Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis Ae ISSN: 1411-6855 .
2548-4737 .
Vol.
No.
2 (Juli 2.
, hlm.
569-591, doi: 10.
14421/qh.
https://ejournal.
uin-suka.
id/ushuluddin/qurdis/index Article History: Submitted: 28-12-2024 Revised: 17-01-2025 Accepted: 20-05-2025 Reception of the Prophet MuhammadAos Physical Descriptions from al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah in Digital Media Resepsi atas Deskripsi Fisik Nabi Muhammad dari al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah dalam Media Digital Muhammad Alfatih Suryadilaga .
Ahmad Murtaza MZ* .
Cut Nadila Apni .
Resky Eka Yulianti .
(*) Corresponding Author email, ahmadmurtaza378@gmail.
Departement of Hadith Studies.
UIN Sunan Kalijaga.
Papringan.
Caturtunggal.
Depok.
Sleman 55281 Yogyakarta.
Indonesia .
Departement of QurAoanic Studies and Exegesis.
Universitas PTIQ.
Jl.
Lebak Bulus Raya Lb.
Bulus.
Cilandak.
Kota Jakarta Selatan, 12440 Jakarta.
Indonesia Abstract This article examines debates over visual depictions of the Prophet Muhammad by reconnecting them to their canonical roots in al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah.
Classical hadith sources especially al-TirmiAos al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah, articulate detailed verbal portraits of the Prophet that function as an aniconic Auverbal iconAy within Islamic tradition.
It addresses a scholarly gap in which studies of cartoons, memes, and films are often media-centered and seldom grounded in the hadith corpus that first articulated the ProphetAos physical attributes, leaving the link between canonical verbal portraits and modern visual translations underexplored.
Methodologically, the article applies a reception-history approach .
eception analysi.
to three datasets: .
descriptive hadith on the ProphetAos traits, .
Indonesian sermons and mawlid recitations, and .
contemporary digital media .
emes, cartoons, film.
, using qualitative content analysis.
The study finds that controversy stems less from visualization per se than from competing regimes of authority that govern representation:
Islamic tradition transmits these canonical verbal portraits, whereas modern media often circulate images detached from those sources, intensifying public dispute.
Bridging textual scholarship and social practice, the article shows how syamAAoil-based descriptions are orally received in devotional settings and how their norms of reverence collide with satire- and free-speech logics online, clarifying why certain images provoke offense while others do not.
Keywords: Visual Representation.
Prophetic Depiction, al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah.
Reception Analysis.
Digital Media.
Abstrak Artikel ini menelaah perdebatan tentang visualisasi Nabi Muhammad dengan menautkannya kembali pada akar kanonik dalam al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah.
Sumber hadis klasikAikhususnya al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah karya al-TirmiAimerumuskan potret verbal rinci tentang sosok Nabi yang berfungsi sebagai Auikon verbalAy anikonik dalam tradisi Islam.
Kesenjangan riset yang disasar ialah kecenderungan kajian terhadap kartun, meme, dan film yang berpusat pada media dan jarang berlandaskan korpus hadis yang mula-mula merumuskan ciri fisik Nabi, sehingga mata rantai antara potret verbal kanonik dan terjemahan visual modern kurang dikaji.
Secara metodologis, artikel ini menerapkan pendekatan sejarah-resepsi .
ajian reseps.
pada tiga himpunan data: .
hadis deskriptif tentang ciri fisik Nabi, .
ceramah dan pembacaan mawlid di Indonesia, dan .
media digital kontemporer .
eme, kartun, fil.
, dengan analisis isi kualitatif.
Temuan menunjukkan A 2025.
The Author Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives BY-NC-ND: This work is licensed under a Jurnal Studi Ilmu-ilmu AlQurAoan dan Hadis Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.
0 International License .
ttps://creativecommons.
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0/) which permits non-comercial use, reproduction, and distribution of the work whitout further permission provided the original work is attributed as spesified on Jurnal Studi Ilmu-ilmu Al-QurAoan dan Hadis and Open Access pages.
Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti bahwa kontroversi lebih banyak berakar pada pertarungan rezim otoritas yang mengatur representasi:
tradisi Islam mewariskan potret verbal kanonik ini, sementara media modern sering menampilkan figur yang terlepas dari sumber tersebut sehingga memicu sengketa publik.
Menjembatani kajian tekstual dan praktik sosial, artikel ini memperlihatkan bagaimana deskripsi syamAAoil diterima secara lisan di ruang devosional dan bagaimana norma penghormatannya berbenturan dengan logika satir serta kebebasan berekspresi di ruang digital, sehingga menjelaskan mengapa sebagian gambar memicu keberatan sementara yang lain tidak.
Kata kunci: Representasi Visual.
Penggambaran Kenabian, al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah.
Kajian Resepsi.
Media Digital.
Introduction Contrary to popular assumption, references to the Prophet MuuammadAos physical appearance are neither novel nor externally imposed.
