HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The permissibility of depictions of Muhammad in Islam has been a contentious issue. Oral and written descriptions of Muhammad are readily accepted by all traditions of Islam, but there is disagreement about visual depictions. The Quran does not explicitly or implicitly forbid images of Muhammad. The
ahadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
(supplemental teachings) present an ambiguous picture, but there are a few that have explicitly prohibited Muslims from creating visual depictions of human figures. It is agreed on all sides that there is no authentic visual tradition (pictures created during Muhammad's lifetime) as to the appearance of Muhammad, although there are early legends of portraits of him, and written physical descriptions whose authenticity is often accepted. The question of whether images in Islamic art, including those depicting Muhammad, can be considered as religious art remains a matter of contention among scholars. They appear in illustrated books that are normally works of history or poetry, including those with religious subjects; the Quran is never illustrated: "context and intent are essential to understanding Islamic pictorial art. The Muslim artists creating images of Muhammad, and the public who beheld them, understood that the images were not objects of worship. Nor were the objects so decorated used as part of religious worship". However, scholars concede that such images have "a spiritual element", and were also sometimes used in informal religious devotions celebrating the day of the
Mi'raj The Israʾ and Miʿraj ( ar, الإسراء والمعراج, ') are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islam, the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632) took during a single night around the year 621 (1 BH – 0 BH). With ...
. Many visual depictions only show Muhammad with his face veiled, or symbolically represent him as a flame; other images, notably from before about 1500, show his face. With the notable exception of modern-day Iran, depictions of Muhammad were never numerous in any community or era throughout Islamic history, and appeared almost exclusively in the private medium of Persian and other
miniature A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to: * Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting * Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture * Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or proble ...
book illustration. The key medium of public religious art in Islam was and is
calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
. In Ottoman Turkey the
hilya The term ''hilya'' (Arabic , plural: ''ḥilan'', ''ḥulan''; tr, hilye, plural: ) denotes both a visual form in Ottoman art and a religious genre of Ottoman Turkish literature, each dealing with the physical description of Muhammad. Hilya lit ...
developed as a decorated visual arrangement of texts about Muhammad that was displayed as a portrait might be. Visual images of Muhammad in the non-Islamic West have always been infrequent. In the Middle Ages they were mostly hostile, and most often appear in illustrations of Dante's poetry. In the Renaissance and Early Modern period, Muhammad was sometimes depicted, typically in a more neutral or heroic light; the depictions began to encounter protests from Muslims. In the age of the Internet, a handful of caricature depictions printed in the European press have caused global protests and controversy and been associated with violence.


Background

In Islam, although nothing in the Quran explicitly bans images, some supplemental hadith explicitly ban the drawing of images of any living creature; other hadith tolerate images, but never encourage them. Hence, most Muslims avoid visual depictions of Muhammad or any other prophet such as Moses or
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...
. Most Sunni Muslims believe that visual depictions of all the
prophets of Islam Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets a ...
should be prohibited and are particularly averse to visual representations of Muhammad.Devotion in pictures: Muslim popular iconography – The prophet Muhammad
University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in ...
The key concern is that the use of images can encourage idolatry. In Shia Islam, however, images of Muhammad are quite common nowadays, even though Shia scholars historically were against such depictions. Still, many Muslims who take a stricter view of the supplemental traditions will sometimes challenge any depiction of Muhammad, including those created and published by non-Muslims. Many major religions have experienced times during their history when images of their religious figures were forbidden. In Judaism, one of the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
states " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image", while in the Christian New Testament all covetousness (greed) is defined as idolatry. In
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Christianity during the periods of Iconoclasm in the 8th century, and again during the 9th century, visual representations of sacred figures were forbidden, and only the
Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...
could be depicted in churches. The visual representation of Jesus and other religious figures remains a concern in parts of stricter
Protestant Christianity Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
.


Portraiture of Muhammad in Islamic literature

A number of ''hadith'' and other writings of the early Islamic period include stories in which portraits of Muhammad appear.
Abu Hanifa Dinawari Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad ibn Dāwūd Dīnawarī ( fa, ابوحنيفه دينوری; died 895) was a Persian Islamic Golden Age polymath, astronomer, agriculturist, botanist, metallurgist, geographer, mathematician, and historian. Life Dina ...
,
Ibn al-Faqih Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani ( fa, احمد بن محمد ابن الفقيه الهمذانی) ( fl. 902) was a 10th-century Persian historian and geographer, famous for his ''Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan'' ("Concise Book of Lan ...
,
Ibn Wahshiyya ( ar, ابن وحشية), died , was a Nabataean (Aramaic-speaking, rural Iraqi) agriculturalist, toxicologist, and alchemist born in Qussīn, near Kufa in Iraq. He is the author of the ''Nabataean Agriculture'' (), an influential Arabic work o ...
and
Abu Nu`aym Abu Nuʿaym al-Isfahani (; full name: ''Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Ishāq ibn Mūsā ibn Mahrān al-Mihrānī al-Asbahānī'' (or ''al-Asfahānī'') ''al-Ahwal al-Ash`arī al-Shāfi`ī'', died 1038 CE / AH 430) was a medieval Persian Sh ...
tell versions of a story in which the Byzantine Emperor
Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt ...
is visited by two Meccans. He shows them a cabinet, handed down to him from
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
and originally created by God for Adam, each of whose drawers contains a portrait of a prophet. They are astonished to see a portrait of Muhammad in the final drawer.
Sadid al-Din al-Kazaruni Sadid al-Din Muhammad ibn Mas‘ud al-Kazaruni was a 14th-century Persian physician from Kazerun, Fars, Iran. He was a popular commentator on earlier medical writings, and composed a commentary titled ''al-Mughni fi sharh al-Mujiz'' on the epitome ...
tells a similar story in which the Meccans are visiting the king of China.
Kisa'i Al-Kisā’ī () Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Ḥamzah ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Uthman (), called Bahman ibn Fīrūz (), surnamed Abū ‘Abd Allāh (), and Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Hamzah of al-Kūfah ( d. ca. 804 or 812) was preceptor to th ...
tells that God did indeed give portraits of the prophets to Adam. Ibn Wahshiyya and Abu Nu'ayn tell a second story in which a Meccan merchant visiting Syria is invited to a Christian monastery where a number of sculptures and paintings depict prophets and saints. There he sees the images of Muhammad and Abu Bakr, as yet unidentified by the Christians. In an 11th-century story, Muhammad is said so have sat for a portrait by an artist retained by Sassanid king
Kavadh II Shērōē (also spelled Shīrūya, New Persian: ), better known by his dynastic name of Kavad II ( pal, 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲 ''Kawād''; New Persian: قباد ''Qobād'' or ''Qabād''), was king ( shah) of the Sasanian Empire briefly in 628. He was ...
. The king liked the portrait so much that he placed it on his pillow. Later,
Al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...
tells a story in which
Muqawqis Al-Muqawqis ( ar, المقوقس, cop, ⲡⲭⲁⲩⲕⲓⲁⲛⲟⲥ, ⲡⲓⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ, p-khaukianos, pi-kaukos "the Caucasian") is mentioned in Islamic history as a ruler of Egypt who corresponded with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ...
, ruler of Egypt, meets with Muhammad's envoy. He asks the envoy to describe Muhammad and checks the description against a portrait of an unknown prophet which he has on a piece of cloth. The description matches the portrait. In a 17th-century
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...
story, the king of China asks to see Muhammad, but Muhammad instead sends his portrait. The king is so enamoured of the portrait that he is converted to Islam, at which point the portrait, having done its job, disappears.


