And part not with my revelations for a trifling price': Reconceptualizing Islam's Aniconism through the lenses of reification and representation as meaning-making
This article contends that Islamic prohibitions on certain types of figural imagery serve a dual function. In addition to fulfilling their traditional Islamic role related to preserving Allah's sovereignty, such prohibitions also facilitate in preventing Islam's essential message from bein...
| Published in: | Social compass |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2020]
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| In: |
Social compass
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Qaraḍāwī, Yūsuf al- 1926-2022
/ ʿAlwānī, Ṭāhā Ǧābir Faiyāḍ al- 1935-2016
/ Islam
/ Image prohibition
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| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BJ Islam |
| Further subjects: | B
Aniconism
B Aniconisme B Islam B Images B Representations B Yusuf al-Qaradawi B Imagery B représentations B Taha Jabir al-Alwani |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This article contends that Islamic prohibitions on certain types of figural imagery serve a dual function. In addition to fulfilling their traditional Islamic role related to preserving Allah's sovereignty, such prohibitions also facilitate in preventing Islam's essential message from being transformed via crass and sentimentalist reproductions of its most sacred symbols and figures. The article first defines the term icon' and then engages with the more recent discourse surrounding representation as meaning-making. It then connects Islamic aniconism to Marxist and post-structuralist concerns related to reification, commodification, and the transformation of sacred symbols into forms of personal property. The final part of this article engages with the rulings of Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Taha Jabir al-Alwani regarding figural imagery to show that these prohibitions are not absolute and that there are varying degrees of acceptability based on form, content, and purpose. Cet article avance que les interdictions islamiques portant sur certains types d'images figuratives remplissent une double fonction. En plus de remplir leur rôle traditionnel islamique lié à la préservation de la souveraineté d'Allah, ces interdictions permettent également d'éviter de transformer le message fondamental de l'islam par le biais de reproductions grossières et sentimentales de ses symboles et figures les plus sacrés. L'article définit d'abord le terme d'« icône », puis aborde le discours plus récent portant sur la représentation en tant que production de sens. Il relie ensuite l'aniconisme islamique aux préoccupations marxistes et poststructuralistes liées à la réification, à la marchandisation et à la transformation des symboles sacrés en formes de propriété personnelle. La dernière partie de cet article aborde les décisions de Yusuf al-Qaradawi et de Taha Jabir al-Alwani concernant l'imagerie figurative afin de montrer que ces interdictions ne sont pas absolues et qu'il existe différents degrés d'acceptabilité fondés sur la forme, le contenu et le but. |
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| ISSN: | 1461-7404 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Social compass
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0037768619894822 |