Classical Muslim sourcesAiparticularly the 460 narrations compiled in al-SyamAil al MuuammadiyyahAi offer meticulous verbal portraits describing his complexion, hair texture, facial contours, and overall stature.
1 Transmitted by close Companions, these textual images function as an aniconic Auverbal icon,Ay enabling devotional imagination while respecting Sunni proscriptions against figurative art.
2 However, when these narrations enter modern visual media, the resulting representations often diverge from their canonical template.
Western cartoons and films, produced within a discourse of unrestricted artistic freedom, project faces and bodies that bear little philological or theological continuity with the uadth record, thereby fuelling recurrent controversy.
Contemporary scholarship on visual representations of the Prophet Muuammad is dominated by media-centered analyses of cartoons, memes, and graphic satire such as the Charlie Hebdo series.
3 While these studies excel in evaluating artistic style,4 public reception,5 and the politics of offense,6 they rarely ground their discussions in the classical uadth corpus that first articulated the ProphetAos physical attributes.
When uadth is invoked, it is often treated abstractlyAi either as a theoretical backdrop for aniconism or as a source cited in passing during textual criticism.
As a result, the crucial link between canonical verbal portraits and their subsequent visual translations has remained understudied.
Existing Islamic studies literature tends to focus on sra historiography7 or on normative debates about Of the 460 Hadths examined, six were identified by the researcher as offering a representative visual portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.
Ab AosA Muhammad bin AosA Al-Tirmi.
Al-SyamAAoil alMuhammadiyyah (DAr al-Fikr al-Ilmiyyah, 1.
, 7Ae13.
al-Lajnah al-DAimah lil-Buuth al-Ilmiyyah wa al-IftA.
FatAwA Al-Lajnah al-DAimah Ae al-Majmah al-lA, ed.
Aumad ibn Abd al-RazzAq al-Duwaysh (Riyadh: RiAsah IdArat al-Buuth al-Ilmiyyah wa alIftA, n.
), 3:268Ae70.
Christiane Gruber.
The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2.
, 25Ae28.
Ahmad Musyafiq.
AoUrgensi Sirah Nabawiyah Bagi Pemahaman Hadis NabawiAo.
At-Taqaddum 5, no.
: 212Ae31, https://doi.
org/10.
21580/at.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Reception of the Prophet MuhammadAos.
prophetic authority.
8 This article addresses that gap by tracing how the narrations in al-SyamAil al Muuammadiyyah migrate into devotional performance and, eventually, into global digital imagery.
By re-situating the cartoon controversy within a receptionhistory framework, the study offers a more balanced lens for understanding interfaith tensions and promoting cross-cultural dialogue.
The aim of this article is to reconnect modern visual controversies surrounding the Prophet Muuammad to their canonical textual roots.
Rather than treating the Prophet merely as an abstract ideal or focusing exclusively on cartoons and memes, the analysis is grounded in descriptive narrations contained in al-SyamAil alMuuammadiyyah.
This study addresses three research questions.
First, what is the juridical basis for the visualization of the Prophet Muhammad in the hadith text? Second, how is the construction of the figure of the Prophet Muhammad conveyed by the preacher? Third, how is the physical visualization of the Prophet Muhammad portrayed by the media? These questions are examined in detail in the sub-chapters of this article.
Although mainstream Sunni jurisprudence discourages figurative portrayals of the Prophet Muuammad.
Islamic history contains limited but significant visual traditionsAifrom Persian-Ottoman miniatures to Ottoman uilya calligraphyAithat rendered the syamAil narrations into images.
9 This study therefore adopts a more nuanced premise: verbal descriptions in al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah have inspired both aniconic and occasional figural representations within Muslim societies, whereas modern Western cartoons introduce additional iconographic layers that often ignore this textual lineage.
Controversy thus arises not merely because Authe West visualizes and Muslims do not,Ay but because different communities invoke distinct authority structuresAisuch as canonical uadth, devotional performances, and liberal freespeech discourseAito legitimize or censure prophetic depictions.
By tracing these intersecting lineages, the article clarifies why certain visualizations provoke outrage while others pass with little objection.
Kaharuddin Kaharuddin and Syafruddin Syafruddin.
AoPeran Sahabat Dalam Merekostruksi Keberadaan Hadis Nabi Muhammad SawAo.
TAJDID: Jurnal Pemikiran Keislaman Dan Kemanusiaan 1, no.
252Ae60, https://doi.
org/10.
52266/tadjid.
Rike Luluk Khoiriah.
AoPoligami Nabi Muhammad Menjadi Alasan Legitimasi Bagi Umatnya Serta Tanggapan Kaum OrientalisAo.
Jurnal Living Hadis 3, no.
: 1Ae21, https://doi.
org/10.
14421/livinghadis.
Febri Hijroh Mukhlis.
AoKonsep Ummah Dalam Piagam Madinah.