Depiction by Muslims


Verbal descriptions

In one of the earliest sources,
Ibn Sa'd Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Sa'd ( ar, ابن سعد) and nicknamed ''Scribe of Waqidi'' (''Katib al-Waqidi''), was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784/785 ...
's ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'', there are numerous verbal descriptions of Muhammad. One description sourced to
Ali ibn Abi Talib ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
is as follows: : ''The Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him, is neither too short nor too tall. His hair are neither curly nor straight, but a mixture of the two. He is a man of black hair and large skull. His complexion has a tinge of redness. His shoulder bones are broad and his palms and feet are fleshy. He has long ''al-masrubah'' which means hair growing from neck to navel. He is of long eye-lashes, close eyebrows, smooth and shining fore-head and long space between two shoulders. When he walks he walks inclining as if coming down from a height. ..I never saw a man like him before him or after him.'' From the Ottoman period onwards such texts have been presented on calligraphic ''
hilya The term ''hilya'' (Arabic , plural: ''ḥilan'', ''ḥulan''; tr, hilye, plural: ) denotes both a visual form in Ottoman art and a religious genre of Ottoman Turkish literature, each dealing with the physical description of Muhammad. Hilya lit ...
'' panels (Turkish: ''hilye'', pl. ''hilyeler''), commonly surrounded by an elaborate frame of illuminated decoration and either included in books or, more often, muraqqas or albums, or sometimes placed in wooden frames so that they can hang on a wall. The elaborated form of the calligraphic tradition was founded in the 17th century by the Ottoman calligrapher
Hâfiz Osman Hâfiz Osman ( ota, حافظ عثمان Modern Turkish: ''Hâfız Osman'') (1642–1698) was an Ottoman calligrapher noted for improving the script and for developing a layout template for the hilye which became the classical approach to page des ...
. While containing a concrete and artistically appealing description of Muhammad's appearance, they complied with the strictures against figurative depictions of Muhammad, leaving his appearance to the viewer's imagination. Several parts of the complex design were named after parts of the body, from the head downwards, indicating the explicit intention of the hilya as a substitute for a figurative depiction. The Ottoman ''hilye'' format customarily starts with a
basmala The ''Basmala'' ( ar, بَسْمَلَة, ; also known by its incipit ; , "In the name of Allah"), or Tasmiyyah (Arabic: ), is the titular name of the Islamic phrase "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" (Arabic: , ). ...
, shown on top, and is separated in the middle by Quran 21:107: "And We have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds". Four compartments set around the central one often contain the names of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs,
Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 ...
, Umar,
Uthman Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic proph ...
, and
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
, each followed by "radhi Allahu anhu" ("may God be pleased with him").
Image:Hilye-i serif 1.jpg, ''Hilye'' by Hâfiz Osman Image:Hilye-i serif 3.png, ''Hilye'' by Hâfiz Osman Image:Hilye-i serif 5.jpg, ''Hilye'' by Hâfiz Osman Image:Hilye-i serif 7.jpg, ''Hilye'' by Mehmed Tahir Efendi (d. 1848) Image:Hilye-i serif 4.jpg, ''Hilye'' by Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi (1801–1876) Image:Hilye-i Serif 6.jpg, ''Hilye'' by Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi Rose Hilye.jpg, ''Hilye'' inscribed on the petals of a pink rose symbolising Muhammad (18th century).


