Are drawing human portraits or people haram?

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh! Great question! First of all, Islam doesn’t discourage creativity or talent. Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty, as the prophet PBUH told us. When it comes to drawing humans and portraits, there is a difference of opinion among scholars. Majority of scholars prohibit drawing living beings based on authentic hadiths, while others have permitted certain forms of 2D drawings and digital illustrations, provided they’re not promoting anything haram or inappropriate. For example, Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta has issued fatwas permitting certain forms of drawing and depicting living beings, while scholars such as Shaykh Ibn Baz and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen took a stricter position. Personally, I prefer the more cautious approach of not drawing detailed eyes. It's what brings an image to life. If you noticed my digital illustration, I’m actually wearing shades! 😎 Also, we should be mindful of the hadith where the Prophet ﷺ said that angels do not enter a house containing pictures (Bukhari and Muslim). So I advise against hanging portraits of people or animals on walls. As for profit, if the artwork is permissible according to a sound scholarly opinion, then earning money from it would generally be permissible as well. My advice? Don’t kill your creativity, just keep it within the boundaries of your deen. We need good artists to do Dawa with their art. And Allah knows best!