Asas Demokrasi Nabi Muhammad Dan Relevansinya Di IndonesiaAo.
Al-Tadabbur 5, no.
: 1Ae16.
Freek L.
Bakker.
The Challenge of the Silver Screen: An Analysis of the Cinematic Portraits of Jesus.
Rama.
Buddha, and Muhammad (Leiden: Brill, 2.
, 209.
Uur Derman.
Letters in Gold: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakp Sabanc Collection.
Istanbul (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1.
, 17Ae18.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti This study adopts a reception-history approach .
eception analysi.
to reconnect present-day debates on visual depictions of the Prophet with their canonical anchor in al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah.
The analysis is qualitative and comparative across three datasets: .
classical Hadth descriptions of the ProphetAos physical traits .
rawn primarily from al-SyamAAoi.
, .
Indonesian sermons and mawlid recitations in which these descriptions are orally performed and glossed for audiences, and .
contemporary digital media .
emes, cartoons, film still.
that circulate visual portrayals of the Prophet.
Inclusion criteria prioritize materials that explicitly cite, paraphrase, or thematize syamAAoil descriptors or the norms of reverence they encode.
materials that merely reference Aufree speechAy or AuoffenseAy without engaging textual description are excluded.
All Arabic is transliterated consistently.
translations are ours unless otherwise indicated.
The workflow proceeds in five steps.
From al-SyamAAoil, we extract and normalize a lexicon of canonical descriptors.
, hair, complexion, stature, gai.
and the reverential norms implied by them (Auverbal iconA.
We code sermons/ mawlid for quotation, paraphrase, interlinear gloss, and pedagogical framing of those descriptors .
, ethical injunctions against literal picturin.
We code digital artefacts for presence/absence/violation of the canonical descriptors and for the regimes of authority mobilized .
criptural citation vs.
satire/free-speech .
We conduct cross-set comparison to trace pathways by which canonical verbal portraits are received, re-performed, and contested in visual culture.
We triangulate interpretations by checking consistency across sources and noting limits .
, metadata uncertainty for online materials, ethical constraints, we discuss images without reproducing irreverent depiction.
This design makes the logic of reception, from canonical text to oral performance to digital imagery explicit and auditable.
Seen through a reception-history lens that reconnects recent controversies to the canonical verbal portraits in al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah, disputes over visual depictions of the Prophet hinge less on visualization itself than on a clash of The Islamic tradition encodes an aniconic regime of reverence through syamAAoil descriptors that function as a Auverbal icon,Ay whereas modern media circulate under satire- and free-speech logics that detach images from those textual anchors.
This tension is visible when descriptive hadith are re-performed and policed in Indonesian sermons and mawlid as norms of etiquette and veneration, but are ignored or violated in memes, cartoons, and film stills that spark public backlash.
Framing the problem this way clarifies why some images provoke protest while others do not, and it supplies portable criteria for assessing portrayals of sacred figures across plural publics.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Reception of the Prophet MuhammadAos.
Prophetic Sanctity and Visual Controversy in Digital Media Within Sunni Islam, the Prophet Muuammad functions as the pre-eminent reservoir of sacral authority, a status secured not merely by biography but by a shared conviction that his words and body transmit revealed truth.
10 Werbner argues that prophetic charisma is rhetorically anchored in divine mediation, transforming the Prophet into a locus of sacrality rather than an ordinary historical actor.
11 Andrae likewise shows that the prophetic mission is framed as a quest for inner and outer purity, elevating Muuammad to an untouchable exemplar.
12 Neitz identifies three pillars of this sanctityAidivine mandate, communal perception of moral guardianship, and affective charismaAithat render critical scrutiny almost inconceivable.
comparative study by Takycs confirms that Muuammad, like Mary in Christian devotion, is venerated as a conduit of salvific grace.
14 These dynamics converge in the descriptive syamAil corpus, whose aniconic portraits of the ProphetAos appearance furnish a canonical baseline for devotional imagination.
When modern social-media imagery departs from this textual lineage, it disrupts not only aesthetic convention but deeply rooted structures of sacred meaning.
Classical uadth depict Muuammad as of medium height, broad-chested, radiant in complexion, and marked between the shoulders, an embodied ideal that mirrors his moral perfection.
Rytter highlights the ProphetAos beard as a visible token of piety, subsequently emulated by Muslim men and encoded in contemporary notions of masculine virtue.
16 Devotional poetry such as the Barzanj amplifies these traits, describing a luminous face, contiguous eyebrows, and eyes tinged with celestial blue, thus embedding physical beauty within a wider economy of sacred 17 Because bodily description carries theological weight, any attempt to render it pictorially becomes a potential flashpoint: images that fail to reinforce 10 Ruggero Vimercati Sanseverino.
AoTheology of Veneration of the Prophet MuuammadAo, in The Presence of the Prophet in Early Modern and Contemporary Islam (Leiden.
Boston: Brill, 2.
, 1:159Ae60.