Calligraphic representations

The most common visual representation of the Muhammad in Islamic art, especially in Arabic-speaking areas, is by a calligraphic representation of his name, a sort of
monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series ...
in roughly circular form, often given a decorated frame. Such inscriptions are normally in Arabic, and may rearrange or repeat forms, or add a blessing or honorific, or for example the word "messenger" or a contraction of it. The range of ways of representing Muhammad's name is considerable, including
ambigram An ambigram is a calligraphic design that has several interpretations as written. The term was coined by Douglas Hofstadter in 1983. Most often, ambigrams appear as visually symmetrical words. When flipped, they remain unchanged, or they mut ...
s; he is also frequently symbolised by a rose. The more elaborate versions relate to other Islamic traditions of special forms of calligraphy such as those writing the names of God, and the secular tughra or elaborate monogram of Ottoman rulers.
Image:Muhammad Salat.PNG, Muhammad's name in Thuluth, an Arabic calligraphic script; the smaller writing in the top left means "Peace be upon him" Image:Edirne 7331 Nevit.JPG, Calligraphic representation of Muhammad's name, painted on the wall of a mosque in
Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...
in Turkey Image:Tile with Calligraphy.JPG, Calligraphy tile from Turkey (18th century), containing the names of God, Muhammad, and his first four successors, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali Image:Mustafa Rakim, calligraphic panel.jpg, Late 18th- or early 19th-century calligraphic panel by Mustafa Rakim Image:Mirror Muhammad green.jpg, Mirror calligraphy of Muhammad's name Image:Muhammad decoupage calligraphy panel.jpg, Decoupage calligraphy (18th or 19th century) with Muhammad's name in mirror script, top centre; the area below represents a ''
mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
'', or prayer niche Image:Pal Pottery Cal3.jpg, Palestinian pottery calligraphy featuring the names of God (الله) and Muhammad (محمد) Image:Ambigram - Muhammad and Ali2.svg, Ambigram – Muhammad (محمد) upside down is read as Ali (علي), and vice versa Image:Kufic Muhammad.jpg, Fourfold Muhammad in square (or geometric) Kufic script, often used as a tilework pattern in Islamic architecture Image:Meknes Medersa Bou Inania Calligraphy.jpg, Geometric Kufic from the
Bou Inania Madrasa (Meknes) The Bou Inania Madrasa ( ar, المدرسة البوعنانية '; ) is a historic madrasa (Islamic learning center) in the city of Meknes, Morocco. The building, well-preserved thanks to later restorations, is considered an excellent example of ...
; the text reads بركة محمد or ''baraka muḥammad'', i.e. be blessed Muhammad Image:Muhammad calligraphy tile.jpg, Tile from a 14th-century mausoleum in Uzbekistan, inscribed with Muhammad's name (محمد) in square Kufic; one of a set used to frame a doorway Image:Kerman Friday Mosque main entrance cupola.JPG, Mosque cupola, with Quranic inscriptions and Kufic representations of Allah's and Muhammad's names worked into the tiling Image:Ханака Ахмеда Ясави 2010 017.jpg, ''
Banna'i In Iranian architecture, banna'i ( fa, بنائی, "builder's technique" in Persian) is an architectural decorative art in which glazed tiles are alternated with plain bricks to create geometric patterns over the surface of a wall or to spell out ...
'' incorporating square Kufic representations of Muhammad's name on the
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi The Mausoleum of Khawaja Ahmed Yasawi ( kz, Қожа Ахмет Яссауи кесенесі, ''Qoja Ahmet İassaui kesenesı''; russian: Мавзолей Ходжи Ахмеда Ясави, ''Mavzoley khodzhi Akhmeda Yasavi'') is a mausoleum in ...
, Kazakhstan Image:Isfahan Royal Mosque minaret.JPG, ''Banna'i'' on the Royal Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, with square Kufic repeats of Muhammad's and Ali's names


Figurative visual depictions

Throughout Islamic history, depictions of Muhammad in Islamic art were rare. Even so, there exists a "notable corpus of images of Muhammad produced, mostly in the form of manuscript illustrations, in various regions of the Islamic world from the thirteenth century through modern times".Gruber (2005), p. 240-241 Depictions of Muhammad date back to the start of the tradition of
Persian miniature A Persian miniature (Persian: نگارگری ایرانی ''negârgari Irâni'') is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a ''muraqqa''. The ...
s as illustrations in books. The illustrated book from the Persianate world (''Warka and Gulshah'', Topkapi Palace Library H. 841, attributed to Konya 1200–1250) contains the two earliest known Islamic depictions of Muhammad. This book dates to before or just around the time of the
Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
of Anatolia in the 1240s, and before the campaigns against Persia and Iraq of the 1250s, which destroyed great numbers of books in libraries. Recent scholarship has noted that, although surviving early examples are now uncommon, generally human figurative art was a continuous tradition in Islamic lands (such as in literature, science, and history); as early as the 8th century, such art flourished during the
Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
(c. 749 - 1258, across Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Mesopotamia, and Persia). Christiane Gruber traces a development from "veristic" images showing the whole body and face, in the 13th to 15th centuries, to more "abstract" representations in the 16th to 19th centuries, the latter including the representation of Muhammad by a special type of
calligraphic Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
representation, with the older types also remaining in use. An intermediate type, first found from about 1400, is the "inscribed portrait" where the face of Muhammad is blank, with "Ya Muhammad" ("O Muhammad") or a similar phrase written in the space instead; these may be related to Sufi thought. In some cases the inscription appears to have been an underpainting that would later be covered by a face or veil, so a pious act by the painter, for his eyes alone, but in others it was intended to be seen. According to Gruber, a good number of these paintings later underwent iconoclastic mutilations, in which the facial features of Muhammad were scratched or smeared, as Muslim views on the acceptability of veristic images changed. A number of extant Persian manuscripts representing Muhammad date from the
Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
period under the new Mongol rulers, including a ''
Marzubannama The ''Marzbān-nāma'' ( fa, مرزبان‌نامه, lit=Book of Marzban) is an early 13th-century Persian prose work. It consists of "various didactic stories and fables used as illustrations of morality and right conduct", and belongs to the "m ...
'' dating to 1299. The Ilkhanid MS Arab 161 of 1307/8 contains 25 illustrations found in an illustrated version of Al-Biruni's ''
The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries ''The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries'' ( ar, کتاب الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية ', also known as ''Chronology of Ancient Nations'' or ''Vestiges of the Past'', after the translation published by Eduard Sachau ...
'', of which five include depictions Muhammad, including the two concluding images, the largest and most accomplished in the manuscript, which emphasize the relation of Muhammad and
`Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
according to Shi`ite doctrine. According to Christiane Gruber, other works use images to promote Sunni Islam, such as a set of Mi'raj illustrations (MS H 2154) in the early 14th century, although other historians have dated the same illustrations to the Jalayrid period of Shia rulers. Depictions of Muhammad are also found in Persian manuscripts in the following Timurid and
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...
dynasties, and Turkish Ottoman art in the 14th to 17th centuries, and beyond. Perhaps the most elaborate cycle of illustrations of Muhammad's life is the copy, completed in 1595, of the 14th-century biography '' Siyer-i Nebi'' commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Murat III for his son, the future
Mehmed III Mehmed III (, ''Meḥmed-i sālis''; tr, III. Mehmed; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603. Mehmed was known for ordering the execution of his brothers and leading the army in the L ...
, containing over 800 illustrations. Probably the commonest narrative scene represented is the
Mi'raj The Israʾ and Miʿraj ( ar, الإسراء والمعراج, ') are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islam, the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632) took during a single night around the year 621 (1 BH – 0 BH). With ...
; according to Gruber, "There exist countless single-page paintings of the meʿrāj included in the beginnings of Persian and Turkish romances and epic stories produced from the beginning of the 15th century to the 20th century". These images were also used in celebrations of the anniversary of the Mi'raj on 27
Rajab Rajab ( ar, رَجَب) is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of the classical Arabic verb ''rajaba'' is "to respect" which could also mean "be awe or be in fear", of which Rajab is a derivative. This month is re ...
, when the accounts were recited aloud to male groups: "Didactic and engaging, oral stories of the ascension seem to have had the religious goal of inducing attitudes of praise among their audiences". Such practices are most easily documented in the 18th and 19th centuries, but manuscripts from much earlier appear to have fulfilled the same function. Otherwise a large number of different scenes may be represented at times, from Muhammad's birth to the end of his life, and his existence in Paradise.


