to the best of our knowledge this obligation is not waived when watching a video and in the vast majority of cases the listener has no choice but to focus on the speakers face, is it really necessary?
3 Discouragement of images in Islam: Images are explicitly discouraged in Islamic Shariah and although some of the Ulamah have deemed digital videos to be exempt from this prohibition, they are images nonetheless as clearly understood by the masses.
4 Associated Vulgarity & Evil: It is almost impossible to browse YouTube and escape from advertisements, rude and vulgar comments and accidentally stumbling on videos which are in blatant and flagrant violation of Islamic Shariah in both content and presentation.
5 Proliferation and accidental spread of family photographs and videos: There is an ever present danger of personal and unguarded (e.g. women without proper Islamic Hijab etc) images falling into wrong hands, therefore the Ulamah have always discouraged indiscriminate use of mobile cameras and other such equipment.
Over the years we have tried to host Islamic videos on www.central-mosque.com to ensure that our visitors can benefit without the need to browse them on YouTube (and other sites) directly. In addition we have also tried to convert YouTube videos to MP3 where we deem that having a video (along with voice) adds no significant value to the material.
Insha'Allah in the future we will continue to use discretion in hosting videos and try to host them in MP3 where possible, our visitors are use discretion and here are 2 sites which can convert YouTube videos to MP3, easily without any advertisements
1 Dibbler
Please note that where there is a need for a video because the content is educational or demonstrational we have no qualms in displaying or hosting it since it will fall under the category of being necessary.
Jazakullah Khairun
http://central-mosque.com/
