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elieved that god was the ultimate power holder and people who practiced it believed that they needed to defend god s unique status against competing external and internal forces such as pagan idols and critical humans idolatry was seen as a threat to god s uniqueness and one way in which prophets and missionaries chose to fight against it was through the prohibition of physical representations the same solution worked against humans who pretended to have the same power of creation that god had hence their banishment from the heavens the destruction of babel and the second commandment in the biblical texts some modern scholars who have studied various cultures have gathered material which shows that in many cases the idea of aniconism is an intellectual construction rather than a fact of tangible reality it suits specific intents and historical contexts in buddhism edit main article aniconism in buddhism an aniconic representation of mara s assault on the buddha 2nd century ce amaravati india since the beginning of the serious study of the history of buddhist art in the 1890s the earliest phase which lasted until the 1st century ce has been described as aniconistic the buddha was only represented with symbols such as an empty throne a bodhi tree a riderless horse with a parasol floating above an empty space at sanchi buddha s footprints and the dharma wheel 6 however other persons and their surroundings are often depicted in great numbers and care and the scenes are often crowded but with an empty space in the centre in relation to the image of the buddha this aniconistic tradition could have been based on an ancient buddhist rule which prohibited images of the buddha in which he appeared in human form a rule which is written in the sarvastivada vinaya the rules of the early buddhist school of the sarvastivada since it is not permitted to make an image of the buddha s body i pray that the buddha will grant that i can make an image of the attendant bodhisattva is that acceptable the buddha answered you may make an image of the bodhisattava 7 although they are still a subject of debate the first anthropomorphic representations of the buddha are frequently considered a result of the greco buddhist interaction a cultural exchange which was particularly widespread in gandhara a theory which was first fully expounded upon by alfred a foucher but from the start it was criticized by ananda coomaraswamy foucher also accounted for the origins of the aniconistic symbols by collecting small souvenirs which he removed from the main pilgrimage sites and carried away souvenirs which were later recognized and popularized as symbols of the events which occurred at the site other explanations stated that it was inappropriate to represent a person who had attained nirvana 8 however in 1990 the notion of aniconism in buddhism was challenged by susan huntington initiating a vigorous debate among specialists that still continues to occur 9 she sees many early scenes claimed to be aniconic as in fact not depicting scenes from the life of the buddha but worship of cetiya relics or re enactments by devotees at the places where these scenes occurred thus the image of the empty throne shows an actual relic throne at bodh gaya or elsewhere she points out that there is only one indirect reference for a specific aniconic doctrine in buddhism to be found and that pertaining to only one sect 10 as for the archeological evidence it shows that some anthropomorphic sculptures of the buddha actually existed during the supposedly aniconistic period which ended during the 1st century ce huntington also rejects the association of aniconistic and iconic art with the division that emerged between theravada and mahayana buddhism huntington s views have been challenged by vidya dehejia and others 10 although some earlier examples of them have been found in recent years it is widely believed that the large free standing iconic images of the buddha which are so prevalent in later works of buddhist art are not prevalent in works of buddhist art which were produced during the earliest period of the history of buddhism discussion is focused on smaller figures in relief panels conventionally considered to represent scenes from the life of the buddha and now re interpreted by huntington and her supporters in hinduism edit traditional flower offering to the aniconic shiva linga in varanasi although aniconism is better known in connection to abrahamic religions basic patterns are shared between various religious beliefs including hinduism which also has aniconistic beliefs for example although hinduism is commonly represented by such anthropomorphic religious murtis aniconism is equally represented with such abstract symbols of god such as the shiva linga and the saligrama 11 moreover hindus have found it easier to focus on anthropomorphic icons krishna says in the bhagavad gita that it is much more difficult to focus on god as the unmanifested than god with form because human beings have a need to perceive via the senses 12 in christianity edit main article aniconism in christianity byzantine iconoclasm edit main article byzantine iconoclasm this section does not cite any sources please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources unsourced material may be challenged and removed february 2026 learn how and when to remove this message there were two periods of iconoclasm or icon destruction in the byzantine empire in the mid eighth and early ninth centuries 13 the political aspects of the conflicts are complex dealing with the relationship between the byzantine emperors the catholic church and orthodox church councils and the pope theologically the debate as with most in orthodox theology at the time revolved around the two natures of jesus iconoclasts believed that icons could not represent both the divine and the human natures of the messiah at the same time but separately because an icon which depicted jesus as purely physical would be nestorianism and one which showed him as both human and divine would not be able to do so without confusing the two natures into one mixed nature which was monophysitism all icons were thus heretical reference was also made to the prohibitions on the worship of graven images in the law of moses during the protestant reformation edit main article the reformation and art this section does not cite any sources please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources unsourced material may be challenged and removed february 2026 learn how and when to remove this message aniconism was also prevalent during the protestant reformation when some protestants began to preach rejection of what they perceived as idolatrous catholic practices which filled its churches with pictures statues or relics of saints the reformed calvinist churches and certain sects most notably the puritans and some of the baptist churches began to prohibit the display of religious images there were aggressive campaigns of iconoclasm or the destruction of images and often much else the most famous is perhaps the beeldenstorm in the netherlands in 1566 where the attacks were mostly on churches that were still catholic among christians today edit in the church of the east also known as the nestorian church opposition to religious images eventually became the norm due to the rise of islam in the region where it forbade any type of depictions of saints and biblical prophets as such the