Muhammad and the Qur’an
The story of Muhammad and the Qur’an are quite interesting to me, as it pertains to our class discussions, because of the equivalence that is drawn between the Prophet Muhammad and other prophets. As is written in Professor Asani’s Infidel of Love in Chapter 3, “Muhammad was sent by God as the ‘bringer of good tidings'”. I’d never previously thought of Muhammad in the same way as I’d though of Jesus, but in reality they are quite similar figures. However, the one difference that makes all the difference is the role of the prophet in the deliverance of the word of God. While Jesus performed miracles and spoke the word of God in the way he carried out his life, Muhammad did so through the gift of the Qur’an. It was for this gift, that he was regarded as a “shining lamp”. Though, in lecture Professor Asani also mentions how Muhammad was seen as living out the Qur’an as well.
“You have indeed in the Messenger of God a beautiful model (uswatun hasana) for any who hopes in God and the hereafter and remembers Allah much.” (Quran 33:21)
This can essentially be interpreted as meaning that Muhammad exemplified and lived out the teachings of the Qur’an in his own life.
For my art piece, I chose to use a graphic design tool, though a bit novice, in order to demonstrate what I thought was an artistic representation of the transfer of the Qur’an. I’ve placed Muhammad, the human figure, atop a mountain peak in order to represent how close to God he was imagined to be. From the clouds, there comes down the knowledge of the Qur’an, which is represented in the image of a human head. Between that and the human figure is a book. I’ve used this book to demonstrate the transfer of the Qur’an from consciousness to text. Though, I should note that the Qur’an was not transferred to a text until after Muhammad had already passed I believe.
I also thought that this image was even more interesting as it can easily be modified. In the background, I’ve placed transparent writings of the word “allah” in order to make it clear that this is related to Islam. However, in the spirit of connecting Muhammad and Jesus, one could change the word to “God” and it could also symbolize the transfer of the word of God from the divine world to Jesus in the physical world.