diverging

In Islam, it is believed that creating images of religious figures is the first step toward idolatry. Islam therefore generally discourages the creation of images of religious figures of any kind.

That's technically false. The prohibition is not on creating images of religious figures, but on creating images of any person.

"Unless it's told to you in confession."

Even if what he is saying is genuine, there is always the doctrinally required coverup.