Ruling on Images of Living Beings
9-3-2026 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum. I am a manga artist (mangaka). To stay within the halal boundaries, I draw my characters without a nose and without ears. I only draw the eyes and mouth to show facial expressions and emotions for my story. Since this is an incomplete image that cannot exist or breathe in reality, is this style permissible, BTW its digital and 2d not 3d
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His Slave and Messenger.
The ruling adopted on our website is that images of living beings are not considered prohibited if they are incomplete in a way that life could not exist with such a deficiency in reality. However, if the image is incomplete in a manner where life could still exist in reality, then it remains a prohibited image.
Ibn Qudamah 
stated in al-Mughni: “If something is removed from it (living being) that would not allow the animal to remain alive after its loss, such as its chest or abdomen, or if a head is made separate from its body, then it does not fall under the prohibition, because the image cannot remain after its removal, and it is like cutting off the head.
However, if what is removed is something after whose loss the living being could still live—such as an eye, a hand, or a leg—then it remains an image that falls under the prohibition. Likewise, if at the beginning of the depiction there is the form of a body without a head, or a head without a body, or if it has a head while the rest of its body resembles something other than an animal, then it does not fall under the prohibition, because this is not considered the image of a living being.” [End quote].
A complete image in which only the ears and nose are erased is still regarded as a prohibited image in our view. This is because a living being can breathe through its mouth, as is known, and the loss of ears does not result in death, since a living being may remain alive even if its ears are cut off. Therefore, it is not permissible for you to draw something in which life could still exist in reality.
Allah Knows best.