Theoretical contradiction between the prohibition of portraying holy religious figures and the artistic representation in the Islamic miniatures

Abstract EN

The issue of prohibiting the portrayal of holy religious figures is a thorny subject due to the conflicting opinions and ideas concerning it.

Miniature art embodies a natural human order, while holy religious figures embody an unnatural phenomenon, which cannot descend to the level of human standards.

Hence, the research problem was identified in the study of the theoretical contradiction problem between the prohibition of portraying holy religious figures and what was actually accomplished in the Islamic miniatures.

The research objective was to discuss the real motives behind the portrayal of the holy religious figures as a social reality in the Islamic miniatures, despite the religious prohibition of figurative representation in general, the apostles, the Prophets, their families, their companions, and the angels in particular.

The importance of the research lies in revealing the reasons for the continuation of the attitude of most Muslim scholars concerning the figurative representation and the holy religious figures imaging prohibition during the Islamic times, which affected the current era.

The researcher used the historical descriptive, analytical deductive, and questionnaire method in studying this phenomenon.

Furthermore, the study concluded that the attitude of the artist of Islamic miniatures in terms of the portrayal of the holy religious figures has not been constant throughout the ages.

This was governed by a set of political, social, cultural, and ideological factors.