Short answer
Yes. Making or displaying statues and figurines of people or animals is haram in the Hanafi school and the four schools agree. Statues of things without a soul, such as buildings and trees, are fine, and a figure with its head removed is no longer a forbidden image. Children's dolls are an exception.
Making a three-dimensional figure of a human or animal is haram, and keeping it on display is makruh tahrimi. A figure without a head, or so small that its features cannot be made out, does not take this ruling. Dolls for young girls to play with are permitted.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ said that the image-makers will receive one of the severest punishments on the Day of Judgement, and that angels do not enter a house with images in it. Statues are the clearest case, because they were the form idol worship took. When he sent Ali on a mission, he told him not to leave a statue without defacing it.
The ruling covers figures of living beings: people and animals. It applies to marble statues, garden ornaments, resin figurines, action figures kept for display and 3D-printed models of people or animals. It does not cover:
- models of buildings, cars, ships, planets and trees;
- a figure whose head has been removed or whose face is erased, since the hadith of Jibril and the statue shows that cutting the head makes it like a tree;
- objects so small that their features cannot be seen;
- toys and dolls for young children.
Dolls have their own evidence. Aisha said she used to play with dolls in the Prophet's ﷺ home, and her friends would play with her. So girls' dolls are allowed by the four schools. Scholars differ over very lifelike modern dolls; many Hanafi muftis prefer simple or faceless ones, while others allow ordinary toys because play, not honour, is the purpose.
If you have a figurine at home, you do not need to smash it in anger. Remove it, remove its head or give it away for destruction. Seeing statues in a museum, a park or a city square is not the same as owning one. Look for learning without any reverence, and keep them out of your home. For drawing and photos, see is drawing haram and is taking pictures haram.
The evidence
Sahih Muslim 969
Sahih... ألا تدع تمثالا إلا طمسته ولا قبرا مشرفا إلا سويته ...
"Do not leave a statue without defacing it, or a raised grave without levelling it."
The Prophet ﷺ sent Ali to remove statues.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5950
Sahih... إن أشد الناس عذابا عند الله يوم القيامة المصورون ...
"The people with the severest punishment with Allah on the Day of Judgement are the image-makers."
Making images of living beings is a grave sin.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6130
Sahih... كنت ألعب بالبنات عند النبي ...
"I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ."
Children's dolls are an exception to the rule.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Salah, chapter on what is disliked in prayer. Images of living beings are disliked; a small image whose features do not show, or one with the head cut off, is not counted.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Salah, chapter on what is disliked in prayer. Making an image of a living being is haram whatever the material, with dolls for girls excepted.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.