11 Richard Werbner.
AoThe Charismatic Dividual and the Sacred SelfAo.
Journal of Religion in Africa 41, no.
: 197.
12 Tor Andrae and M.
Isran.
Mohammed The Man and His Faith: Pribadi Dan Keimanan Nabi Muhammad Saw (Yogyakarta: IRCiSoD, 2.
, 207.
13 Mary Jo Neitz.
Charisma and Community: A Study of Religious Committment within the Charismatic Renewal (USA: Transaction Publishers, 1.
, 6Ae7.
14 Axel Takycs.
AoMary and Muhammad: Bearers of the Word-Their Roles in Divine RevelationAo.
Journal of Ecumenical Studies 48, no.
: 220.
15 Gruber.
The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images, 33Ae35.
16 Mikkel Rytter.
AoBy the Beard of the Prophet: Imitation.
Reflection and World Transformation among Sufis in DenmarkAo.
Ethnography 17, no.
: 233, https://doi.
org/10.
1177/1466138116632000.
17 Al-Tirmi.
Al-SyamAAoil al-Muhammadiyyah, 7Ae13.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti Quranic or traditional messages provoke debates over authenticity, legitimacy, and the permissible boundaries of reverence, especially when produced outside Islamic interpretive frameworks.
Media caricatures of the Prophet illustrate how competing authority regimes collide in digital space.
WeaverAos analysis of press cartoons shows that many Muslims interpret sketch-based depictions as blasphemy, racism, or assaults on orthodoxy, while their creators defend them as exercises in free speech.
18 Adamu notes that scriptural prohibitions against figural representation frame such images as threats to doctrinal purity and catalysts for idolatry.
19 Gyrsel documents how this normative clash turned lethal in the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack, triggered by cartoons portraying the Prophet engaged in violence.
20 MarzoukiAos Twitter ethnography reveals a parallel surge of Islamophobic rhetoric portraying Muslim defenders of prophetic sanctity as terrorists, a discursive move that Hashmi interprets as Auiconoclastic liberalismAy aimed at eroding scriptural authority.
21 Together these studies show that controversy arises less from visual form than from divergent structures of legitimation that claim the right to define prophetic sanctity in the digital public sphere.
Prophet Muhammad in Kitab al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah Detailed verbal portraits of the Prophet MuuammadAos appearance are preserved in the genre of shamAil, most notably in ImAm al-TirmAos al-SyamAil al Muuammadiyyah This compilation assembles reports that delineate the ProphetAos facial features, hair, physique, and complexion, among other traits.
An analytic summary of these attributes appears in Table 1 below.
18 Simon Weaver.
AoLiquid Racism and the Danish Prophet Muhammad CartoonsAo.
Current Sociology 58, no.
: 689, https://doi.
org/10.
1177/0011392110372728.
19 Abdalla Uba Adamu.
AoControversies and Restrictions of Visual Representation of Prophets in Northern Nigerian Popular CultureAo.
Journal of African Media Studies 9, no.
: 19, https://doi.
org/10.
17_1.
20 Zeynep Devrim Gyrsel.
AoVisualizing Publics: Digital Crowd Shots and the 2015 Unity Rally in ParisAo.
Current Anthropology 58, no.
S15 .
: 135.
21 Yousri Marzouki et al.
AoThe Dynamics of Negative Stereotypes as Revealed by Tweeting Behavior in the Aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo Terrorist AttackAo.
Heliyon 6, no.
: 11, http://dx.
org/10.
1016/j.
Umair Munir Hashmi et al.
AoHow Has Social Media Impacted the Life of an Individual Who Publicly Challenges Authoritative Discourse?Ao.
Ie, 2020, 46.
22 Al-Tirmi.
Al-SyamAAoil al-Muhammadiyyah.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
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Table 1 Physical Descriptors of the Prophet in al-SyamAil al Muuammadiyyah Physical Illustration Editors of Hadith Hadith Face - neither perfectly -And round nor elongated/ ProphetAos face was somewhat A soft, gently rounded face that soothes the eye, reflecting a cool, tranquil radiance like a full moon.
a warm glow, like gliding over water, imparting vitality and Head Hair -neither curled nor completely Hair Length -fell between the ears and the shoulders.
Gray hair -fewer than twenty - AuWas the face of the Messenger of God like a sword?Ay He replied.
AuNo, rather like the Ay - AuI never saw anything more beautiful than the Messenger of God.
it was as if the sun flowed across his face.
Ay His hair was wavy, neither His hair was thick, flowing to the shoulders and reaching his earlobes.
And there were not on his head and his beard twenty white .
rey Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Posture Body Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti -neither corpulent nor emaciated - A medium, wellproportioned build with a steady gait, conveying balance and dignity without any hint of excess.
Body Skin neither extremely fair nor dark brown -He was not a person who was too tall nor too short.
The Prophet was not a man of towering height .
ery tal.
