Short answer
Muslims do not draw, paint, sculpt or film the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and scholars of all four schools forbid it. Making images of living beings is already forbidden, no one living knows exactly what he looked like, and images of holy men have led past nations into worshipping them. The same applies to all prophets and, for most scholars, the Companions.
Making any image of the Prophet ﷺ, or of any prophet, is haram, and showing them in films or cartoons is a serious offence against their honour.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
There are no portraits of the Prophet ﷺ from his lifetime, and no authentic picture exists today. What we have are detailed descriptions from his Companions of his face, hair, height and walk, recorded in books such as the Shama'il of al-Tirmidhi. Muslims love those descriptions, but they did not turn them into images.
The reasons:
- Images of living beings: the Prophet ﷺ said the image-makers will have the severest punishment. If drawing any person is forbidden, drawing the best of creation is far more serious.
- Guarding against worship: he said that when a righteous man died among earlier nations, they built a place of worship over his grave and made images of him there, and called them the worst of creation. He also warned, 'Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians did with the son of Maryam.'
- No one can know his face: any picture would be invented, and attaching an invented face to him is a kind of falsehood about him.
- Honour: images can be mocked, defaced and misused. Protecting his honour is part of loving him.
The ruling covers paintings, cartoons, statues, actors portraying him in films, video games and AI-generated pictures labelled as him. Calligraphy of his name, a description of his features in words, or a picture of the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah are not images of him.
Some old Persian and Ottoman manuscripts contain pictures of him, often with the face veiled. Scholars did not accept these as a precedent. Seeing him is possible only in a true dream, as he said Shaytan cannot take his form. See can you see the Prophet in a dream.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Ahzaab 33:21
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌۭ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْءَاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًۭا ﴿٢١﴾
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.
Muslims follow the Prophet's ﷺ example through his words and ways, not images.
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 forbidden.
Sahih al-Bukhari 427
Sahih... أولئك قوم إذا مات فيهم العبد الصالح أو الرجل الصالح بنوا على قبره مسجدا وصوروا فيه تلك الصور ...
"When a righteous man died among them, they built a place of worship over his grave and made those images in it."
Images of holy people led earlier nations into worship of them.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3445
Sahih... لا تطروني كما أطرت النصارى ابن مريم ...
"Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated about the son of Maryam."
Islam guards against excess veneration of the Prophet ﷺ.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Salah, chapter on what is disliked in prayer. Making an image of any living being is haram whatever the medium.
- al-Shifa (Qadi Iyad), Part on the rights owed to the Prophet ﷺ, section on honouring him. Honouring the Prophet ﷺ and guarding his dignity is an obligation on every Muslim.
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.