Question:
I am aware that drawing living beings is haram in Islam. As for pictures, it seems to be controversial but mostly allowed. I stumbled upon this new tool created based on artificial intelligence (https://www.synthesia.io/). Basically, you write down a text and a video of a person saying that text shows up. I suspect that it is haram since even though the person is portrayed in a video, the video is not real. It’s simulated, I think. I am not sure how they simulate it exactly, but if you have time and you can look into it, we can have a proper response for this new wave of AI coming tools. I want to make sure that it is haram, because these tools can be used for business purposes. Jazakomo Allah khayr.
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh.
The website mentioned in the question takes the user-provided text and generates a video of that text using lifelike avatars as speakers. There are a few considerations to keep in mind.
First, the attribute of creating (al-takhlīq) is a defining trait of Allah. He has expressly forbidden anyone to have a share in it and has forbidden anyone to even believe that another could have a share in it. He taʻālā states:
إِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ اللَّـهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ يَطْلُبُهُ حَثِيثًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَاتٍ بِأَمْرِهِ ۗ أَلَا لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالْأَمْرُ ۗ تَبَارَكَ اللَّـهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ 7:54
Surely, your Lord is Allah who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He positioned himself on the Throne. He covers the day with the night that pursues it swiftly. (He created) the sun and the moon and the stars, subjugated to His command. Lo! To Him alone belong the creation and the command. Glorious is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا 4:48
Surely, Allah does not forgive that a partner is ascribed to Him, and He forgives anything short of that for whomsoever He wills. Whoever ascribes a partner to Allah commits a terrible sin.
Additionally, the Prophet ﷺ strongly cautioned against attempting to share in this divine trait:
Sayyidah `Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Indeed, the makers of these images will be punished on the day of judgment, and it will be said to them, ‘Give life to what you created.
Second, although the ‘ulamā have differed in their opinion on digital photography and videography, which involves taking images of living beings, the act of creating an image falls closer to the prohibition mentioned by the Prophet ﷺ. Creating a system that generates avatars by the site’s programmers falls into this prohibition. The site user is likewise involved in image-making. If the act of creating is done by an AI (artificial intelligence), the user is a cause for the AI’s output, or he merely uses the AI as a tool. In either scenario, he takes accountability as the action is attributable to him.
Lastly, such sites may very well be the future. Still, Muslims should refrain out of caution and piety from approaching anything prohibited by Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, unless a substantial need exists. One may explore other sites like Steve.ai from which they can also create videos without avatars and images.
And Allah taʻālā knows best,
Checked and Approved by:
No comments:
Post a Comment