, nor yet short, in The Messenger of God was neither exceedingly tall nor short.
Prophet Aos skin was not white and not too brown.
Table 1 indicates that, in the uadth corpus, the Prophet MuuammadAos physique is portrayed as harmoniously proportioned rather than extreme.
ImAm al-TirmAos alSyamAil al Muuammadiyyah records that the ProphetAos face was somewhat round,23 and it preserves allegorical formulationsAifor example.
Ab IsuAqAos report likening his face to the moon.
24 Another allegorical report, transmitted by Ab Hurayra, states.
AuI never saw anything more beautiful than the Messenger of God.
it was as if sunlight flowed across his face.
Ay25 Reports transmitted by QatAdah26 and Sad al-Jurayr 27 likewise underscore his handsomeness.
With respect to hair, the uadth that address this feature consistently describe it as neither tightly curled nor completely straight.
28 As for length, narrations from al-BarA and QatAda converge in stating that the ProphetAos hair reached the earlobes.
29 With respect to grey hair, all reports in al-SyamAil al Muuammadiyyah rely on the narration 23 Al-Tirmi, 32.
24 Al-Tirmi, 39.
25 Al-Tirmi, 112.
26 Al-Tirmi, 261.
27 Al-Tirmi, 351.
28 Five Hadth describe the Prophet MuhammadAos hair.
they are recorded as nos.
1, 2, 7, 27, and 384.
AlTirmi, 32.
29 Al-Tirmi, 35.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
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of Anas b.
MAlik, which states that the Prophet Muuammad had fewer than twenty white hairs on his head and in his beard.
30 The ProphetAos stature is described in two complementary reports transmitted by Anas bin MAlik31 and AoAl bin Ab Alib32 both affirm that he was neither markedly tall nor short.
As for complexion, the uadth indicate that he had a fair tone that was not pallid, and he was not brown-skinned.
As a point of comparison, this study draws on hadith sources beyond the al-SyamAil corpus.
First, the wording wa kAna f wajhihi tadwrun .
here was some roundness in his fac.
does not occur as an independent report in the major canonical rather, it appears in non-mainstream hadith compilations such as Sharu al-Sunnah, 34 and it is also cited in commentarial works such as Ibn ajarAos Fatu al-BAr as an ancillary gloss attached to the simile likening the ProphetAos face to the moon.
35 Second, the interrogative report a-kAna wajhu RaslillAh mila al-sayf? answered lA, bal mila al-qamar (Was the ProphetAos face like a sword? No, rather like the moo.
is recorded in mainstream sources, including auu al-BukhAr,36 auu Muslim, 37 and Musnad Aumad.
38 Third, the formulation wa mA raaytu shayan ausana min RaslillAh, kaanna al-shamsa tajr f wajhih (I never saw anything more beautiful than the Messenger of God.
it was as if the sun flowed across his fac.
is transmitted in Sunan al-Tirmiz39 and Musnad Aumad.
40 Taken together, these reports converge on a consistent portrait of gentle roundness and radiant luminosity articulated through the dominant similes of the moon and the sun.
Furthermore, the report that visualizes the Prophet MuuammadAos hair textureAiwa lA bi-l-jadi al-qaai wa lA bi-s-sabi .
either tightly curled nor 30 Hadth nos.
1 and 384 Al-Tirmi, 28 and 325.
31 Al-Tirmi, 28.
32 Al-Tirmi, 32.
33 Al-Tirmi, 28.
34 hadth nos.
3707 Ab Muhammad al-Husayn bin MasAod bin Muhammad bin al-FarrAAoAl-Baghaw.
Syarh Al-Sunnah (Damaskus-Beirut: al-Maktab al-IslAm, 1.
, 13:282.
35 Ahmad bin AoAl bin Hajar Al-AoAsqalAn.
Fath Al-BAr Bi-Syarh Sahh al-BukhAr (Beirut: DAr al-MaAorifah, 1.
, 6:573.
36 Hadth nos.
3552 Muhammad bin IsmAAol bin IbrAhm bin al-Mughrah bin Bardizbah Al-BukhAr.
Sahh Al-BukhAr (Mesir: al-SultAniyyah, 2.
, 4:188.
37 hadth nos.
2344 Ab al-Husayn Muslim bin Al-HajjAj.
Sahh Muslim (Mesir: MatbaAoat AosA al-BAb alHalab wa SyurakAAouh, 1.
, 4:1823.
38 Al-ImAm Ahmad bin Hanbal.
Musnad Al-ImAm Ahmad Bin Hanbal (MuAoassasat al-RisAlah, 2.
, 30:429.
39 Hadth nos.
3648 Ab AosA Muhammad bin AosA Al-Tirmi.
Al-JAmiAo al-Kabr (Sunan al-Tirm.
(Beirut:
DAr al-Gharb al-IslAm, 1.
, 6:33.
40 Hadth nos.
8943 Al-ImAm Ahmad bin Hanbal.
Musnad Al-ImAm Ahmad Bin Hanbal (MuAoassasat alRisAlah, 2.
