"How dare I mimic Allah? How dare I recreate his creations?"
This is what I heard from my Muslim parents as a kid who was obsessed with art.
This sadly meant me throwing out all of my art materials, and what my parents meant was me becoming more Muslim. I was told I was growing up (aka I was about to get my period soon), couldn't waste my time anymore (aka on non-Islamic things) and had to get serious about life (aka help mom in the kitchen, pray, remember Allah and read the Quran like a good Muslim girl).
Why is it haram (forbidden, sinful or impermissible) to draw living beings or people and animals in Islam?
Aniconism exists in Islam, or the absence of living beings in art, because the beliefs exist in the Quran (to worship Allah only) and in Hadith, Muhammad's sayings and doings.
This absence of people and animals in Islamic art is nothing but a divine restriction of freedom of expression, creativity and imagination, the very things that also make us human.
Mohammed was afraid of idolatry at the time he was begging, pleading, convincing, forcing, warring and coercing everyone around him to follow Islam and Allah to become Muslim. And now, in the 21st century, some Muslims have taken the "no drawings of Mo or people" rule way too far.
Narrated Said bin Abu Al-Hasan:
Said bin Abu Al-Hasan narrates a conversation between a panicked man who makes his living by making pictures with Ibn 'Abbas. Ibn 'Abbas relays the message heard from the Prophet that whoever makes a picture will be endlessly punished by Allah until he is able to put life into it - though he declared that would never be possible. The Hadith reports Ibn 'Abbas further advised the panicked man to make pictures of trees and any other inanimate objects.
— Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari
Reference (English Book) Vol. 3, Book 34, Hadith 428
Reference (Arabic Book) Book 34, Hadith 172
One of the most unfortunate downsides to this artistic restriction in Islam is taking away a child's curiosity and imagination to dream and create, while restricting adults to never explore art to its fullest glory. Heck, it's even caused Islamists, or far-right conservative Muslims, to hate people who create anything that dissents from Islam and enact violence in the name of Allah. I'm sure Charlie Hebdo or Salman Rushdie ring an alarm bell.
As an ExMuslim, I'm reclaiming my human right to create that got taken from me as a Muslim kid, and I am now using it to uplift, support and advocate for the global ExMuslim community with Haram Doodles.
