Previous   Next
Home » Images » 0062 Pictures From History » CPA0030667

Israel / Arabia: The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad, from Rashid Al-Din, 'History of the World', c. 1306-1311 CE

Israel / Arabia: The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad, from Rashid Al-Din, 'History of the World', c. 1306-1311 CE

Birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami' at-Tawarikh (literally 'Compendium of Chronicles' but often referred to as 'The Universal History or History of the World'), by Rashid al-Din, Tabriz, Persia, 1307 CE, now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.

Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.

Quick links to other images in this gallery: