Although the Prophet ﷺ clearly prohibited making of idols, in his lifetime, children used to play with dolls that had human or animal features. By way of analogy, the use of images and illustrations is permissible for educational purposes. According to an authentic ḥadith reported by Abu Dawood and An-Nasa‘i, the Prophet ﷺ smiled when he saw the dolls and winged horse that belonged to ’Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). To compete with the movie and video-game industry, we must be creative in the way that we present the Quran to our children. Keeping in line with traditional Islamic values, no prophet or companion of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ is depicted in any of our illustrations.