Halo

In the earliest depictions Muhammad may be shown with or without a halo, the earliest halos being round in the style of Christian art, but before long a flaming halo or
aureole An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...
in the
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
or Chinese tradition becomes more common than the circular form found in the West, when a halo is used. A halo or flame may surround only his head, but often his whole body, and in some images the body itself cannot be seen for the halo. This "luminous" form of representation avoided the issues caused by "veristic" images, and could be taken to convey qualities of Muhammad's person described in texts. If the body is visible, the face may be covered with a veil (see gallery for examples of both types). This form of representation, which began at the start of the
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...
period in Persia, was done out of reverence and respect. Other
prophets of Islam Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets a ...
, and Muhammad's wives and relations, may be treated in similar ways if they also appear. T. W. Arnold (1864–1930), an early historian of Islamic art, stated that "Islam has never welcomed painting as a handmaid of religion as both Buddhism and Christianity have done. Mosques have never been decorated with religious pictures, nor has a pictorial art been employed for the instruction of the heathen or for the edification of the faithful." Comparing Islam to Christianity, he also writes: "Accordingly, there has never been any historical tradition in the religious painting of Islam – no artistic development in the representation of accepted types – no schools of painters of religious subjects; least of all has there been any guidance on the part of leaders of religious thought corresponding to that of ecclesiastical authorities in the Christian Church." Images of Muhammad remain controversial to the present day, and are not considered acceptable in many countries in the Middle East. For example, in 1963 an account by a Turkish author of a
Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...
pilgrimage to Mecca was banned in Pakistan because it contained reproductions of miniatures showing Muhammad unveiled.
File:Siyer-i Nebi 223b.jpg, Birth of Muhammad, from Siyer-i Nebi (1595), an Ottoman manuscript, probably by
Nakkaş Osman Nakkaş Osman (sometimes called Osman the Miniaturist) was the chief miniaturist for the Ottoman Empire during the later half of the sixteenth century. The dates of his birth and death are poorly known, but most of his works are dated to the las ...
. File:Siyer-i Nebi 298a.jpg, Muhammad advancing on Mecca, with the angels Gabriel,
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
, Israfil and Azrail File:Muhammad at Badr.jpg, Muhammad at the
Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr ( ar, غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ ), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ) in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the present-day city of Badr, Al Madinah Provinc ...
. From the '' Siyer-i Nebi''. File:Ali Beheading Nadr ibn al-Harith in the Presence of the Prophet Muhammad. Miniature from volume 4 of a copy of Mustafa al-Darir’s Siyar-i-Nabi. Istanbul; c. 1594 The David Col..jpg,
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
beheading
Nadr ibn al-Harith Al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAlqama ibn Kalada ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Abd al-Dār ibn Quṣayy () (d. 624 CE) was an Arab pagan physician who lived in the same time and region as the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was captured after the Battle of ...
in the presence of Muhammad and his companions. From the '' Siyer-i Nebi''. File:Muammad-as-youth-meeting-monk-bahira-compendium-persia-1315-edin-550.jpg, Muhammad meets the monk
Bahira Bahira ( ar, بَحِيرَىٰ, syc, ܒܚܝܪܐ) was an Assyrian, likely Nestorian monk from the tribe of Abd al-Qays who, according to Islamic religion, foretold to the adolescent Muhammad his future as a prophet.Abel, A.Baḥīrā. ''Encyc ...
. From
Jami Al-Tawarikh The ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'' ( Persian/Arabic: , ) is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 AD) at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work h ...
("The Universal History" written by Rashid Al-Din), a manuscript in the Library of the University of Edinburgh; illustrated in
Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quru River valley in Iran's historic Azerbaijan region between long ridges of vo ...
, Muzaffarid period, 1315. File:Mohammed receiving the submission of the Banu Nadir.jpg, Mohammad (riding the horse) receiving the submission of the
Banu Nadir The Banu Nadir ( ar, بَنُو ٱلنَّضِير, he, בני נצ'יר) were a Jewish Arab tribe which lived in northern Arabia at the oasis of Medina until the 7th century. The tribe refused to convert to Islam as Muhammad had ordered it t ...
, also
Jami Al-Tawarikh The ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'' ( Persian/Arabic: , ) is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 AD) at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work h ...
. File:Siyer-i Nebi 123a.jpg, Muhammad removes a dragon from the Kaaba. From the '' Siyer-i Nebi''. File:Mohammed kaaba 1315.jpg, Miniature of Muhammad rededicating the
Black Stone The Black Stone ( ar, ٱلْحَجَرُ ٱلْأَسْوَد, ', 'Black Stone') is a rock set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an ...
at the Kaaba. From
Jami Al-Tawarikh The ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'' ( Persian/Arabic: , ) is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 AD) at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work h ...
, c. 1315 File:Siyer-i Nebi 151b.jpg, "Muhammad at the Ka'ba" from the '' Siyer-i Nebi'' (1595). Muhammad is shown with veiled face. File:Muhammad destroying idols - L'Histoire Merveilleuse en Vers de Mahomet BNF.jpg, The destruction of idols at the Kaaba. Muhammad (top left and mounted at right) is represented as a flaming
aureole An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...
. From ''Hamla-i haydarî'' ("Haydar's Battle"), Kashmir, 1808. File:Muhammad-Majmac-al-tawarikh-1.jpg, Muhammad's Call to Prophecy and the First Revelation; in the Majmac al-tawarikh (Compendium of Histories), c. 1425; Timurid,
Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
File:Muhammad-Majmac-al-tawarikh-2.jpg, ''Journey of the Prophet Muhammad'' in the Majmac al-tawarikh (Compendium of Histories), c. 1425; Timurid. Herat, Afghanistan. File:Miraj by Sultan Muhammad.jpg, Miraj image from 1539 to 1543, reflecting the new,
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...
convention of depicting Muhammad veiled. File:Ship-of-Faith-Houghton-Shahmana-Metropolitan-Museum.jpg, An image from the Houghton Shahnameh ( Metropolitan Museum of Art). File:Muhammad and aisha free a captive daughter of a tribal chief800x1300x300.jpg, Muhammad and his wife
Aisha Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al- muʾminīn), referr ...
freeing the daughter of a tribal chief. From the '' Siyer-i Nebi''. File:Siyer-i Nebi - Muhammad und Chadidscha () führen die ersten rituelle Waschung -wudhu- durch.jpg, Muhammad and
Khadija Khadija, Khadeeja or Khadijah ( ar, خديجة, Khadīja) is an Arabic feminine given name, the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1995, it was one of the three most popular Arabic feminine names in th ...
performing the first '' wudu'', as illustrated in the '' Siyer-i Nebi'' File:Investiture of Ali Edinburgh codex.jpg, The Investiture of
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
at
Ghadir Khumm The Ghadīr Khumm ( ar, غَدِير خُم) refers to a gathering of Muslims to attend a sermon delivered by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on 16 March 632 CE (18 Dhu al-Hijjah 10 AH). The gathering is said to have taken place at the Ghadir K ...
, MS Arab 161, fol. 162r, AD 1309/8
Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
manuscript illustration. File:Siyer-i Nebi 414a.jpg, The death of Muhammad. From the '' Siyer-i Nebi''. File:Muhammad 1514.jpg, Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the
Mi'raj The Israʾ and Miʿraj ( ar, الإسراء والمعراج, ') are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islam, the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632) took during a single night around the year 621 (1 BH – 0 BH). With ...
, as depicted in a copy of the Bostan of Saadi. File:Mohammed´s Paradise.jpg, "Mohammed's Paradise", Persian miniature from ''The History of Mohammed'', BnF, Paris.


