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==Muslim iconoclasm==<!-- This section is linked from [[Umayyad]] --> {{further|Aniconism in Islam}} <!-- destruction of another religion's images is not iconoclasm [[File:Taller Buddha of Bamiyan before and after destruction.jpg|thumb|The taller of the [[Buddhas of Bamiyan]] in 1963 and in 2008 after destruction]] --> [[Islam]] has a strong tradition of forbidding the depiction of figures, especially religious figures,<ref name="crone">[[Patricia Crone|Crone, Patricia]]. 2005. "[https://www.hs.ias.edu/files/Crone_Articles/Crone_Islam_Judeo-Christianity_and_Byzantine_Iconoclasm.pdf Islam, Judeo-Christianity and Byzantine Iconoclasm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111005621/https://www.hs.ias.edu/files/Crone_Articles/Crone_Islam_Judeo-Christianity_and_Byzantine_Iconoclasm.pdf |date=2018-11-11 }}." pp. 59–96 in ''From Kavād to al-Ghazālī: Religion, Law and Political Thought in the Near East, c. 600–1100'', (''[[Variorum Collected Studies|Variorum]]''). [[Ashgate Publishing]].</ref> with [[Sunni Islam]] forbidding it entirely. In the [[history of Islam]], the act of removing idols from the [[Ka'ba]] in [[Mecca]] has great symbolic and historic importance for all believers. In general, Muslim societies have [[Aniconism in Islam|avoided the depiction]] of living beings (both animals and humans) within such sacred spaces as [[mosque]]s and [[madrasah]]s. This ban on figural representation is not based on the [[Qur'an]], instead, it is based on traditions which are described within the [[Hadith]]. The prohibition of figuration has not always been extended to the secular sphere, and a robust tradition of figural representation exists within [[Islamic art|Muslim art]].<ref name="flood2002">{{cite journal |last=Flood |first=Finbarr Barry |title=Between cult and culture: Bamiyan, Islamic iconoclasm, and the museum |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=84 |issue=4 |year=2002 |pages=641–659 |doi=10.2307/3177288|jstor=3177288 }}</ref> However, Western authors have tended to perceive "a long, culturally determined, and unchanging tradition of violent iconoclastic acts" within [[Islamic culture|Islamic society]].<ref name="flood2002"/> === Early Islam in Arabia === The first act of Muslim iconoclasm dates to the beginning of Islam, in 630, when the various statues of [[Arabian mythology|Arabian deities]] housed in the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]] were destroyed. There is a tradition that [[Muhammad]] spared a fresco of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Jesus]].<ref>{{cite book | title=The Life of Muhammad. A translation of Ishaq's "Sirat Rasul Allah".|publisher=Oxford University Press | last=Guillaume | first=Alfred | author-link=Alfred Guillaume | year=1955 | page=552 | isbn=978-0-19-636033-1 | quote=Quraysh had put pictures in the Ka'ba including two of Jesus son of Mary and Mary (on both of whom be peace!). ... The apostle ordered that the pictures should be erased except those of Jesus and Mary. | url=https://archive.org/details/IbnIshaq-SiratRasulAllah-translatorA.Guillaume | access-date=2011-12-08}}</ref> This act was intended to bring an end to the [[idolatry]] which, in the Muslim view, characterized [[Jahiliyyah]]. The destruction of the idols of Mecca did not, however, determine the treatment of other religious communities living under Muslim rule after the expansion of the [[caliphate]]. Most Christians under Muslim rule, for example, continued to produce icons and to decorate their churches as they wished. A major exception to this pattern of tolerance in early Islamic history was the "Edict of Yazīd", issued by the [[Umayyad]] caliph [[Yazid II|Yazīd II]] in 722–723.<ref>{{cite book | last=Grabar | first=André | title=L'iconoclasme byzantin: le dossier archéologique |trans-title=Byzantine iconoclasm: The archaeological record | publisher=Flammarion | series=Champs | year=1984 |orig-year=1957 |isbn=978-2-08-012603-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D9GfAAAAMAAJ | language=fr | pages=155–156}}</ref> This edict ordered the destruction of crosses and Christian images within the territory of the caliphate. Researchers have discovered evidence that the order was followed, particularly in present-day [[Jordan]], where [[archaeological]] evidence shows the removal of images from the mosaic floors of some, although not all, of the churches that stood at this time. But Yazīd's iconoclastic policies were not continued by his successors, and Christian communities of the [[Levant]] continued to make icons without significant interruption from the sixth century to the ninth.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = King | first1 = G. R. D. | year = 1985 | title = Islam, iconoclasm, and the declaration of doctrine | journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | volume = 48 | issue = 2| pages = 276–277 | doi=10.1017/s0041977x00033346| s2cid = 162882785 }}</ref> === Egypt === [[File:Sphinx of Giza 9059.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Sphinx of Giza]]'s profile in 2010, without its nose]] [[Al-Maqrīzī]], writing in the 15th century, attributes the missing nose on the [[Great Sphinx of Giza]] to iconoclasm by [[Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr]], a [[Sufi]] Muslim in the mid-1300s. He was reportedly outraged by local Muslims making offerings to the Great Sphinx in the hope of controlling the flood cycle, and he was later executed for vandalism. However, whether this was actually the cause of the missing nose has been debated by historians.<ref>{{cite web |title=What happened to the Sphinx's nose? |url=https://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/blog/photo-what-happened-to-the-sphinxs-nose-180950757/ |website=Smithsonian Journeys |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |date=December 8, 2009}}</ref> [[Mark Lehner]], having performed an archaeological study, concluded that it was broken with instruments at an earlier unknown time between the 3rd and 10th centuries.