The Quran tells us that God did not merely shape us physically, He breathed His Spirit into us. His Spirit is what grants us intellect, perception, and the capacity to reflect divine attributes. The potential to be just, truthful, merciful and creative.

 

Among God’s Names mentioned in the Quran are:

 

• Al-Ḥaqq – The Truth (Quran 22:6)
• Ar-Raḥmān – The Merciful (Quran 1:1)
• Al-Muṣawwir – The Fashioner (Quran 59:24)
• Al-Khāliq – The Creator (Quran 59:24)

 

We are commanded to speak the truth; because God is The Truth.

We are rewarded for showing mercy; because God is The Merciful.

 

But when it comes to shaping, forming, or creating beauty in the world, some claim it is haram. Why is creativity, when done in gratitude and without idolatry, viewed differently than justice or truthfulness?

 

If we accept that truth and mercy are reflections of God’s Spirit in us, why not also creativity?

 

The Quran does not condemn art, form, or creation, it condemns idolatry. The line is not creation itself, but whom or what we serve through it.

 

 

 

The Example of Isa

Here, the act of shaping a living form, something often cited as forbidden in hadith literature is not presented as blameworthy. Isa shapes the figure of a bird from clay, and by God's permission, it comes to life. This creative act is neither condemned nor restricted.

 

This verse clearly demonstrates a key principle: the ability to shape form is not sinful in itself. What distinguishes a righteous act from a sinful one is not the material or the image, but the intention behind it.

 

This aligns with the broader Quranic theme: form is neutral, idolatry is not. The problem arises not from creating an object, but from misplacing reverence.

 

In this light, the widespread claim that the very act of sculpting, painting, or designing is haram finds no support in the Quran. If anything, the Quran invites us to reflect, to create meaningfully, and to recognize God's creative power working through us, not to suppress it.

 

 

 

 

A Reflection on Suleyman’s Kingdom

The verse speaks of Suleyman, tasked with managing a kingdom, gifted by God with command over the jinn. Among the things made for him: [tamāthīl] statues, forms.

 

No condemnation follows. Quite the opposite. It concludes with God's command: Work in gratitude.

 

This alone should give pause. If form itself were evil, why would Suleyman be associated with it and praised?

 

 

 

Quran vs. Hadith

The Quran never says art is haram. There is no verse that forbids drawing, sculpture, or image-making. There is no mention of angels avoiding homes with pictures, or people being punished for creating images.

 

Yet hadith literature includes such claims:

 

Narrated `Aisha:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) returned from a journey when I had placed a curtain of mine having pictures over (the door of) a chamber of mine. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw it, he tore it and said, "The people who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection will be those who try to make the like of Allah's creations." So we turned it (i.e., the curtain) into one or two cushions.

(Sahih Bukhari 5954)

 

Abdullah reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Verity the most grievously tormented people on the Day of Resurrection would be the painters of pictures. Ashajj (one of the narrators) in the hadith narrated by him did not make mention of the word" verity".

(Sahih Muslim 2109a)

 

Narrated Abu Talha:

I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) 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).

(Sahih Bukhari 3225)

 

These narrations describe severe consequences for those who create images or statues, declaring them among the worst sinners.

 

 

What the Quran says:

And who is more wicked than he who invents lies about God, or says: “It has been inspired to me,” when We did not inspire anything to him; or who says: “I will bring down the same as what God has sent down.” And if you could only see the wicked at the moments of death when the angels extend their hands to them: “Bring yourselves out.” Today you will be given the severest punishment for what you used to say about God without truth, and you used to be arrogant towards His revelations.

(Quran 6:93)

 

And do not say, as to what your tongues falsely describe: “This is permissible, and that is forbidden;” that you seek to invent lies about God. Those who invent lies about God will not succeed.

(Quran 16:116)

 

Who is more wicked than he who invents lies about God, or denies His revelations? These will receive their recompense from the record; so that when Our messengers come to terminate their lives, they will say: “Where are those whom you used to call on besides God?” They said: “They have abandoned us!” And they bore witness upon themselves that they were rejecters. 

(Quran 7:37)

 

The Quran clearly identifies inventing false religious laws and lies about God as the greatest injustice, not image-making.

 

Idolatry is the problem

Ibrahim challenges his people, not for making forms, but for worshipping them. The focus is not on the statues' existence, but on the act of reverence and devotion they inspired.

 

Later, he smashes them to make a point, not to ban artistry, but to break false beliefs.

 

The Quran uses this story to condemn shirk (associating with God), not sculpture or carving itself.

 

If forming an image were inherently sinful, the Quran would have said so. But instead, it warns against giving divine power or reverence to something man-made.

 

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