Contemporary Iran

Despite the avoidance of the representation of Muhammad in Sunni Islam, images of Muhammed are not uncommon in Iran. The Iranian Shi'ism seems more tolerant on this point than Sunnite orthodoxy. In Iran, depictions have considerable acceptance to the present day, and may be found in the modern forms of the poster and
postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as woo ...
. Since the late 1990s, experts in Islamic iconography discovered images, printed on paper in Iran, portraying Mohammed as a teenager wearing a turban. There are several variants, all show the same juvenile face, identified by an inscription such as "Muhammad, the Messenger of God", or a more detailed legend referring to an episode in the life of Muhammad and the supposed origin of the image. Some Iranian versions of these posters attributed the original depiction to a
Bahira Bahira ( ar, بَحِيرَىٰ, syc, ܒܚܝܪܐ) was an Assyrian, likely Nestorian monk from the tribe of Abd al-Qays who, according to Islamic religion, foretold to the adolescent Muhammad his future as a prophet.Abel, A.Baḥīrā. ''Encyc ...
, a Christian monk who met the young Muhammad in Syria. By crediting the image to a Christian and predating it to the time before Muhammad became a prophet, the manufacturers of the image exonerate themselves from any wrongdoing. The motif was taken from a photograph of a young Tunisian taken by the Germans
Rudolf Franz Lehnert Rudolf Franz Lehnert (13 July 1878 – 16 January 1948) was an Austrian photographer. He was noted for producing Orientalist images. Life Lehnert was born in Gross Aupa in Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (now Velká Úpa, part of Pec pod Sněžkou in ...
and
Ernst Heinrich Landrock Ernst Heinrich Landrock (4 August 1878 in Reinsdorf, Saxony – 30 April 1966 in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland) was a photographer who was based in Tunis, Leipzig and Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of E ...
in 1905 or 1906, which had been printed in high editions on picture post cards till 1921.Pierre Centlivres, Micheline Centlivres-Demont
Une étrange rencontre. La photographie orientaliste de Lehnert et Landrock et l'image iranienne du prophète Mahomet
''Études photographiques'' Nr. 17, November 2005 (in French)
This depiction has been popular in Iran as a form of curiosity. In Tehran, a mural depicting the prophet – his face veiled – riding
Buraq The Buraq ( ar, الْبُرَاق "the lightning") is a heavenly equine or chimeral beast in Islamic tradition that notably served as the mount of the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his Isra and Mi'raj journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and up ...
was installed at a public road intersection in 2008, the only mural of its kind in a Muslim-majority country.Christiane Gruber
Images of the Prophet In and Out of Modernity: The Curious Case of a 2008 Mural in Tehran
in See als

an


Cinema

Very few films have been made about Muhammad. The 1976 film ''The Message'', also known as ''
Mohammad, Messenger of God ''The Message'' ( ar, الرسالة, italic=yes, ''Ar-Risālah'', ''The Message''; originally known as ''Mohammad, Messenger of God'') is a 1976 Islamic epic drama film directed and produced by Moustapha Akkad, chronicling the life and time ...
'', focused on other persons and never directly showed Muhammad or most members of his family. A devotional cartoon called '' Muhammad: The Last Prophet'' was released in 2004. An Iranian film directed by Majid Majidi was released in 2015 named '' Muhammad''. It is the first part of the trilogy film series on Muhammad by Majid Majidi. While Sunni Muslims have always explicitly prohibited the depiction of Muhammad on film, contemporary Shi'a scholars have taken a more relaxed attitude, stating that it is permissible to depict Muhammad, even in television or movies, if done with respect.


