The ruling on collecting pictures as keepsakes

Answer

It is not permissible for any Muslim, male or female, to collect pictures as keepsakes — I mean pictures of beings with souls, whether humans or others. Rather, they must be destroyed, because it is established that the Prophet ﷺ said to ʿAlī, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu: Do not leave any picture without effacing it, nor any raised grave without levelling it.

It is also established from him, ʿalayhi al-ṣalātu wa-l-salām, that he forbade pictures in the house. When he entered the Kaʿbah, ʿalayhi al-ṣalātu wa-l-salām, on the day of the Conquest, he saw pictures on its walls, so he called for water and a cloth and wiped them away. As for pictures of inanimate things, such as mountains, trees and the like, there is no harm in them¹.