Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Medieval India: Kings and Chronicles

Question:

Why did Prophet Muhammad forbid the depiction of living beings in a naturalistic manner?

Options:

It would suggest that the artist was seeking to appropriate the power of creation. This was a function that was believed to belong exclusively to God.

The depiction by the artist could not be as beautiful as the human itself who is the creation of God.

The artist can intentionally make the person look ugly or beautiful which will be wrong with the creation of God.

None of the above.

Correct Answer:

It would suggest that the artist was seeking to appropriate the power of creation. This was a function that was believed to belong exclusively to God.

Explanation:

The production of paintings portraying the emperor, his court and the people who were part of it, was a source of constant tension between rulers and representatives of the Muslim orthodoxy, the ulama. The latter did not fail to invoke the Islamic prohibition of the portrayal of human beings enshrined in the Qur’an as well as the hadis, which described an incident from the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Here the Prophet is cited as having forbidden the depiction of living beings in a naturalistic manner as it would suggest that the artist was seeking to appropriate the power of creation. This was a function that was believed to belong exclusively to God.