Depiction by non-Muslims

Western representations of Muhammad were very rare until the explosion of images following the invention of the printing press; he is shown in a few medieval images, normally in an unflattering manner, often influenced by his brief mention in
Dante's Dante's is a nightclub and live music venue in Portland, Oregon. The venue, located along West Burnside Street and owned by Frank Faillace, hosts a variety of acts ranging from burlesque to rock music. Dante's is housed in an unreinforced masonr ...
''
Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...
''. Muhammad sometimes figures in Western depictions of groups of influential people in world history. Such depictions tend to be favourable or neutral in intent; one example can be found at the
United States Supreme Court building The Supreme Court Building houses the Supreme Court of the United States. Also referred to as "The Marble Palace," the building serves as the official workplace of the chief justice of the United States and the eight associate justices of th ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Created in 1935, the frieze includes major historical lawgivers, and places Muhammad alongside Hammurabi, Moses, Confucius, and others. In 1997, a controversy erupted surrounding the frieze, and tourist materials have since been edited to describe the depiction as "a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor to honor Muhammad" that "bears no resemblance to Muhammad." In 1955, a statue of Muhammad was removed from a courthouse in New York City after the ambassadors of Indonesia, Pakistan, and Egypt requested its removal. The extremely rare representations of Muhammad in monumental sculpture are especially likely to be offensive to Muslims, as the statue is the classic form for idols, and a fear of any hint of idolatry is the basis of Islamic prohibitions. Islamic art has almost always avoided large sculptures of any subject, especially free-standing ones; only a few animals are known, mostly fountain-heads, like those in the Lion Court of the
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...
; the
Pisa Griffin The Pisa Griffin is a large bronze sculpture of a griffin, a mythical beast, that has remained in Pisa, Italy since the Middle Ages despite its Islamic origin, specifically 11th century Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain). The Pisa Griffin is the largest me ...
is perhaps the largest. In 1997, the
Council on American–Islamic Relations The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide. Through civil rights actions, media relations, civic enga ...
, a Muslim advocacy group in the United States, wrote to United States Supreme Court Chief Justice
William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...
requesting that the sculpted representation of Muhammad on the north frieze inside the Supreme Court building be removed or sanded down. The court rejected CAIR's request. There have also been numerous book illustrations showing Muhammad. Dante, in '' The Divine Comedy: Inferno'', placed Muhammad in Hell, with his entrails hanging out (Canto 28): :No barrel, not even one where the hoops and staves go every which way, was ever split open like one frayed Sinner I saw, ripped from chin to where we fart below. :His guts hung between his legs and displayed His vital organs, including that wretched sack Which converts to shit whatever gets conveyed down the gullet. :As I stared at him he looked back And with his hands pulled his chest open, Saying, ''"See how I split open the crack in myself! See how twisted and broken Mohammed is! Before me walks
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
, his face Cleft from chin to crown, grief–stricken."'' This scene was sometimes shown in illustrations of the ''
Divina Commedia The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
'' before modern times. Muhammad is represented in a 15th-century fresco '' Last Judgement'' by Giovanni da Modena and drawing on Dante, in the Church of San Petronio,
Bologna, Italy Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
. and artwork by Salvador Dalí,
Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
, William Blake, and Gustave Doré.
File:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Mohammed_(CLIv).jpg, Muhammad, seated on the left, possibly reading from the Quran, as depicted in the ''
Nuremberg Chronicle The ''Nuremberg Chronicle'' is an illustrated encyclopedia consisting of world historical accounts, as well as accounts told through biblical paraphrase. Subjects include human history in relation to the Bible, illustrated mythological creatures, ...
'' File:Mohamet and Devil Bologna.jpg, Early Renaissance fresco illustrating Dante's ''
Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * ''Inferno'' (1973 film), a German t ...
''. Muhammad is depicted being dragged down to Hell. Image:Mohammed2.jpg, ''Muhammed and the Monk Sergius'' (Bahira). This 1508 engraving by the Dutch artist
Lucas van Leyden Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very ac ...
shows a legend that circulated in Europe. Image:Mahomet.jpg, Portrait of Muhammad as a generic "Easterner", from the ''PANSEBEIA, or A View of all Religions in the World'' by Alexander Ross (1683). Image:La.Vie.de.Mahomet.jpg, Illustration from La vie de Mahomet, by M. Prideaux, published in 1699. It shows Muhammad holding a sword and a crescent while trampling on a globe, a cross, and the Ten Commandments. Image:Lifeofmahomet.jpg, An engraving of Muhammad in '' The Life of Mahomet'' (1719). Image:Dante and Virgil Meet Muhammad and His Son-in-law, Ali in Hell.jpg, William Blake, Muhammad pulling his chest open in an illustration to Dante's ''
Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * ''Inferno'' (1973 film), a German t ...
'' (1827). Image:Mohammed by gustave dore.jpg, Mohammed suffering punishment in Hell. From Gustave Doré's illustrations of the ''
Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...
'' (1861) Image:Scotusnfrieze.jpeg, Muhammad as depicted by sculptor Adolph Weinman on the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, DC carrying a sword and the Quran.


Controversies in the 21st century

The start of the 21st century has been marked by controversies over depictions of Muhammad, not only for recent caricatures or cartoons, but also regarding the display of historical artwork. In a story on morals at the end of the millennium in December 1999, the German news magazine '' Der Spiegel'' printed on the same page pictures of “moral apostles” Muhammad, Jesus, Confucius, and Immanuel Kant. In the subsequent weeks, the magazine received protests, petitions and threats against publishing the picture of Muhammad. The Turkish TV-station
Show TV Show TV is a nationwide television channel in Turkey owned by Albayrak Holding since 2018, acquired from Sadık Albayrak which in turn seized from Ciner Media Group after Turgay Ciner was forced to sell due to tax debts. The channel replaces C ...
broadcast the telephone number of an editor who then received daily calls. Nadeem Elyas, leader of the
Central Council of Muslims in Germany The Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD; german: Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland) is an Islamic organization in Germany. With 15,000 to 20,000 members, mainly German, German Arab, and German Turkish Muslims, it has less than ha ...
said that the picture should not be printed again in order to avoid hurting the feelings of Muslims intentionally. Elyas recommended to whiten the face of Muhammad instead. In June 2001, the ''Spiegel'' with consideration of Islamic laws published a picture of Muhammed with a whitened face on its title page. The same picture of Muhammad by Hosemann had been published by the magazine once before in 1998 in a special edition on Islam, but then without evoking similar protests. In 2002, Italian police reported that they had disrupted a terrorist plot to destroy a church in Bologna, which contains a 15th-century fresco depicting an image of Muhammad (see above). Examples of depictions of Muhammad being altered include a 1940 mural at the University of Utah having the name of Muhammad removed from beneath the painting in 2000 at the request of Muslim students.


