Ruling on taking a woman’s picture in order to have a passport issued
Question What is the ruling on taking a woman’s picture in order to have a passport issued so that she can travel with her husband for the purpose of da’wah? Answer Praise be to Allaah. It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (1/496): “A woman should not allow anyone to photograph her face whether for a passport or for any other purpose, because it (her face) is ‘awrah, and because the existence of pictures in passports and elsewhere is one of the causes of fitnah… unless that is the case of necessity.” Based on that, it may be said that if the purpose of the woman’s travel is da’wah, to call people to Allaah, then this is not something necessary that would make this action permissible. In many foreign countries women attend the mosques and Islamic centers and benefit from what the daa’iyahs are doing there . So there is no need for this woman to expose herself to fitnah or the risk of doing some haraam actions, especially since there is such a great need for da’wah in th...