Q:

I know drawing pictures of animate beings is haram but I want to ask if you are playing a game and you are given a default character and you want to change the skin tone, hairstyle, height, eye shape/colour or clothes of that character will that be considered haram image making or imitating allahs creation. Please refer to the link to fully understand what I’m talking about https://youtu.be/xgCM7s_FN08

A:

Drawing images in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was forbidden because of its association with idolatry.

Today pictures and drawings are primarily associated with the communication. It is a powerful medium.

We read in the Quran that the Prophet Sulayman was making statues; he was not doing so for worship them; it was for other purposes, including communication.

That is why drawing pictures and cartoon drawings cannot be deemed as forbidden as long as they are used for education and promoting good.

If we don’t use them, the devils will use them for promoting vice and corruption. In this sense, it is not different from other forms of media.

The Ulama, who had been strict against taking pictures in the past, have reversed their views after realizing this truth.  I remember my student days at the Islamic University of Madinah Munawwarah. We were taught that photography is haram as it is a form of shirk. Some of my classmates had become zealots to such an extent that if they could, they would break down the studios!  Shaikh Ibn Baz, the late Grand mufti of Saudi Arabia (may Allah have mercy on him), who was our vice-chancellor at the time, was a fierce advocate of such rulings. However, before his death, his pictures used to appear all over in the media – as he moderated his views. 

So the lesson we must learn is we need to apply the rules by studying their rationale and considering the varying contexts.

Almighty Allah Knows best.