Cartoons

In 1990, a Muhammad caricature was published in Indonesian magazine, ''Senang''; it was followed by dissolution of the magazine. In 2005, Danish newspaper '' Jyllands-Posten'' published a set of editorial cartoons, many of which depicted Muhammad. In late 2005 and early 2006, Danish Muslim organizations ignited a controversy through public protests and by spreading knowledge of the publication of the cartoons. According to John Woods, Islamic history professor at the University of Chicago, it was not simply the depiction of Muhammad that was offensive, but the implication that Muhammad was somehow a supporter of terrorism. In Sweden, an online caricature competition was announced in support of ''Jyllands-Posten'', but Foreign Affairs Minister
Laila Freivalds Laila Ligita Freivalds (born 22 June 1942) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician who served as Minister for Justice from 1988 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 2000, as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2006 and as Deputy Prime Ministe ...
and the
Swedish Security Service The Swedish Security Service ( sv, Säkerhetspolisen , abbreviated SÄPO ; until 1989 ''Rikspolisstyrelsens säkerhetsavdelning'', abbreviated RPS/Säk) is a Swedish government agency organised under the Ministry of Justice. It operates as a s ...
pressured the internet service provider to shut the page down. In 2006, when her involvement was revealed to the public, she had to resign. On 12 February 2008 the Danish police arrested three men alleged to be involved in a plot to assassinate Kurt Westergaard, one of the cartoonists. In 2006, the controversial American
animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
television comedy program ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand their ...
'', which had previously depicted Muhammad as a superhero character in the July 4, 2001 episode "
Super Best Friends "Super Best Friends" is the third episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''South Park'' and the 68th episode of the series overall. Going by production order, it is the 4th episode of Season 5 instead of the 3rd. ...
" and has depicted Muhammad in the opening sequence since that episode, attempted to satirize the Danish newspaper incident. In the episode, "
Cartoon Wars Part II "Cartoon Wars Part II" is the fourth episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series '' South Park''. The 143rd episode of the series overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 12, 2006. Followin ...
", they intended to show Muhammad handing a salmon helmet to Peter Griffin, a character from the Fox animated series '' Family Guy''. However,
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
, who airs ''South Park'', rejected the scene, citing concerns of violent protests in the Islamic world. The creators of ''South Park'' reacted by instead satirizing Comedy Central's double standard for broadcast acceptability by including a segment of "Cartoon Wars Part II" in which
American president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and Jesus defecate on the
flag of the United States The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...
. The
Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy The Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist Lars Vilks that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog (a form of street installation in Sweden). Several art gallerie ...
began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist
Lars Vilks Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for the controversy surrounding his drawings of Muhammad. He also created the sculptures '' Nimis'' and ''Arx'', made of driftwood a ...
which depicted Muhammad as a roundabout dog. Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence. The controversy gained international attention after the
Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and h ...
-based regional newspaper ''
Nerikes Allehanda ''Nerikes Allehanda'' (shortened ''NA'') is a daily newspaper based in Örebro, Sweden, and distributed across Örebro County. It was founded in 1843 as a weekly paper and became a daily in 1894. The paper is owned by the media group LT Libera ...
'' published one of the drawings on August 18 to illustrate an editorial on
self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse. This is done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences (actual or perceived) of others and without overt pressure from any specific party or insti ...
and freedom of religion.
English translation:
While several other leading Swedish newspapers had published the drawings already, this particular publication led to protests from Muslims in Sweden as well as official condemnations from several foreign governments including Iran, Pakistan,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, Egypt and Jordan, as well as by the inter-governmental
Organisation of the Islamic Conference An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...
(OIC). The controversy occurred about one and a half years after the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy in Denmark in early 2006. Another controversy emerged in September 2007 when
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
i cartoonist
Arifur Rahman Arifur Rahman (born August 8, 1984) is a Bangladeshi- Norwegian political cartoonist, illustrator and animator. He is a self-taught cartoonist who is renowned for his contribution to cartoons both on the internet and in print media. In Bangladesh ...
was detained on suspicion of showing disrespect to Muhammad. The interim government confiscated copies of the
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
-language ''
Prothom Alo ''The Daily Prothom Alo'' ( bn, প্রথম আলো) is a daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language. It is the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to National Media Survey 2018, conduct ...
'' in which the drawings appeared. The cartoon consisted of a boy holding a cat conversing with an elderly man. The man asks the boy his name, and he replies "Babu". The older man chides him for not mentioning the name of Muhammad before his name. He then points to the cat and asks the boy what it is called, and the boy replies "Muhammad the cat". The cartoon caused a firestorm in Bangladesh, with militant
Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...
demanding that Rahman be executed for
blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...
. A group of people torched copies of the paper and several Islamic groups protested, saying the drawings ridiculed Mohammad and his companions. They demanded "exemplary punishment" for the paper's editor and the cartoonist. Bangladesh does not have a
blasphemy law A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, about ...
, although one had been demanded by the same extremist Islamic groups.


''Charlie Hebdo''

On 2 November 2010, the office of the French satirical weekly newspaper ''
Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; meaning ''Charlie Weekly'') is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. Stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication has been described as Anti-racism, anti-racist, sceptica ...
'' at Paris was attacked with a firebomb and its website hacked, after it had announced plans to publish a special edition with Muhammad as its “chief editor”, and the title page with a cartoon of Muhammad had been pre-issued on social media. In September 2012, the newspaper published a series of satirical cartoons of Muhammad, some of which feature nude caricatures of him. In January 2013, ''Charlie Hebdo'' announced that they would make a
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...
on the life of Muhammad. In March 2013, Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, commonly known as
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit=Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula or , ''Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jaz� ...
(AQAP), released a hit list in an edition of their English-language magazine '' Inspire''. The list included
Stéphane Charbonnier Stéphane Jean-Abel Michel Charbonnier (; 21 August 1967 – 7 January 2015), better known as Charb (), was a French satirical caricaturist and journalist. He was assassinated during the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting on 7 January 2015. He wor ...
,
Lars Vilks Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for the controversy surrounding his drawings of Muhammad. He also created the sculptures '' Nimis'' and ''Arx'', made of driftwood a ...
, three '' Jyllands-Posten'' employees involved in the Muhammad cartoon controversy, Molly Norris from the
Everybody Draw Mohammed Day Everybody Draw Mohammed Day (or Draw Mohammed Day) was a 2010 event in support of artists threatened with violence for drawing representations of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It stemmed from a protest against censorship of the American tele ...
and others whom AQAP accused of insulting Islam. On 7 January 2015, the office was attacked again with 12 shot dead, including Stéphane Charbonnier, and 11 injured. On 16 October 2020, middle-school teacher Samuel Paty was killed and beheaded after showing ''Charlie Hebdo'' cartoons depicting Muhammad during a class on freedom of speech.


