Notes on The Image of the Word — Islamic Iconography
The Prohibition of Images
Central problem in Islamic art: religious prohibition against figural representation, especially in religious contexts, and the debates around its origins and meaning.
Western misconception: Islam is purely abstract with no figural imagery; this view ignores the rich symbolic/iconographic practices within Islamic art and the long history of figural traditions in secular contexts.
The problem for students: understanding how Islam communicates religious ideas without human or animal images, and how symbol systems function across objects from architectural decoration to everyday items.
Dodd’s challenge to common explanations of the prohibition (three widely cited factors) and the corrective argument:
(1) Inherent temperamental dislike of human representation in Semitic traditions is not sufficient to explain the prohibition; evidence from ancient Semitic, Persian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian art shows representational traditions existed.
(2) The idea that Islam associated images with magical properties or the Evil Eye is controversial and insufficient by itself; Arabs often copied and adapted visual styles from conquered regions rather than rejecting images on magical grounds.
(3) Jewish influence on early Islamic art is not a complete explanation; the Law of Moses (Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image) did not directly drive Koranic injunctions, and iconoclastic debates in Judaism and Christianity had independent trajectories.
The key corrective insight: the focus should be on substitution of a different symbolic image for the human figure. In Islam, the representation of the divine often appears in non-human/figurative forms, notably through the Word (the Qur’an) as a surrogate symbol for God.
Big claim: Islamic art should be understood in the context of the wider history of medieval art (Western Christian, Eastern Christian, and Islamic), where symbolism conveyed religious truth without naturalistic depictions.
Islam’s solution to representation reflects a long Mediterranean and Near Eastern aesthetic and philosophical tradition, where abstraction and symbol carry spiritual meaning, not simply a rejection of imagery.
The Logos and the Word: Classical and medieval thinkers linked God with the Logos (Reason/Wisdom); in Islam, the Word of God (the Qur’an) serves as the primary symbolic medium, a written form that embodies the divine presence without a human likeness.
The historical consequence: the prohibition is best understood not as a primitive desert taboo but as a sophisticated, deliberate symbolic choice that integrates with theology and pedagogy.
Beginnings of Symbolism in Islam
The birth of Islamic religious iconography is traceable to the seventh–eighth centuries, with a conscious adoption of a non-figural symbolic vocabulary from earlier Christian and classical traditions.
The Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem) as the earliest clear evidence of symbolic Koranic inscriptions and non-figural decoration in a major religious monument:
Dated mosaics and inscriptions: around 691 A.D. ().
Decoration shows late Hellenistic, Byzantine, and Sassanian influences, but explicitly avoids human/animal figures.
The four-part iconographic program observed in Dome of the Rock's decoration:
(1) Vegetal motifs (vases, cornucopiae, vine scrolls) arranged in a classical Byzantine/Christian idiom;
(2) Architectural settings echoing contemporary Christian monuments;
(3) Pictorial religious symbols (altars, books, crosses) used with explicit Christian iconographic meaning;
(4) Inscriptions invoking the Word of God and Islam's doctrinal message.
Oleg Grabar’s analysis: the symbolism surrounding jewels and crowns in the Dome of the Rock belongs to the Christian iconographic repertoire and serves to communicate Islamic unitarianism and the final truth of Islam to Christians and Jews (the Qur’anic proclamation of monotheism).
The Bethlehem Church of the Nativity mosaics (c. 680–787 A.D.) provide a crucial comparative dataset:
Four principal decorative elements in the nave mosaics: (1) floral/vegetal motifs; (2) architectural settings; (3) iconographic symbols (altars, books, crosses) framing the inscriptions; (4) inscriptions from Church Councils detailing doctrinal decisions, especially about the Trinity.
The central motif: a cross between two trees, with an altar and a closed book beneath inscriptions; cross inside a nimbus above the inscription.
Bethlehem’s iconography is deeply Christian/Iconoclast-era in character, not Islamic; the inscriptions themselves articulate doctrinal definitions (e.g., Ephesus) and replace human figural representations.