, 14:506.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti completely straigh.
Aiis recorded in several major collections, including auu alBukhAr,41 auu Muslim,42 Sunan al- al-Tirm,43 and al-Muwaa.
44 The narration concerning hair lengthAiaemu al-jummati ilA shaumati udhunayhi .
is hair reached the earlobe.
Aiappears in auu Muslim45 and Musnad Aumad.
46 As for grey hairs, the report stating that the white hairs on his head and in his beard were fewer than twenty is preserved in mainstream compilations such as MAlikAos al-Muwaa,47 auu al-BukhAr,48 auu Muslim, 49 Musnad Aumad,50 and Sunan al-Tirm.
Two uadth on the ProphetAos stature are likewise recorded across several mainstream collections.
The first, laysa bi-awli al-bAini wa lA bi-l-qari .
e was neither conspicuously tall nor shor.
, appears in auu Muslim,52 al-Muwaa,53 auu al-BukhAr,54 and Musnad Aumad.
55 The second, lam yakun RaslullAh bi-awli almumaghii wa lA bi-l-qari al-mutaraddid, is included in Sunan al-Tirmiz 56 among the mainstream corpora, although this wording is more commonly encountered in non-mainstream compilations such as JAmi al-AuAdth57 and Syaru al-Sunnah.
58 As for complexion, the report wa laysa bi-l-abyasi al-amhaqi wa lA bi-l-Adami .
either extremely pale nor dark brow.
is widely attested in al-Muwaa,59 auu Muslim,60 41 Hadth nos.
3548 Al-BukhAr.
Sahh Al-BukhAr, 4:187.
42 Hadth nos.
2347 Al-HajjAj.
Sahh Muslim, 4:1824.
43 Hadth nos.
3623 Al-Tirmi.
Al-JAmiAo al-Kabr (Sunan al-Tirm.
, 6:17.
44 hadth nos.
1 MAlik bin Anas.
Al-MuwattaAo (Beirut-Lebanon: DAr IhyAAo al-TurAth al-AoArab, 1.
, 2:919.
45 Hadth nos.
2337 Al-HajjAj.
Sahh Muslim, 4:1818.
46 Hadth nos.
18473 Hanbal.
Musnad Al-ImAm Ahmad Bin Hanbal, 30:422.
47 Hadth nos.
1 Anas.
Al-MuwathaAo, 2:919.
48 Hadth nos.
5900 Muhammad bin IsmAAol bin IbrAhm bin al-Mughrah bin Bardizbah Al-BukhAr.
Sahh Al-BukhAr (Mesir: al-SultAniyyah, 2.
, 7:161.
49 Hadth nos.
2347 Al-HajjAj.
Sahh Muslim, 4:1824.
50 Hadth nos.
13519 Al-ImAm Ahmad bin Hanbal.
Musnad Al-ImAm Ahmad Bin Hanbal (MuAoassasat alRisAlah, 2.
, 21:160.
51 Hadth nos.
3623 Al-Tirmi.
Al-JAmiAo al-Kabr (Sunan al-Tirm.
, 6:17.
52 Hadth nos.
2347 Al-HajjAj.
Sahh Muslim, 4:1824.
53 Anas.
Al-MuwathaAo, 2:919.
54 Hadth nos.
3549 Al-BukhAr.
Sahh Al-BukhAr, 4:188.
55 Hadth nos.
13519 Hanbal.
Musnad Al-ImAm Ahmad Bin Hanbal, 21:160.
56 Hadth nos.
3638 Al-Tirmi.
Al-JAmiAo al-Kabr (Sunan al-Tirm.
, 6:27.
57 Hadth nos.
34345 JalAl al-Dn Al-Suyt.
JAmiAo al-AhAds .
), 13:338.
58 Hadth nos.
3706 Al-Baghaw.
Syarh Al-Sunnah, 13:280.
59 Anas.
Al-MuwattaAo, 2:919.
60 Hadth nos.
2347 Al-HajjAj.
Sahh Muslim, 4:1824.
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auu al-BukhAr,61 Sunan al-Tirmiz,62 and Musnad Aumad.
63 Taken together, these narrations yield a coherent portrait of moderate stature and a balanced skin tone.
Findings from the SyamAil corpus present a AumiddleAy portrait of the Prophet:
a gently rounded and radiant face, moderate build, hair that is neither tightly curled nor completely straight, a balanced complexion, and very few grey hairs.
The recurrent Auneither this nor thatAy phrasing functions not merely as physical description but as a rhetorical strategy that disciplines extremes and inculcates an ethos of composure.
The philological footing, however, is not entirely uniform.
Several traits enjoy multiple attestation in the canonical collections (BukhAr.
Muslim.
MAlik, al-Tirmiz.
Auma.
, whereas other elementsAisuch as the tadwr of the faceAiappear more often in nonmainstream compilations or later citations.
