Questioner:

Is buying clothes with pictures on them permitted, considering the scarcity of clothes without pictures?

Shaykh Muḥammad Bāzmūl:

Yes, a person may buy children’s clothes even if they have pictures on them because he is not buying the clothes for the picture, and pictures are permitted for children anyway. So, this person’s intention was not to buy the picture but only to buy the clothes for the fact that they are clothes and the presence of pictures on clothes – children’s clothes – is something I hope, in shā Allāh, is a matter that has leeway in it. Despite that, a Muslim must try hard in the future to avoid these pictures as much as he can.

The same goes for the clothes seller; he must take care not to buy goods that have pictures on them so that he does not land himself in such an uncertainty. The Messenger ﷺ says: “And anyone who saves himself from uncertainties clears himself completely of blame in his religion and his reputation. He clears himself of any blame in his religion and his reputation.” That is it.