RIYADH, 24 October 2005 — The title of this article encapsulates the dilemma facing all professional photographers in the Kingdom — as well as amateurs who simply want to take a picture. It could, however, soon be resolved. The chapter dealing with religion and photography in the textbook used by ninth grade Saudi students is being reviewed as part of a close look at the Kingdom’s school curriculum, according to senior officials in the Ministry of Education.

Dr. Said Al-Malis, deputy minister of education, has admitted that references about topics such as photography in religious textbooks taught in schools might cause misunderstandings or confusion among students. The comments were made after Saudi photographers pointed out that as a result of what is in the religious textbooks, some students have gone so far as to assault photographers.

The textbook used in the ninth grade, for example, says that photography is a form of idolatry. On page 100, it states, “Depicting living creatures, animal or human, whether life-size or on paper or walls is prohibited because it imitates God’s creation.”

Commenting on the subject, Khaled Al-Atiq, one of the founders of the largest association of Saudi photographers, said: “If I am assaulted by a ninth grader, I do not blame him or her. Instead, I hold the Ministry of Education and the teachers responsible.”

He added: “Our society considers photography atheistic and perhaps thinks that a photographer is the same as an individual who consumes alcohol.”

Speaking for himself, Al-Atiq said that religious scholars were divided on which photographs to prohibit. Some argue that artists are tinkering with God’s creations. In Atiq’s words, “We do not change any of God’s creations and lack the means to do so.”

According to the photographer, religious scholars in Saudi Arabia fall into two groups — the first seek a blanket ban on photographs in daily newspapers while others are more sympathetic to the photographer’s predicament.

Sheikh Mohamed Al-Othaimeen, a well-known Islamic scholar, said: “What I see is a device which produces a picture. The individual plays no part in the process; the picture is an image of what God created. It is an impression with no intervention by the photographer. The Hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) forbid only representation which imitates the acts of God.”

Mohammed Al-Ghannam, an Islamic teacher in an intermediate school, said: “In our school we don’t allow students to draw a whole living creature. They normally draw landscapes of natural scenery without any bird or animal. For example, if one wants to draw a falcon, he draws only the body without the head. Alternatively, he could draw a line between the body and the neck. Drawing a complete bird is not permissible in Islam.”

Recently, a newspaper photographer was detained by the mutawwa (religious police) for photographing a row of trees uprooted during a sand storm in Riyadh. The reason given for his detention was that trees are God’s creation and that by photographing fallen trees, the photographer was making fun of God’s creation.