Are Cartoons of Prophets Permissible in Islam? A Guide for Parents

The Islamic Perspective on Cartoons of Prophets: What Parents Need to Know

Question: Is it permissible to show children the stories of the Prophets in the form of cartoons where their faces are not shown, considering that nowadays both children and adults are heavily involved with media?

Answer: It is not permissible to show children the stories of the Prophets in the form of cartoons available on YouTube, whether the faces of the Prophets are shown or not. Creating such cartoons and videos in the name of the Prophets is itself a forbidden act because it involves making images of living beings, which is prohibited by various Hadiths. Moreover, it is considered disrespectful to the Prophets to make cartoons in their names.

It is surprising and regrettable that when non-believers and polytheists make cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), we protest against them, but when a Muslim does the same, we do not find it objectionable and even show such cartoons to our children. The truth is that making such cartoons is not permissible, so how can it be permissible to show them to our children? Furthermore, cartoons and videos can never accurately represent the true image of Islam or any story; they often contain falsehoods and exaggerations.

Please keep your children away from such wrong things and do not use them for their upbringing. Instead, educate and motivate them by reading true and Islamic stories from books.

 Sheikh Maqbool Ahmed Salafi 

❪Jeddah Dawah Center, Hayy Al-Salamah – Saudi Arabia❫