church was forced to get rid of their icons this tradition is still in practice today with many assyrian churches lacking artistic depictions of biblical figures including those of jesus and mary 14 some amish prefer not to have their photo taken this has been attributed to the biblical commandment thou shalt not make unto thyself a graven image and the belief that photographs can steal your soul among other reasons modern amish differ in their attitudes towards photography with some accepting it as a part of the modern world around them 15 among jehovah s witnesses followers are prohibited from wearing religious themed jewelry displaying icons such as the cross as idol worship is prohibited having images or sculptures of jesus jehovah god and angels is also considered a taboo according to their interpretation of exodus 20 4 5 and 1 corinthians 10 14 16 followers are also admonished to avoid any objects portraying depictions of the supernatural 17 in islam edit main article aniconism in islam theological views edit this section does not cite any sources please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources unsourced material may be challenged and removed february 2026 learn how and when to remove this message the quran the islamic holy book does not explicitly prohibit the depiction of human figures it merely condemns idolatry e g 5 92 21 52 interdictions of figurative representation are present in the hadith among a dozen of the hadith recorded during the latter part of the period when they were being written down because these hadith are tied to particular events in the life of muhammad they need to be interpreted in order to be applied in any general manner sunni exegetes from the 9th century onward increasingly saw in them categorical prohibitions against producing and using any representation of living beings there are variations between religious schools and marked differences between different branches of islam aniconism is common among fundamentalist sunni sects such as salafis and wahhabis which are also often iconoclastic and less prevalent among liberal movements in islam shi a and mystical orders also have less stringent views on aniconism on the individual level whether or not specific muslims believe in aniconism may depend on how much credence is given to hadith e g submitters do not believe in any hadith and how liberal or strict they are in personal practice aniconism in islam not only deals with the material image but touches upon mental representations as well it is a thorny question discussed by early theologians as to how to describe god muhammad and other prophets and indeed if it is permissible at all to do so god is usually represented by immaterial attributes such as holy or merciful commonly known from his ninety nine beautiful names muhammad s physical appearance however is amply described in the literary tradition of his biography sīrah in the ottoman empire descriptions of muhammad s physical appearance became a genre unto themselves called hilya aniconism in practice edit persian miniature painting from the 16th century ad depicting muhammad his face veiled ascending on the buraq into the heavens a journey known as the mi raj in practice the core of normative religion in islam is consistently aniconic its embodiment are spaces such as the mosque and objects like the qur an or the white dress of pilgrims entering mecca deprived of figurative images other spheres of religion schisms mysticism popular piety private level exhibit in this regard significant variability profane aniconism is even more fluctuating generally speaking aniconism in islamic societies is restricted in modern times to specific religious contexts while its prevalence in the past wasn t enforced in numerous areas and during extended periods depending on which segment of islamic societies are referred to the application of aniconism is characterized with noteworthy differences 18 factors are the epoch considered the country the religious orientation the political intent the popular beliefs the private benefit or the dichotomy between reality and discourse today the concept of an aniconic islam coexists with a daily life for muslims awash with images tv stations and newspapers which do present still and moving representations of living beings have an exceptional impact on public opinion sometimes as in the case of al jazeera with a global reach beyond the arabic speaking and muslim audience portraits of secular and religious leaders are omnipresent on banknotes 19 20 and coins 21 in streets and offices anthropomorphic statues in public places are to be found in most muslim countries saddam hussein s are infamous 22 as well as arts schools training sculptors and painters in the egyptian countryside it is fashionable to celebrate and advertise the returning of pilgrims from mecca on the walls of their houses sometimes those who profess aniconism will practice figurative representation cf portraits of taliban fighters from the kandahar photographic studios during their imposed ban on photography 23 for shi a communities portraits of the major figures of shi ite history are important elements of religious devotion portraits of ali with veiled and unveiled face alike can be bought in iran around shrines and in the streets to be hung in homes or carried with oneself while in pakistan india and bangladesh they notoriously ornate trucks 24 buses and rickshas 25 contrary to the sunni tradition a photographic picture of the deceased can be placed on the shi ite tombs 26 27 a curiosity in iran is an orientalist photograph supposed to represent muhammad as a young boy the grand ayatollah sistani of najaf in iraq gave a fatwa declaring the depiction of muhammad islamic prophets and other characters considered holy permissible if it is made with the utmost respect 28 neither is the representation of living beings in islamic countries a modern phenomenon or due to current technology westernization or the cult of the personality statues of humans and animals adorned palaces of the umayyad era 29 while frescoes were common under the umayyads 30 and later in many muslim countries notably under the safavids and various central asian dynasties figurative miniatures from medieval arabic countries india persia and turkey are among the pinnacles of islamic art and account for a good deal of its attraction 31 32 potent rulers like shah tahmasp in persia and akbar 33 in india patrons of some of the most beautiful figurative miniatures in arts from islamic countries migrated during their life between an extravagant figurative and an extremist aniconic period during the 15th and 17th century representations of muhammad veiled 34 unveiled 35 and other prophets or biblical characters like adam 36 37 abraham 38 or jesus 39 and solomon 40 and alexander the great 41 became common in painted manuscripts from persia india and turkey extreme rarities are an illustrated qur an depicting muhammad and in a spanish muslim manuscript datable from the 16th century five umayyad and abbasid caliphs iblis too is present in various illustrated manuscripts however there are no known figurative depictions of god medieval muslim artists found various ways not to infringe any prohibition of the image while still representing living beings it can be argued that since god is absolute the act of depiction is his own and not that of a human and miniatures are obviously very crude represent...
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