The Bethlehem mosaics thus illustrate how inscriptions and symbolic objects can function as a complete iconographic program, replacing figural depictions while preserving doctrinal content.
The Dome of the Rock and Bethlehem mosaics illustrate a shared Mediterranean iconographic logic: early Islamic art inherits a Christian iconographic vocabulary and then transforms it to reflect Islamic doctrinal concerns (Unity of God, the Word, and the Logos).
Damascus Great Mosque (Umayyad) showcases a later phase of the Christian influence in Islamic iconography, with a unified symbolic program referencing paradise that is still representational but more explicitly Islamic in content.
Key implication: while Islam adopts and adapts Christian symbolic vocabularies, its own vocabulary evolves to foreground the Qur’an (the Word) as the symbolic medium for divine presence.
The Prohibition’s Theoretical Grounding and Its Christian/Palestinian Context
Classical pagan and Greek thought on images (logos and the symbol) influenced both Christian and Islamic understandings of representation:
Xenophanes argued against gods in human form; Plato and later Christian thinkers linked God to the Logos, a rational principle, which complicated material depiction of the divine.
Christian theologians (Justin Martyr, Origen, Basil, Chrysostom, etc.) wrestled with images of God and Christ, often using symbolic representations (saints as written words or texts) to avoid direct human depiction.
The Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy (early eighth–ninth centuries) ultimately endorsed the use of icons with doctrinal justification (e.g., John of Damascus argued for icons as visual means to convey theological truths, not as gods themselves).
Islamic position diverges: the Qur’an presents God without image; the Prophet is a conveyor of a revealed Word; therefore, the most legitimate divine symbol in Islam is the Word of God (the Qur’an) rather than a human-form image.
The absence of a direct Koranic prohibition against figural representation is notable; the Islamic solution instead relies on doctrinal grounds (tawḥīd) and a hierarchy of symbols: the Word replaces visible representation of God as a symbol for divine presence.
Conclusion from this synthesis: the Islamic prohibition against images is not a simple transfer from Jewish law but a complex synthesis of pagan, Christian, and Jewish legacies, reinterpreted through Islamic theology and its emphasis on the Word rather than an image.
The Beginnings of Symbolism in Islam (Detailed Evidence)
The Dome of the Rock’s inscription program as a template for later Islamic religious symbolism:
Inscriptions are not merely decorative; they articulate doctrinal positions and divine unity in a way that prefigures later Islamic iconography.
The text on the Dome of the Rock runs along the upper registers, not dominating the main decorative plane, indicating a layered symbolic program rather than a single central image.
The inscriptions themselves include Qur’anic verses emphasizing monotheism and the Word of God, such as (examples follow the article’s content):
: “Who has not taken to Him a son and Who has not any associate in the Kingdom.”
: “The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only the Messenger of God, and His Word that He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers, and say not, 'Three'.”
The Bethlehem Church mosaics reveal how Christian iconography previously used altars, books, and crosses to symbolize doctrinal content, and how these elements can be reinterpreted in Islamic terms later on, giving rise to a distinct Islamic symbolic program.
The textual inscriptions in Bethlehem reveal doctrinal content (e.g., the Council of Ephesus’s doctrine on the Virgin Mary as Theotokos) and function as architectural-intrinsic elements, replacing figural images in places where they would traditionally appear.
The Dome of the Rock’s inscriptions about Unity and the Word illustrate how the visual program can revolve around the Qur’anic message rather than human or divine figures.
The Damascus Great Mosque shows that early Islamic symbol systems could be deeply Islamic in content while still drawing on Christian decorative vocabularies.
The conclusion is that early Islamic art created a religious vocabulary anchored in the Word (Koran) and its symbols, using a blend of Christian iconographic motifs repurposed to reflect an Islamic worldview.
Religious Symbolism in the Mosque
Gradual shift from figurative to written symbolism within mosque decoration, especially under Abbasid patronage:
Initial Omayyad inscriptions on the Nilometer in Cairo (714–716 A.D.) were utilitarian; later, Kufic calligraphy in highly symbolic form became prominent (in the Nilometer inscriptions and elsewhere).
