Praise
be to Allah.
We ask
Allah to enable us and you to do good deeds and to grant us a good end,
and to make our abode Paradise by His mercy.
Collecting
stamps is subject to further discussion:
Firstly:
if it is done
by way of a hobby, then it is permissible to collect them and keep them on
condition that they are free of anything that is contrary to Islamic
teachings, such as haraam images, iamges of crosses, Jewish and Christian
symbols, and other symbols of kufr (disbelief).
If they are
free of these shar‘i reservations and you do not waste a lot of time with
them, then it does not seem to us that there is anything wrong with that, in
sha Allah.
The scholars
of the (Standing) Committee were asked:
With regard
to the hobby of stamp collecting, please note that some of the stamps carry
images of humans and animals. Is it permissible for one who owns the stamps
to sell them, whether they contain images or not, so as to make use of the
price to buy Islamic books?
The committee
replied:
It is
permissible if they do not contain any images, and it is not allowed if they
do contain images. End quote.
Fataawa
al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah (26/299)
Secondly:
If collecting
is done by way of buying and selling, then this is not permissible because
it involves wasting money on something that is of no real legitimate
benefit. In addition to that, they are usually very expensive and
overpriced, to such an extent that the matter goes beyond buying and selling
to the level of foolishness and extravagance. The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said:
“Allah hates
three things for you: spreading gossip, wasting money, and asking too many
questions.”
Agreed upon.
And Allah
knows best.