March 03, 2006
Images of Mohammed in olden times and new
The reason that creating images of the prophet Mohammed is severely frowned upon is that it is feared that someone might mistakenly treat it like an idol. This is the same reason why protestant churches don't have an image of Jesus on the large cross behind the altar, nor statues on display in their churches. Protestants do, however, allow drawings and paintings of Jesus in things like books and pamphlets since it's not expected that someone will see a drawing on a page and begin to worship it (or worship "through" it).
Well, I did a little googeling and found some old muslim artworks that depict the prophet. While much of the old art that depicts Mohammed either obscures his face like this:
(often his face is obscured by light shown as a white flame), many do not. Here is some 16th century Persian art that I found at Superluminal.com
And here are some more I found around the web. Some are ancient and some are more recent.
An early Persian depiction of the birth of Mohammed:
View image
A Sudanese-Mahdi rendition:
View image
Here's a whole bunch more, some old and some more recent:
(This one's a biggie:)
View image
(Yes, I know that the colon + end parentheses put up a smilie, but I'm keeping it. :))
Posted by Tuning Spork at March 3, 2006 06:47 PM | TrackBackYou will probably really like this post from my friend over in Pakistan (lambie). I think you will be able to see it. I don't think it is locked.
http://lambiepod.livejournal.com/57016.html
she got to be with the First Lady and attend the President speaking.
Posted by: Edith at March 5, 2006 12:20 PMCool. Thanks, Edith!
Posted by: Tuning Spork at March 5, 2006 01:39 PM