Is a Plush Doll That Plays Quranic Verses Permissible?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

I have started creating a product for toddlers/kids: a plush doll you can sleep with or bring with you for comfort. The doll has a sheep head and a little blanket on it. There are no open eyes; the eyes are closed, as if it’s sleeping.

As for the body, it has a blanket. When you press the doll’s head, it plays Ayatul Kursi and the 3 Quls.

My attention is very pure, and I think it’s good for comfort and learning. Is this permissible? I will include a disclaimer inside the box warning parents to treat the doll with respect and keep it out of unclean places, such as the bathroom.

Answer

In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all beings, and may peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad.

Yes, such a product would be permissible. It is important to teach children the significance of our religion in their lives, and a bedtime routine is an excellent way to do so.

Also, children need something they can engage with, such as cute toys and interesting stories to learn from.

Your pursuit of this would be permissible, and we have descriptions of the children of the Sahaba also playing with dolls [Bukhari]. That will add to the permissibility of what you are doing.

Children’s toys are not something that’s honored and therefore not considered the same as images that are honored by being placed on the wall, for example.

It’s permissible to make them and even pray in the room where they’re on the floor, just as with a rug with an image that one stands on. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Allah bless you, the best of both worlds.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.