This shift is part of a broader move from figural decoration to script-based decoration in Islamic religious art.
The Nilometer inscription example: a Qur’anic verse chosen for decorative purpose:
Translates to: “Hast thou not seen how that God has sent down out of heaven water, and in the morning the earth becomes green?”
The verse is expressed in stylized Kufic script to serve as decorative iconography rather than doctrinal teaching through an image.
The Abbasid period marks a turning point where written inscriptions become the primary vehicle for religious symbolism (instead of images) in mosques and other religious buildings.
Sultan Hassan (Cairo, 757–764 H/1356–1362 A.D.) as a high point of Islamic religious symbolism in architecture:
The doorway to the great entrance (fig. 21) bears the Qur’anic verse about God’s light and remembrance, a verse often associated with the miḥrab and the spiritual heart of the mosque; this verse appears in the doorway as a symbol of the mosque’s function as a center of prayer and remembrance.
The doorway inscription uses the verse about the “Likeness of His Light” in the central doorway, linking the entrance to the heart of prayer and the divine light, and to the light of the heavens as expressed in the Qur’an.
The miḥrab (Fig. 24) contains the well-known verse:
: “The Turn thou thy face towards the Holy Mosque; and wherever you are, turn your faces towards it.”
The four liwân (long fascia bands around the walls) feature ornate kufic inscriptions with Qur’anic verses that frame the architecture and unify decoration with text:
The verses include: “Surely We have given thee a manifest victory, that God may forgive thee thy former and thy latter sins…” and other verses extolling divine guidance and paradise.
The great inscription around the tomb/chamber (Fig. 31) uses a long Qur’anic verse from Surah known as the “Light” or similar, and is designed to dominate the space and unify the surrounding decorative elements.
The Paradise imagery in Sultan Hassan:
The six doorways into the court carry inscriptions about gardens, rivers, and lasting bliss, e.g.,
: “Their Lord gives them good tidings of mercy from Him and good pleasure: for them await gardens wherein is lasting bliss, therein to dwell forever and ever.”
: “The godfearing shall be amidst gardens and fountains: Enter you them in peace and security.”
The tomb’s inscription uses a verse that ties the “Likeness of His Light” motif to a royal, paradisiacal imagery in heaven, aligning the earthly mosque with the heavenly realm.
The overall architectural-literary synthesis in Sultan Hassan:
The main inscription bands unify the architecture; in turn, the various architectural elements (miḥrab, minbar, doors, windows, dome) receive decoration that echoes the central scriptural content.
The decorative bands on the walls and doorways reinforce the idea that the mosque expresses God’s Word rather than depicting it iconographically.
The mosque is presented as a rational, harmonious universe, where the Word of God binds the space and provides a neo-Platonic sense of cosmic order.
Important interpretive contrast:
Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity uses iconographic content that replaces human figures with scriptural/institutional content (council decrees) and with symbols of Trinity (altar, book, cross) to articulate Christian doctrine.
Sultan Hassan uses Qur’anic inscriptions to articulate Islamic doctrine and to symbolize the mosque as a space where God’s Word governs space and time, rather than through figural representation.
The broader conclusion about mosque decoration: the Word replaces imagery as the central symbolic medium, while the architectural form and decorative program serve to unify the space around Qur’anic content.
The author’s overarching claim: the Islamic symbolic vocabulary, culminating in monumental mosques like Sultan Hassan, represents a mature, classical/neo-Platonic approach to symbol and meaning, where the Word and light become the primary signs of the divine presence in religious architecture.
The World View: Islam Between Logos and Word in Visual Form
The central ideological pivot: Islam emphasizes the Word (the Qur’an) as the faithful reproduction of the heavenly Book, making it the most appropriate symbol for God’s presence in art and architecture.
The Word as symbol and the absence of a central hierarchy of saints and religious figures in Islam mean that the symbolic language is designed to educate, inspire, and remind believers of the divine truth through letters, verses, and their architectural deployment rather than through images of persons.