Wikipedia article

In 2008, around 180,000 people, many Muslims, signed a petition protesting against the inclusion of Muhammad's depictions in the English Wikipedia's '' Muhammad'' article. The petition opposed a reproduction of a 17th-century Ottoman copy of a 14th-century Ilkhanate manuscript image ( MS Arabe 1489) depicting Muhammad as he prohibited
Nasīʾ Nasiʾ ( ar, ٱلنَّسِيء, ''an-Nasīʾ'', "postponement"), also spelled Nasii, or Nasie, was an aspect of the pre-Islamic Arabian calendar, mentioned in the Quran in the context of the "four forbidden months". In pre-Islamic Arabia, the de ...
. Jeremy Henzell-Thomas of ''The American Muslim'' deplored the petition as one of "these mechanical knee-jerk reactions
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
are gifts to those who seek every opportunity to decry Islam and ridicule Muslims and can only exacerbate a situation in which Muslims and the Western media seem to be locked in an ever-descending spiral of ignorance and mutual loathing." Wikipedia considered but rejected a compromise that would allow visitors to choose whether to view the page with images. The Wikipedia community has not acted upon the petition. The site's answers to frequently asked questions about these images state that Wikipedia does not censor itself for the benefit of any one group.


Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in January 2010 confirmed to the '' New York Post'' that it had quietly removed all historic paintings which contained depictions of Muhammad from public exhibition. The Museum quoted objections on the part of conservative Muslims which were "under review." The museum's action was criticized as excessive
political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
, as were other decisions taken close to the same time, including the renaming of the "Primitive Art Galleries" to the "Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas" and the projected "Islamic Galleries" to "Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia".


Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day was a protest against those who threatened violence against artists who drew representations of Muhammad. It began as a protest against the action of
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
in forbidding the broadcast of the ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand their ...
'' episode "
201 Year 201 ( CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 ''Ab urbe condita ...
" in response to death threats against some of those responsible for the segment. Observance of the day began with a drawing posted on the Internet on April 20, 2010, accompanied by text suggesting that "everybody" create a drawing representing Muhammad, on May 20, 2010, as a protest against efforts to limit freedom of speech.


Muhammad Art Exhibit & Contest

A May 3, 2015, event held in Garland, Texas, held by American activists
Pamela Geller Pamela Geller (born 1958) is an American anti-Muslim, far-right, political activist, blogger and commentator. Geller promoted birther conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, saying that he was born in Kenya and that he is a Muslim. Sh ...
and Robert Spencer, was the scene of a shooting by two individuals who were later themselves shot and killed outside the event. Police officers assisting in security at the event returned fire and killed the two gunmen. The event offered a $10,000 prize and was said to be in response to the January 2015 attacks on the French magazine ''Charlie Hebdo''. One of the gunmen was identified as a former terror suspect, known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.


Batley Grammar School

In March 2021 a teacher at
Batley Grammar School Batley Grammar School is a co-educational free school in Batley, West Yorkshire, England. History The school was founded in 1612 by the Rev. William Lee. An annual founder's day service is held in his memory at Batley Parish Church, as req ...
in England was suspended, and the headmaster issued an apology, after the teacher showed one or more of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons to pupils during a lesson. The incident sparked protests outside the school, demanding the resignation or sacking of the teacher involved. Commenting on the situation, the UK government's
Communities Secretary The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction ...
, Robert Jenrick, said teachers should be able to "appropriately show images of the prophet" in class and the protests are "deeply unsettling" due to the UK being a "free society". He added teachers should "not be threatened" by religious extremists.


See also

* Qadam Rasul *''
The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
'' by Salman Rushdie * 2006 ''Idomeneo'' controversy General: *
Censorship in Islamic societies Islamic teachings and argument have been used to censor opinions and writings throughout history, up to and including the modern era, and thus there are many cases of censorship in Islamic societies. One example is the fatwa (''religious judgment' ...
*
Criticism of Muhammad Criticism of Muhammad has existed since the 7th century AD, when Muhammad was decried by his Non-Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism, and by the Jewish tribes of Arabia for what they claimed were unwarranted appropriation of ...


Notes


References

* * * Grabar, Oleg, ''The Story of Portraits of the Prophet Muhammad'', in ''Studia Islamica'', 2004, p. 19 onwards. *"Gruber (2005)", Gruber, Christiane, ''Representations of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic painting'', in Gulru Necipoglu, Karen Leal eds.,
Muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of ...
, Volume 26, 2009, BRILL, , 9789004175891
google books
*"Gruber (2010)", Gruber, Christiane J., ''The Prophet's ascension: cross-cultural encounters with the Islamic mi'rāj tales'', Christiane J. Gruber, Frederick Stephen Colby (eds), Indiana University Press, 2010, ,
google books
*"Gruber (Iranica)", Gruber, Christiane, "MEʿRĀJ ii. Illustrations", in '' Encyclopedia Iranica'', 2009
online


Further reading

* Gruber, Christiane J.; Shalem, Avinoam (eds), ''The Image of the Prophet Between Ideal and Ideology: A Scholarly Investigation'', De Gruyter, 2014,
Introduction
* Gruber, Christiane J.
"Images"
in: Fitzpatrick, Coeli; Walker, Adam Hani (eds), ''Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God'', ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2014,
google books


External links



University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in ...

"Religious" Paintings in Islamic Art"The Koran Does Not Forbid Images of the Prophet"
'' Newsweek'', 9 January 2015, by Christiane Gruber, *Article with additional cartoons
Collection 2Mohammed Image Archive: Depictions of Mohammed Throughout HistoryMuhammad in Dante's ''Inferno'' 28
{{Religion and philosophy in popular culture, state=autocollapse Iconography Aniconism Censorship in Islam Islam-related controversies Obscenity controversies