As for what was reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said, The Angels do not enter a house wherein there is a picture, except the prints upon cloth This Hadith is indisputably authentic. It is quoted by those who view as allowable (the use of) photographs.
The answer to such a claim involves different perspectives that run as follows. .
First: The Hadith on prohibition of making pictures, the curse on the picture makers, and the statement that they will receive the severest punishment on the Judgment Day are categorical. They involve no restriction or exception. Thus, they should be adopted and their generalization should be acknowledged.
They also include the narration that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw pictures similar to photographs, namely those printed on curtains and walls, he flushed with anger, commanded them to be torn, and wiped out the pictures that were on the walls. Rather, he himself undertook the task of wiping them out when he saw them on the walls of AlKa`bah, as is referred to above.
A different perspective is that the mentioned exception came only within the context of verses indicating the Angels' abstinence from entering the house wherein there are pictures, while it was not mentioned within the context of the Hadith prohibiting making pictures. How great is the difference between both cases!
Moreover, his saying, ...except a print on a garment. should be taken to refer to sculptures that are not pictures, or to pictures of bodies with heads disfigured or omitted, or pictures on cloth wore out in common service, such as that used in making pillows, mats, and the like, which is not hung or raised like curtains by doors and walls, and on clothes. Surely,
authentic Hadith are explicit as regards the prohibition of all this and as regards the Angels' abstinence from entering the houses wherein they are as indicated in the Hadith narrated by `Aishah, Abu Hurayrah and other Companions.
Accordingly, reconciliation between the Hadith becomes clear. We come to know that the exception is introduced within the context of Hadith indicating Angels' abstinence from entering the houses in which there are pictures. Thus, we realize that it denotes disfigured pictures drawn on pillows, sheets, and the like, or pictures of headless bodies. May Allah grant us success.