Is It Haram To See Drawings of the Private Parts?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani 

Question:

I want to know is it haram to see private part drawings not like real ones but more like anatomical with information of inner organs. Also, if I see it out of curiosity and get an erection, will I be sinful?

Answer:

Walaikum assalam,

I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.

Looking at an illustration of human anatomy is permitted for (a) medical or (b) educational reasons. [Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, others] This includes illustrations of the private parts.

It should be done with this intention and not out of desire (shahwa). One should seek medical or educational resources for this—not erotic nor pornographic images.

Allah Most High reminds us in the Quran:
“Do not follow what you have no ˹sure˺ knowledge of. Indeed, all will be called to account for ˹their˺ hearing, sight, and intellect.” [Quran, 17.36]

What About Arousal
If one does so and gets an erection or arousal, one isn’t responsible for this.

It is, however, good to seek forgiveness (istighfar) and busy oneself with the remembrance of Allah Most High.

The Sunna of Seeking Forgiveness—and the Meaning of Seeking Forgiveness (istighfar)
The Messenger of Allah (peace & blessings be upon him)—while Divinely protected from sin and slips—sought forgiveness a hundred times a day. [Muslim]

Seeking forgiveness is asking Allah to cover over the unbecoming (including sins, shortcomings, and slips) and to manifest the beautiful. [Ghazali, al-Maqsid al-Asna]

And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.

[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center