Question:
Assalaamu ‘alaikum
Alhamdulillah, Allah Ta‘ala has blessed me abundantly. My mother-in-law is a wonderful woman whom I love and respect as I would my own mother. My problem is that she has pictures of my children on her phone, and despite knowing that taking pictures is haraam, she refuses to delete them saying that only she’s going to see them, no one else.
How do I get her to understand the gravity of this sin? Also, how can I get her to delete the pictures from her phone in a manner that is not hurtful, as I would never hurt someone I love? Do we, as parents, get sin for this? Please advise.
Jazakallah
Answer:
Bismihi Ta‘ala
Wa ‘alaikumus salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barkaatuh
Respected Sister in Islam
1. Since you have made it clear that you are not in favour of her keeping the pictures on the phone, you are not accountable further for what she is doing.
2. You may forward this article to her
3. If you wish you may forward a general question to mufti@alhaadi.org.za and ask what is the position of keeping digital photos of animate objects on one’s phone and whether it is compulsory to delete such pictures or not. You may then forward the answer to her.
It will be better if both the above aspects (forwarding the article and forwarding the answer to the question) be carried out directly by your husband rather than by yourself.
Answered by:
Uswatul Muslimah Panel of ‘Ulama