<ref name=Lehner>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/sphinx00chri|title=Sphinx : history of a monument|first=Christiane|last=Zivie-Coche|year=2004|publisher=Ithaca : [[Cornell University Press]]|isbn=978-0801489549|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> === Ottoman conquests === Certain conquering Muslim armies have used local temples or houses of worship as mosques. An example is [[Hagia Sophia]] in [[Istanbul]] (formerly [[Constantinople]]), which was converted into a mosque in 1453. Most icons were desecrated and the rest were covered with plaster. In 1934 the government of Turkey decided to convert the Hagia Sophia into a museum and the restoration of the mosaics was undertaken by the [[Byzantine Institute of America|American Byzantine Institute]] beginning in 1932. === Contemporary events === {{further|Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia|Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL}} Certain Muslim denominations continue to pursue iconoclastic agendas. There has been much controversy within Islam over the [[Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia|recent and apparently on-going destruction of historic sites]] by [[Saudi Arabia]]n authorities, prompted by the fear they could become the subject of "[[idolatry]]."<ref>{{cite news |last=Howden |first=Daniel |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article304029.ece |title=Independent Newspaper on-line, London, Jan 19, 2007 |publisher=News.independent.co.uk |date=2005-08-06 |access-date=2013-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908083433/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article304029.ece |archive-date=September 8, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Ahmed | first=Irfan |date=2006 | title=The Destruction of Holy Sites in Mecca and Medina | magazine=[[Islamica Magazine]] |number=15 | url=http://www.islamicamagazine.com/content/view/161/59/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205043008/http://www.islamicamagazine.com/content/view/161/59/ | archive-date=5 February 2006 | url-status=dead | access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> A recent act of iconoclasm was the 2001 destruction of the giant [[Buddhas of Bamyan]] by the then-[[Taliban]] government of [[Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Afghan Taliban leader orders destruction of ancient statues|url=http://www.rawa.org/statues.htm|access-date=2013-04-30|publisher=Rawa.org}}</ref> The act generated worldwide protests and was not supported by other Muslim governments and organizations. It was widely perceived in the Western media as a result of the Muslim prohibition against figural decoration. Such an account overlooks "the coexistence between the Buddhas and the Muslim population that marveled at them for over a millennium" before their destruction.<ref name="flood2002"/> According to art historian F. B. Flood, analysis of the Taliban's statements regarding the Buddhas suggest that their destruction was motivated more by political than by theological concerns.<ref name="flood2002"/> Taliban spokesmen have given many different [[Buddhas of Bamyan#Destruction|explanations of the motives]] for the destruction. During the [[Tuareg rebellion (2012)|Tuareg rebellion of 2012]], the radical Islamist militia [[Ansar Dine]] destroyed various [[Sufism|Sufi]] shrines from the 15th and 16th centuries in the city of [[Timbuktu]], [[Mali]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Tharoor |first=Ishaan |title=Timbuktu's Destruction: Why Islamists Are Wrecking Mali's Cultural Heritage |url=https://world.time.com/2012/07/02/timbuktus-destruction-why-islamists-are-wrecking-malis-cultural-heritage/ |magazine=Time|access-date=10 July 2012 |date=2012-07-02}}</ref> In 2016, the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC) sentenced [[Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi]], a former member of Ansar Dine, to nine years in prison for this destruction of cultural world heritage. This was the first time that the ICC convicted a person for such a crime.<ref name="Atlantic">{{cite web|title=Nine Years for the Cultural Destruction of Timbuktu|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/09/timbuktu-verdict-icc/501761/|website=The Atlantic|access-date=21 October 2017|date=2016-09-27}}</ref> The [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] carried out iconoclastic attacks such as the destruction of Shia mosques and shrines. Notable incidents include blowing up the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus ([[Jonah]])<ref>{{cite news|title=Iraq jihadists blow up 'Jonah's tomb' in Mosul|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10989959/Iraq-jihadists-blow-up-Jonahs-tomb-in-Mosul.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10989959/Iraq-jihadists-blow-up-Jonahs-tomb-in-Mosul.html |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=25 July 2014|work=The Telegraph|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|date=25 July 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and destroying the Shrine to [[Seth]] in [[Mosul]].<ref>{{cite news|title=ISIS destroys Prophet Sheth shrine in Mosul|url=http://www.english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/07/26/ISIS-destroy-Prophet-Sheth-shrine-in-Mosul-.html|publisher=Al Arabiya News|date=26 July 2014|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-date=16 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916204834/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/07/26/ISIS-destroy-Prophet-Sheth-shrine-in-Mosul-.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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