The count of grey hairs rests on a single Companion strand (Ana.
, which warrants caution.
Accordingly, this analysis tiers the evidence, privileges semantic convergence across reports over isolated phrasings, and translates color terms with care so as to avoid racial anachronism.
The aim is not to AustandardizeAy an image, but to map the linguistic corridors that guide devotional imagination within an aniconic tradition.
Constructing the ProphetAos Physical Image in Teaching and Recitation Communal recitation occupies a central place in how many Muslim communities imagine and remember the Prophet Muuammad.
This is most visible during mawlid commemorationsAithe celebration of the ProphetAos birthAiwhen devotional texts such as the Barzanj.
Mawlid al-DbA, and other qaAid are performed in collective prayer and narrated by local religious authorities .
These performances occur across a range of venues, including majelis taklim, pesantren, mosques, and family compounds set aside for special occasions.
several locales, the mawlid is combined with commemorative rites such as the annual death-anniversary commemoration .
for a deceased scholar or a school founder .
Through melody, rhythm, and repetition, these recitations transmit a shared image of the ProphetAos personAihis virtues, comportment, and physical traitsAito audiences that may never directly consult the classical sources.
The content of these praises is not arbitrary.
Their descriptive passages closely echo the canonical portrayals found in the uadth literature, especially the syamAil genre, and thus function as a form of oral reception of the textual record.
Scholars 61 Hadth nos.
5900 Al-BukhAr.
Sahh Al-BukhAr, 7:161.
62 Hadth nos.
3623 Al-Tirmi.
Al-JAmiAo al-Kabr (Sunan al-Tirm.
, 6:17.
63 Hadth nos.
13519 Hanbal.
Musnad Al-ImAm Ahmad Bin Hanbal, 21:160.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
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Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti from different intellectual lineages have long treated uadth as the primary point of reference for composing and authorizing such devotional texts, even when the idiom is poetic rather than juristic.
Table 2 summarizes the main recitational texts used in the mawlid setting and indicates the specific uadth themes they reiterate .
ace, hair, stature, complexio.
, thereby clarifying how communal performance mediates the transmission of prophetic description.
Table 2.
Physical Traits of the Prophet in Islamic Lectures Religious Speaker Physical Traits Covered URL in the Lecture Gus Rozin C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
y o u t u b e .
c o m / descriptionAistature, watch?v=Ejl_BCfxUX4&t=3036s Pati face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
Buya Yahya C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
y o u t u b e .
c o m / Cirebon descriptionAistature, watch?v=s5rtFhbaiQo face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
Habib Ali Zaenal C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
yo u t u b e .
c o m / Abidin al-Hamid descriptionAistature, watch?v=hAK8E_EJrtg face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
Habib Lutfi C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
yo u t u b e .
c o m / Pekalongan descriptionAistature, watch?v=gUiR-xMyLps face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
Adi Hidayat C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
yo u t u b e .
c o m / descriptionAistature, watch?v=MnILmQdaE1A&t=50s face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
Khalid Basalamah C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
yo u t u b e .
c o m / descriptionAistature, watch?v=td5yZB4nkts&t=92s face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
Quraish C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
yo u t u b e .
c o m / Shihab descriptionAistature, watch?v=0jO1g9DVIQg face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
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LSQH
C o m p r e h e n s i v e h t t p s : / / w w w.
yo u t u b e .
c o m / descriptionAistature, watch?v=jVrvjjxARfU&t=5096s face, hair, and other traitsAias attested in the uadth.
Darus Sunnah T r a n s m i s s i o n h t t p s : / / w w w.
yo u t u b e .
c o m / Institute .
jAz.
watch?v=eQYhc-W5hts al-SyamAil alMuuammadiyyah Source: YouTube recordings of al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah Within the corpus of Indonesian sermons you compiled.
SyamAil alMuuammadiyyah functions as both a pedagogical axis and a devotional script.
Abdul Ghaffar Rozin (Gus Rozi.
opens by explaining why knowing the ProphetAos ifAt strengthens faith, then unfolds a moderated physical portrait: a balanced build, a luminous face, and wavy hair that falls neatly.
Buya Yahya underscores the classical AuneitherAenorAy pattern, for example a face that is gently rounded without being perfectly circular or overly oval, and hair that is neither tightly curled nor completely Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin al-Hamid supplies finer facial detailsAiarched brows, an aquiline nose, clear eyesAiwhile invoking the moon simile and noting a full but well-kept beard with very few grey hairs.
The LSQH channel distills these canonical motifs in mawlid-style lessons, whereas the Darus Sunnah Institute highlights transmission by means of ijAza and collective recitation of the SyamAil.
Across these settings, preachers act as mediators who translate concise reports into accessible narratives, allowing audiences to AupictureAy the Prophet through language, melody, and pious performance rather than through figurative images.
Other speakers develop the same descriptive center with distinct emphases.