The visual program in mosques and religious buildings embodies a classical and neoclassical balance: a world order expressed in art through structure, repetition, proportion, and calligraphic text that communicates theological truths.
The relationship to Christian iconography remains close in early phases (Dome of the Rock, Bethlehem, Damascus) but evolves into a uniquely Islamic vocabulary that foregrounds the Word and the cosmic order rather than human or divine likenesses.
The author’s intent: to present a continuous link from Hellenistic art through Early Christian representation to Islamic iconography, showing how Islamic art founded a robust symbolic system that expresses a medieval world vision through the Word rather than through the image of God or human-like figures.
Key Concepts, Dates, and Verses to Remember
Key dates:
Dome of the Rock decoration inscribed around .
Bethlehem Church mosaics decorate between the late 7th and early 8th centuries (680–787 A.D.).
Damascus Umayyad Mosque decoration (A.D. 715) reflects Christian iconographic influence.
Sultan Hassan mosque in Cairo, (757-764 H).
Core Qur’anic verses cited in decoration (examples):
Theological anchors:
Tawḥīd (the oneness of God) as the central Islamic doctrine guiding symbol use.
The Word of God (the Qur’an) as an uncreated, authoritative representation of divine truth in heaven, mirrored by inscriptions on earth.
The Logos vs. Word dichotomy in classical thought: in Christian iconography God is symbolized by the human form (Logos as Word) while Islam symbolically anchors divinity in the Word itself (the Qur’an) rather than a human or godly statue.
Influential scholars and ideas to connect with this material:
A. Grabar, L’iconoclasme byzantin (Byzantine iconoclasm) and its relation to Islamic art.
Oleg Grabar, Islamic Art and Byzantium; The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem;
Marguerite van Berchem, Creswell on early Islamic architecture and iconography;
Henry Stern on the Bethlehem mosaics and their iconography; John of Damascus’s doctrinal role in iconoclasm.
Philo of Alexandria and the classical association of the “Divine Image” with the Word.
Cumulative insight: the substitution of the Word for the image emerges as a coherent, principled response to the theological concerns around depicting God, supported by a long tradition of classical and Christian thought and refined within Islamic art to produce a mature, symbolically rich architectural language.
Quick-reference Glossary (for exams)
Logos: Reason or Word; in classical thought, a divine principle associated with God’s rational presence.
Tawḥīd: the oneness of God in Islam; foundational to the soteriological and symbolic program of Islamic art.
Miḥrab: the niche indicating the direction of prayer toward Mecca in a mosque.
Līwān: a long inscribed band in Islamic architecture carrying Qur’anic verses.
Kufic script: a highly angular, geometric style of calligraphy used in early Islamic inscriptions.
Iconoclasm: a historical movement (in Byzantium and Islam) that opposed or regulated the making and use of images as objects of worship or symbolic representation.
The Word (Koran): the verbally revealed, uncreated divine scripture in Islam, used as a primary symbolic medium in art.
Bibliographic anchors (selected, for quick cross-reference)
Grabar, Oleg. The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem; Islamic Art and Byzantium.
Stern, Henri. Les représentations des conciles dans l’église de la Nativité à Bethléem; various related essays on Byzantine iconography.
Creswell, K.A.C. Early Muslim Architecture; The Lawfulness of Painting in Early Islam.
Grabar, André. L’iconoclasme byzantin; Byzantine iconoclastic controversy and its influence on Islamic art.
van Berchem, Marguerite. The Mosaics of the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Nativity; comparative chorae.
Anastos, Milton V. The Ethical Theory of Images Formulated by the Iconoclasts in 754 and 815.
Ladner, G.B. The Concept of the Image in Greek Fathers and the Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy.
Note: The ideas above synthesize three inter-dependent approaches to Islamic art through its central religious symbolism (logos, Christian-derived iconography, and mature Islamic symbolism via the Word). Each approach independently supports the conclusion of a continuous development of religious symbolism from Hellenistic art through Early Christian representation to Islamic iconography, culminating in a distinctly Islamic symbolic system centered on the Word of God.