Aniconism in Islam

Uncommon card · No. 155597

In Islamic art, the avoidance of images of sentient beings, or aniconism, stems in part from the prohibition of idolatry in Islam and in part from the belief that the creation of living forms is God's prerogative. The Quran itself does not prohibit visual representation of any living being. The hadith collection of Sahih Bukhari explicitly prohibits the making of images of living beings, challenging painters who "breathe life" into their images and threatening them with punishment on the Day of Judgment. Muslims have interpreted these prohibitions in different ways in different times and places. Religious Islamic art has been typically characterized by the absence of figures and extensive use of calligraphic, geometric and abstract floral patterns. However, representations of Muhammad (in some cases, with his face concealed) and other religious figures are found in some manuscripts from lands to the east of Anatolia, such as Persia and India. Other forms of figurative arts existed since...

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