Images of Mohammad are prohibited, so how does anyone know when an image is of him when it isnt labeled?
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If you haven’t specified the image is Mohammad then you’ve just drawn a guy, it only becomes prohibited when you claim that image is one of Mohammad
There is no central authority, no Pope, in Islam. They prohibition of images was not new or unique to Islam, but come from Judaism and Christianity, and the ban on Idolatry. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idolatry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idolatry)
Many protestant churches have a similar rule, and have no images of Jesus. But they are less likely to get angry or violent when someone else interprets the rule differently.
You can use context clues to determine who the figure is supposed to represent, even if it doesn’t explicitly state who it is.
No one knows what God looks like, but if you draw an old man in the sky with angelic features, I’m sure most people would assume who it’s depicting.
Iirc, the ban is in place to prevent idolatry, so if it’s an inconspicuous image, I’d assume most wouldn’t care when they see it
Islam is against idolatry in general, as are many other religions. This means worship and depiction of idols of any kind, including even the prophet himself. Within this context, this prohibition applies to Muslims depicting Muhammad for the purposes of worship.
However, most of the modern reactions to depictions of Muhammad tend to be influenced by the political/cultural dynamics between Western and Islamic countries more than religious dogma, where throughout history, Western depictions of Muhammad tended to be negative and mocking – for instance even Dante’s Divine Comedy has him in hell as a false prophet.
So, it’s a complex issue really, but no – there obviously isn’t a standard universal image of Muhammad, it’s really when someone portrays him specifically and knowingly that Muslims tend to have an issue with.
What’s amazing, is the first time SouthPark drew Mohammed in the Super Best Friends episode, no one gave a flying fuck.
It wasn’t until Tom Cruise became a fudge packer that it became a problem.
Same way Catholics know when a picture depicts the Virgin Mary or Mary Magdalene, or some particular saint. Semiotics and symbolism.
Everyone is saying its only forbidden or you’d only get found out if you labelled it, but Mohammed is an exceptionally popular name among Muslims (if you combine the spellings, it’s the most popular boys name in the UK!) So it would seem to me that if you drew a middle eastern-looking guy _and labelled it as a drawing of Mohammed_, you could, if questioned, still say that it was a drawing of just a random middle Eastern guy called Mohammed. I guess you’d have to specifically say it was a drawing of _The Prophet Mohammed_.
if no one knows what Mohammad looks like, if i claim to be Mohammad, will Muslims worship me or kill me?
Islam prohibits religious imagery of people and animals so there isn’t a clear or defining image of Mohammad used in Islam. Many prominent Islamic prophets are figures in other Abrahamic religions like Adam, Moses and Jesus.
There is no way to tell it’s Mohammad unless through context or specified.
Images of Muhammed aren’t prohibited, it’s pictures of living things that are a no-no. But…. Since that is a practical difficulty to stop, then it seems that the enforcement have focused on Muhammed.
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