Depicting the Prophet

As the flap over the Muhammad cartoons continues, so does the steady repetition of one particular myth:

Islamic tradition bans depictions of the Prophet or Allah.

This, sans qualification, from the BBC, but similar paraphrases are to be found in virtually every news article I've seen (one exception, though still not quite right, in The Age: "Some Muslims, who deem images of prophets disrespectful and caricatures blasphemous, have reacted angrily . . .").

As the Cranky Professor noted a few months back, depictions of the Prophet have a long history in Islamic art. Of course, there are strains of Islam fervently opposed to images depicting the holy -- but it's important not to forget that there are other strains with different traditions.

ADDENDUM: Here's a gallery of images of the sort noted above, with much more besides (via Instapundit).

Posted by David on February 2, 2006 10:00 AM