| Revision as of 07:06, 11 March 2006 view sourceZora (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers17,728 edits Adding date← Previous edit | Revision as of 09:04, 11 March 2006 view source Dbachmann (talk | contribs)227,714 editsNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| #REDIRECT] | |||
| '''Depictions of Muhammad''', the ]ic ], can be a contentious matter. | |||
| Oral and written descriptions are readily accepted by all traditions of ]. However, Muslims differ as to whether or not visual depictions of ] are permissable. | |||
| Some Muslims believe that to prevent ], or ascribing partners to ], visual depictions of Muhammad and other prophets of Islam should be prohibited. Other Muslims believe respectful depictions should be allowed. Both sides have produced great Islamic art -- the aniconists through calligraphy and arabesque, the pictorialists through book illustration and architectural decoration. | |||
| The vast majority of Muslims are hurt or shocked by negative portrayals of Muhammad, whether spoken, written, drawn, or filmed. | |||
| <br> | |||
| == Verbal descriptions == | |||
| ]'s name written in ]]] | |||
| In one of the earliest sources, ]'s ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'', there are numerous verbal descriptions of Muhammad. One description sourced to ] 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 shulders. 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.'' (Ibn Sa'd, undated Indian translation, pp. 486-487). | |||
| Athar Husain gives a non-pictorial description of his appearance, dress, etc. in "The Message of Mohammad" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/prophetdescription.html|title=USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts|accessdate =2006-03-10}}</ref> | |||
| 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. | |||
| == Visual depictions == | |||
| ] miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the ]. Muhammad's face is veiled.]] | |||
| While nothing in the ] forbids representations of Muhammad, a few hadith condemned pictures of Muhammad, and pictures in general. One hadith reads: | |||
| : ''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."'' ( ], Volume 9, Book 93, Number 648) | |||
| Some Muslims believe that such hadith forbid all pictorial representation. 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. | |||
| ])]] | |||
| 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 are especially notable for their free approach to pictorial representations. | |||
| Contemporary Shi'a Muslims in Iran also take a relaxed attitude towards pictures of Muhammad and his household, the ]. | |||
| A ] given by ], the ] ] of Iraq, states that it is permissible to depict ], 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 , there is no problem.'' <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sistani.org/html/eng/menu/4/?lang=eng&view=d&code=234&page=1|title=Istifta|accessdate=2006-03-10}}</ref> | |||
| Other examples of Islamic art depicting Muhammad: | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ===Sculptures=== | |||
| ]]] | |||
| While no Muslims seem to have ever represented Muhammad in sculpture, numerous non-Muslims have done so. Often a figure representing Muhammad may be part of a frieze depicting influential people in world history. Such a depiction of Muhammad can be found, for example, at the ] in ]. The frieze includes such major historical figures such as ], ], and ], all renowned as law-givers. In ], a statue of Muhammad was removed from a courthouse in ] after the ambassadors of ], ], and ] requested its removal. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive_show_message.php?montrealmuslimnews+7289|accessdate=2006-03-10|first=2006-02-12|title=Archive "Montreal News Network": Images of Muhammad, Gone for Good}}</ref>. | |||
| ===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 '']''. The movie focussed 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. The movie was controversial, in great part because some Muslims mistakenly believed that the fictional character in the movie ''was'' Muhammad. A group of Muslims in ] protested the movie's release by occupying a building and taking hostages. | |||
| * A devotional cartoon called ''Muhammad (PBUH): The Last Prophet'' was released in 2004 . | |||
| == Recent controversies involving depiction of Muhammad == | |||
| In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa urging Muslims to kill the British author ], for verbal caricature of Muhammad. See ]. | |||
| In 2006, the publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad sparked protests in which dozens of people died. See ]. | |||
| == See also == | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| == References == | |||
| * Ibn Sa'd -- ''Kitabh al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'', as translated by S. Moinul and H.K. Ghazanfar, Kitab Bhavan, New Delhi, n.d. | |||
| <div style="font-size: 90%"> | |||
| <references /> | |||
| </div> | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 09:04, 11 March 2006
Redirect to: