Posting Pictures On Facebook, Twitter is UnIslamic

Putting up a good profile picture and getting likes on it has turned into a trend. Profile picture, the main photo of you on your timeline appears as a thumbnail next to your comments and other activity on Facebook.

Muslim clerics in Lucknow are of contrasting views on allowing Muslim women post their pictures on social networking sites.

Abul Irfan Naimul Halim Firagni Mahli said,

“There are so many crimes taking place each day. The animal instincts of men are not sparing girls even within the four walls. In such a case posting pictures is extending an open invitation to such crimes.”

He said that irrespective of the religion and community, girls should not post their pictures on the Internet. For those who are Muslims, they must understand that purdah is a must in Islam and posting pictures is very much against the practice.

He said that if the girls are young and they don’t understand the harsh side effects of the trend, it is our duty to explain it to them and set them on the right track.

Endorsing the views, Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas Naqvi said that there have been a rise in the number of calls made on the Lucknow-based helplines, run for Shia and Sunni Muslims where callers have been asking if Islam allows them to make accounts on facebook and twitter.

He said,

“We tell them there is no harm in making an account because it may be for enhancing knowledge. But posting pictures is certainly against Islam. Purdah is compulsory for all Muslim women and in such a case making the face public by posting it on the Internet is un Islamic.”

Hijaab literally means a screen or curtain, partition and concealment. As a verb it means to conceal oneself from the view.

Hijaab means to completely hide one’s self from the view of the ghair mahram. (ghair mahram is a man with whom marriage is permissible whereas 'mehram' means male kin like father and brothers). The normal and general rule of Hijaab is total seclusion and segregation between males and females (non-mahrams). The law of HIjaab requires that the whole female body (from head to feet, including the face) be concealed in the presence of ghair mahram.