Depictions of Muhammad

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Depictions of Muhammad, drawings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, can be a contentious matter. Oral and written descriptions are readily accepted by all traditions of Islam, while Muslims differ as to whether or not visual depictions of Muhammad are permissible^{[citation needed]}: Some Muslims believe that to prevent idolatry and polytheism, visual depictions of Muhammad and other prophets of Islam should be prohibited. Other Muslims believe respectful depictions should be allowed^{[citation needed]}. Both sides have produced Islamic art — the aniconists through calligraphy and arabesque, the pictorialists through book illustration and architectural decoration. Negative portrayal of Muhammad, whether spoken, written, drawn, or filmed, may be taken as a great offense by Muslims. See Muslim veneration for Muhammad.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Verbal descriptions 2 Visual depictions 2.1 Paintings 2.2 Cinema 3 Depiction by non-Muslims 3.1 Recent controversies 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Verbal descriptions

In one of the earliest sources, Ibn Sa'd's Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, there are numerous verbal descriptions of Muhammad. One description sourced to Ali ibn Abi Talib is as follows:

The Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him, is neither too short nor too tall. His hairs 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 eye-brows, 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. ^[1].

Athar Husain gives a non-pictorial description of his appearance, dress, etc. in "The Message of Mohammad" ^[2]

According to Husain, Muhammad was a little taller than average, sturdily built and muscular. His fingers were long. His hair, which was long, had waves, and he had a thick beard, which had seventeen gray hairs at the time of his death. He had good teeth and spare cheeks, brownish black eyes. His complexion was fair and he was very handsome.

He walked fast with firm gait. He always kept himself busy with something, did not speak unnecessarily, always spoke to the point and without verbosity, and did not behave in an emotional way.

He usually wore a shirt, trousers, a sheet thrown round the sholders and a turban, all spotlessly clean, rarely wearing the fine clothes that had been presented to him. He wanted others to wear simple, but always clean, clothes.

[edit] Visual depictions

The Qur'an forbids idolatry, but does not specifically forbid representative art.

Behold! he said to his father and his people, "What are these images, to which ye are (so assiduously) devoted?" They said, "We found our fathers worshipping them." He said, "Indeed ye have been in manifest error - ye and your fathers." (TOQ 52-54)

However, there are hadith, or recorded oral traditions, that seem to forbid any representational art:

Allah, Most High said: "And who is more unjust than those who try to create the likeness of My creation? Let them create an atom, or let them create a wheat grain, or let them create a barley grain." ^[3]

[...] All the painters who make pictures would be in the fire of Hell. ^[4]

However, there are a great many hadith and a variety of opinions as to which hadith are to be accepted as authentic and which should be considered later inventions. Hence Muslims differ among themselves as to the permissibility of figurative art.

Some Muslims believe that all pictorial representation of any living being is wrong. Other Muslims believe that there is nothing wrong with pictures in general; it is only idolatry that is condemned. They believe that pictures of Muhammad are allowable if they are illustrations to encourage faith and practice, not idols for worship. Or, they may reject religious pictures but accept secular films, photographs, paintings, etc.

[edit] Paintings

The long history of Islamic art contains many examples of pictures respectfully representing Muhammad. They are not to be considered lifelike portraits. In some, but by no means all cases, the face is left blank so that Muhammad is suggested rather than completely depicted. Many times flames seem to emanate from Muhammad's head; this suggests the radiance of his countenance. Persian and Ottoman miniatures of the 14th to 16th centuries are especially notable for their free approach to pictorial representations.

Contemporary Shi'a Muslims in Iran and Afghanistan also take a relaxed attitude towards pictures of Muhammad and his household, the Ahlul Bayt. A fatwa given by Ali al-Sistani, the Shi'a marja of Iraq, states that it is permissible to depict Muhammad, even in television or movies, if done with respect:

If due deference and respect is observed, and the scene does not contain anything that would detract from their holy pictures in the minds [of the viewers], there is no problem. ^[5]

While most of Islam was predominantly aniconistic during most of its history, there are traditions of hagiography, notably in the Shi'ite tradition of Persia and parts of Afghanistan (Hazarajat), and in the Ottoman Empire, notably illustrating the life of Muhammad, beginning in ca. the 14th century (6th c. AH). Devotional depictions of Muhammad are still commonly available in predominantly Shi'ite regions.

Other examples of Islamic art depicting Muhammad:

• The Birth of the prophet Muhammad, from Jami' al-tavarikh ("Compendium of Chronicles"). Tabriz, Persia, c. 1315
• The night journey of Muhammad on his steed, Buraq; from the Bustan of Sa'di, 1514

[edit] Cinema

Some Muslims believe that films can convey the message of Islam in a direct and immediately appealing fashion. Other Muslims believe that this could lead to idolatry. There have been few attempts to feature Muhammad in films.

• The only live-action film to feature Muhammad was the 1976 Mohammad, Messenger of God. The movie focused on a fictional character and never directly showed Muhammad. When Muhammad was essential to a scene, the camera would show events from his point of view.

• A devotional cartoon called Muhammad (PBUH): The Last Prophet was released in 2004 ^[7]

[edit] Depiction by non-Muslims

Muhammad figures frequently in depictions 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 in Washington, DC. A frieze including major historical lawgivers places Muhammad alongside Hammurabi, Moses, Confucius, and others. Because of a 1997 controversy surrounding the frieze, tourist materials have been edited so they call the depiction "a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor to honor Muhammad" that "bears no resemblance to Muhammad."^[8] 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.^[9] There have also been numerous book illustrations showing Muhammad.

Western culture has often been critical of Islam and hostile or demeaning depictions of Muhammad have been frequent ^{[citation needed]}. Dante 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 below.

His guts hung between his legs and displayed His vital organs, including that wretched sack Which converts to 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, his face Cleft from chin to crown, grief–stricken.

this scene is frequently shown in illustrations of the Divina Commedia. Notable artists who have drawn Muhammed without incident include Giovanni da Modena, William Blake, Gustave Doré, and Salvador Dalí. Muhammad has also been a subject of ridicule or anger in numerous cartoons.

[edit] Recent controversies

In 2005, a Danish newspaper published satirical cartoons depicting Muhammad. In 2006, further publication of the cartoons outside Denmark sparked violent protests and rioting that led to the deaths of over one hundred individuals. See Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.

In 2006, the American television program South Park made a satirical account of the Danish newspaper's depictions of Muhammad on their controversial television program. In the episode "Cartoon Wars Part II", intended to show Muhammed handing a salmon helmet to Peter Griffin, fictional character in the Fox animated television show Family Guy.

Comedy Central, the parent company of South Park, refused to allow the creators of South Park to show Muhammad for fear of violent protests in the Islamic world. South Park had previously shown an image of Muhammad in the episode "Super Best Friends" that was broadcast on July 4, 2001 without incident.

The creators of South Park highlighted Comedy Central's censorship of their program by including a cartoon segment in which American president George W. Bush defecates on Jesus Christ.

See also Idomeneo controversy.

[edit] See also

• Aniconism
• Muslim veneration for Muhammad
• (French) The figurative representation in Islamic Arts
• Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
• The Satanic Verses (novel)

[edit] References