The permissibility of depictions of
Muhammad, the founder of
Islam, has long been a concern in the
religion's history. Oral and written descriptions are readily accepted by all traditions of
Islam, but there is disagreement about visual depictions.
[1][2] The
Quran does not explicitly forbid images of Muhammad, but there are a few
hadith (supplemental teachings) which have explicitly prohibited Muslims from creating visual depictions of figures.[
citation needed]
Most
Sunni Muslims believe that visual depictions of all the
prophets of Islam should be prohibited
[3] and are particularly averse to visual representations of Muhammad.
[4] The key concern is that the use of images can encourage
idolatry.
[5] In
Shia Islam, however, images of Muhammad are quite common nowadays, even though Shia scholars historically were against such depictions.
[4][6] Still, many Muslims who take a stricter view of the supplemental traditions will sometimes challenge any depiction of Muhammad, including those created and published by non-Muslims.