The ruling on photography is a disputed issue

19th Specious Argument: The ruling on photography is a disputed issue

They say that it is a novel occurrence (nāzilah), and that many have issued fatwās declaring it not prohibited.

The response: No—wa Rabbī!

The disagreement that exists is only over the nature of photography. There is no room for juristic reasoning (ijtihād) in this matter, because it is a purely fixed, empirical scientific issue, leaving no scope for interpretation or figurative reasoning.

Whoever insists on exercising ijtihād here has, in effect, passed judgment without knowledge, and this is forbidden.

There is no escape from this except through repentance.

By Allāh, it is astonishing how they turned away from scientific investigation into the essence of photography, and instead indulged in flimsy comparisons, weak analogies, and superficial observations, in a matter of extreme seriousness.

By Allāh, a specialist in photography and computers would not need more than a few minutes to judge that these people are ignorant of photography and the sciences related to it.

The point is that the disagreement in this issue is not a valid or weighty disagreement, and no consideration is given to such a dispute. Rather, it is a lapse of scholars and the deception of misguiders.

Source: Buzūgh Ḍiyāʾ al-Fajr al-Waḍḍāʾ, p. 250

https://arm-alqaddari.codeberg.page/books/buzoogh/