Muhammad & Pictures:-
In the following Hadith reports, Muhammad made prohibitions which were of course copied and plagiarised - like most of the other important ideas in the Quran - from the Bible.
Leviticus 26.1" You shall make no idols nor graven image, nor erect a pillar, nor shall you set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God".
The instruction very clearly means not to create anything to which man should pray to. It NEVER meant not to paint or to sculpt animated forms for artistic purposes.
For reasons of allegedly protecting the Torah, the rabbis, in their wisdom, made a sweeping prohibition thus denying the Israelites from becoming important and contributing artists except in depecting fruits, flowers and geometric designs. Muhammad, blindly pursued the same idea.
The followers of Muhammad later excelled in such arts.
It is important to note that these prohibitions are not mentioned in any verse of the Quran.
In fact the words picture or pictures do not appear anywhere in the Quran describing a painting of any kind. This is one more instance where the Sunna supersedes the Quran.
Al-Muwatta Hadith Hadith 54.8 Pictures and Images
Malik related to me from Nafi from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that she bought a cushion which had pictures on it. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw it, he stopped at the door and did not enter. She recognised disapproval on his face and said, "Messenger of Allah, I turn in repentance to Allah and His Messenger. What have I done wrong?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "What is the meaning of this cushion?" She said, "I bought it for you to sit and recline on." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Those who make such pictures will be punished on the Day of Rising. It will be said to them, 'Bring to life what you have created'. Then he said, 'The angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures.' "
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 1.419 Narrated byAisha
Um Habiba and Um Salama mentioned about a church they had seen in Ethiopia in which there were pictures. They told the Prophet about it, on which he said, "If any religious man dies amongst those people they would build a place of worship at his grave and make these pictures in it. They will be the worst creature in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection."
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 3.428 Narrated bySaid bin Abu Al Hasan
While I was with Ibn 'Abbas a man came and said, "O father of 'Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn 'Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle. I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn 'Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects."
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 4.448 Narrated byAbu Talha
I heard Allah's Apostle saying; "Angels (of Mercy) do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or a picture of a living creature (a human being or an animal)."
*** Muhammad's fear of and loathing of dogs was personal and must have been based upon a traumatic experience that he had had when he was a child or as a shepherd; otherwise it is a particularly idiotic and totally unwarranted dogs prohibitions especially since these animals are amongst the most domesticated, the most loyal and the most loving of all the other animals. That is why most 'Muslims' do not have them at home***
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 4.570 Narrated byIbn Abbas
The Prophet entered the Ka'ba and found in it the pictures of (Prophet) Abraham and Mary. On that he said' "What is the matter with them ( i.e. Quraish)? They have already heard that angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures; yet this is the picture of Abraham. And why is he depicted as practicing divination by arrows?"
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 4.571 Narrated byIbn Abbas
When the Prophet saw pictures in the Ka'ba, he did not enter it till he ordered them to be erased. When he saw (the pictures of Abraham and Ishmael carrying the arrows of divination, he said, "May Allah curse them (i.e. the Quraish)! By Allah, neither Abraham nor Ishmael practiced divination by arrows."
*** The above statements of Muhammad could not have possibly been true considering the 'facts', as metioned in the Ahadith.
Muhammad had been visiting the Ka'ba since he was a young man and not once, in all the stories of the other Ahadith, nor in any verse in the Quran, was there any mention or report about such pictures existing in the Ka'ba.
The same Muhammad who riled so much against the rock gods of the Ka'ba, would have unhesitatingly also mentioned the alleged pictures in the Quran.
Bukhari should have known better than to include them as Sahih/truthful items in his book, since they contradict and defy logic and were clearly made up by Muhammad's followers just like the hundreds of thousands of other alleged sayings and deeds of Muhammad that Bukhari discounted as utter fabrications and none sense.
In reality these stories were invented by Muhammad's followers in similitude to Abraham's destruction of his father's idols, to give Muhammad a similar sense of great intellect, belief and originality ***
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 5.338 Narrated byIbn Abbas
Abu Talha, a companion of Allah's Apostle and one of those who fought at Badr together with Allah's Apostle told me that Allah's Apostle said. "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture." He meant the images of creatures that have souls.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 7.110/840/844 Narrated byAisha 3.318;
(the wife of the Prophet) I bought a cushion having on it pictures (of animals). When Allah's Apostle saw it, he stood at the door and did not enter. I noticed the sign of disapproval on his face and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I repent to Allah and His Apostle. What sin have I committed?' Allah's Apostle said. "What is this cushion?" I said, "I have bought it for you so that you may sit on it and recline on it." Allah's Apostle said, "The makers of these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them, 'Give life to what you have created (i.e., these pictures).' " The Prophet added, "The Angels of (Mercy) do not enter a house in which there are pictures (of animals)."
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 7.842 Narrated byAnas
Aisha had a thick curtain (having pictures on it) and she screened the side of her house with it. The Prophet said to her, "Remove it from my sight, for its pictures are still coming to my mind in my prayers."
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 7.833 Narrated byAbu Talha
The Prophet said, "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures."
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 8.130 Narrated byAisha
The Prophet entered upon me while there was a curtain having pictures (of animals) in the house. His face got red with anger, and then he got hold of the curtain and tore it into pieces. The Prophet said, "Such people as paint these pictures will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection ."
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 9.165 Narrated byIbn Abbas
The Prophet said, "Whoever claims to have seen a dream which he did not see, will be ordered to make a knot between two barley grains which he will not be able to do; and if somebody listens to the talk of some people who do not like him (to listen) or they run away from him, then molten lead will be poured into his ears on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever makes a picture, will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and will be ordered to put a soul in that picture, which he will not be able to do."
Ishaq:552 "The Quraysh had put pictures in the Ka'aba including two of Jesus and one of Mary. Muhammad ordered that the pictures should be erased."