Editing Religious art (section)

===Figure representation===
The Islamic resistance to the representation of living beings ultimately stems from the belief that the creation of living forms is unique to God. It is for this reason that the role of images and image makers has been controversial.

The strongest statements on the subject of figural depiction are made in the [[Hadith]] (Traditions of the Prophet), where painters are challenged to "breathe life" into their creations and threatened with punishment on the Day of Judgment. 
[[File:Ardabil Carpet.jpg|thumb|The [[Ardabil Carpet]], a [[Persian carpet]], [[Tabriz]], mid-16th century, depicts floral gardens shaped in a manner that reflects the Islamic symbolism of paradise.]]
The Qur'an is less specific but condemns idolatry and uses the Arabic term musawwir ("maker of forms", or artist) as an epithet for God. Partially as a result of this religious sentiment, figures in painting were often stylized and, in some cases, the destruction of figurative artworks occurred. [[Iconoclasm]] was previously known in the Byzantine period and aniconicism was a feature of the Judaic world, thus placing the Islamic objection to figurative representations within a larger context. As ornament, however, figures were largely devoid of any larger significance and perhaps therefore posed less challenge.<ref>{{cite web|title=Figural Representation in Islamic Art &#124; Thematic Essay &#124; Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/figs/hd_figs.htm|access-date=2013-09-06|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>
As with other forms of Islamic ornamentation, artists freely adapted and stylized basic human and animal forms, giving rise to a great variety of figural-based designs.