Is seeing a cartoon image permissible

Question

Assalam alaikum I want to know whether is it alright to read manga or anime with cartoon images in it?

Recently I read on a islamqa website that watching a cartoon image is permissiible,see this;

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: What is the ruling on cartoons that appear on TV?

He replied:

With regard to the cartoons which you say appear on TV, if they are in the form of humans, then the ruling on watching them depends on whether they come under the same ruling as realistic human images or not? It is most likely that they do not come under that ruling.

If they are not in the form of humans, then there is nothing wrong with watching them, so long as they are not accompanied by anything haraam such as music and so on, and they do not distract from obligatory duties. End quote. Majmoo’ al-Fataawa 2/question no. 333

Also I have read that the rule of a awrah of a woman doesn't apply to cartoon since it is not real and hence we can watch them, see this;

Some scholars favored the view that such images do not take the ruling of images of real persons, so they permitted looking at them.

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said:

“With regard to cartoon images that you mentioned are shown on television, if they are in the shape of a human, then the ruling of looking at them has to be looked at. Are they like a real image or not? The closest opinion to the truth is that they do not look like them (real images). And if they do not have a human shape, then there is nothing wrong with looking at them as long as they are not accompanied by an evil, such as music or the like, and provided that they do not distract one from performing an obligatory act of worship.”

Now my question if it is allowed to watch a woman in a cartoon, does that mean we can also see a woman in a cartoon or a 2d image in inappropriate clothing(like Japanese school uniform or skirt long and small) of course provided that no private part are showing.

So plz tell me how much awrah of a woman should be exposed and what can we see?

Answer 1

what is the meaning of "real image"? does it mean it looks close to an actual human being like a 3d animation? I couldn't understand what syeikh utsaimin mean by that. characters in some cartoons, anime or not, resemble somewhat of a human, so it needs to be more specific

regardless of the answer on cartoon/unreal awrah, it doesn't apply to anime or manga only, it also applies to cartoons and games too. heck, most of these have women in them, and most of the time they don't wear hijab or cover their awrah. I think more research should be done in this category.

but in my opinion, as your post says, as long as no corrupt things accompany these cartoons/manga, then it is okay. since the not-look rule on awrah only applies to living beings (humans). although that does not give one the right to watch something like hentai, since lusting over inanimate objects is haram according to shafi'i teaching. then again we all know anime and manga have so many corrupt things in them, so I suggest do your research on the series you want to read/watch and make sure they don't contain corrupt things like sexual interaction or gambling.