Adi Hidayat foregrounds moderation as an interpretive key: height Auin the middleAy .
either towering nor shor.
, complexion Auin the middleAy .
either very pale nor dar.
, and hair Auin the middleAy .
either tightly curled nor fully straigh.
Khalid Basalamah stresses an athletic impression drawn from the reports: a broad chest, wide shoulders, a firm gait, wavy hair to the ears, and only a few grey hairs.
Quraish Shihab links physical and ethical composition, noting a dignified way of walking, cultivated fragrance, the practice of turning with the whole body, and the seal of prophethood .
hAtam al-nubuww.
as part of a moral habitus.
Habib Luthfi emphasizes basyariyyaAithe ProphetAos full humanity alongside his imaAiso that physical description serves the formation of adab rather than pictorial fixation.
These teachings circulate through majelis taklim, pesantren, and mawlid commemorations, and they are widely relayed in digital recordings that extend the reach of this oral Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
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hlm: 569-591 Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti Taken together, these materials show how the SyamAil operates as a Auverbal iconAy that restrains extremes and cultivates composure.
The recurring Auneither this nor thatAy diction situates the Prophet within corridors of moderation: a softly radiant face, proportionate stature, a balanced complexion, and hair that avoids textural or stylistic extremes.
Such motifs are not a mere inventory of traits.
They set the horizon of devotional imagination, enabling audiences to AuseeAy through words, rhythm, and emulation.
At the same time, prudent speakers acknowledge limits: certain details depend on a single Companion strand or appear more prominently in nonmainstream compilations, so emphasis falls on convergent meanings rather than on isolated phrasings.
When this homiletic landscape is placed alongside the hyperbole of satirical media, the contrast in authority regimes becomes clear.
Canonical texts and communal pedagogy answer to norms of reverence, whereas satire appeals to free In that contested space, the SyamAil supplies a calm, principled criterion for evaluating contemporary images in public discourse.
Visual Polemics: Memes.
Cartoons, and the Limits of Reverence Beyond cinema, visualizations of the Prophet Muuammad circulate widely in editorial cartoons and internet memes.
A widely viewed low-budget video titled Innocence of Muslims advances a polemical portrayal that casts the Prophet as sexually licentiousAiat times reducing him to a Auslave to sexAyAiwhile the French weekly Charlie Hebdo has published cartoons designed to provoke through hyperbolic and derogatory imagery.
These representations diverge sharply from the syamAil corpus of descriptive uadth, which presents the Prophet as physically well-proportioned and, more importantly, as a model of refined conduct and noble character.
The friction between these iconographic regimesAisatirical media operating under the banner of unrestricted expression and an aniconic textual heritage that foregrounds reverenceAi helps to explain the persistence of public controversy.
Selected examples of cartoons and memes reproduced below are analyzed to identify their recurrent tropes and to specify where, and how, they depart from the canonical uadth record.
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In the cartoon under review.
Islam is caricatured as inherently irascible and uniquely permissive of violence.
This framing relies on hyperbole and disregards the canonical textual record.
Classical sourcesAiespecially the syamAil literatureAi depict the Prophet Muuammad as well-proportioned, courteous, and exemplary in character, a profile wholly at odds with the grotesque physiognomy and moral deviance suggested by the image.
By imputing vicious traits to both the religion and its prophet, the cartoon functions less as reasoned critique than as incitement, inviting viewers to equate Islam with aggression.
The figures at the top of the panel exemplify a negative, decontextualized portrayal that is not grounded in authoritative literature.
Such visual choices selectively accentuate stereotypes and collapse historical distinctions effectively projecting practices associated with pre-Islamic jAhiliyya onto the Islamic period.
The result is a misrepresentation that obscures the traditionAos ethical core and substitutes sensationalist tropes for informed analysis.
From Visualization Controversies to Interfaith Dialogue:
Understanding Prophet Muhammad in Islamic and Christian Perspectives Studies indicate that discussion of the Prophet MuuammadAos physical attributes is neither a recent phenomenon nor, in itself, proscribed within Islamic tradition.
the debates historically concern pictorial depiction rather than verbal description.
Controversy tends to arise when the ProphetAos body is visualized without reference to, or in contradiction with, the canonical reports.
The al-SyamAil al-Muuammadiyyah compiles uadth that describe the ProphetAos hair, face, build, complexion, and other features, but it offers narrative portraits rather than images.
These descriptions circulate not only in textual study but also through religious performanceAimawlid lectures and melodious devotional songsAiwhere they are recited and elaborated in an aniconic register.
By contrast, public disputes have intensified around modern media representations, notably the low-budget film Innocence of Muslims .
and satirical cartoons and memes associated with Charlie Hebdo in France.
64 Such portrayals construct a figure radically at odds with what Muslims are taught and understand from the uadth record, at times imputing unworthy conduct, including disrespect toward women.
It is this divergence from the canonical narrative, rather than the mere discussion of physical traits, that has proved most incendiary.
Charlie Hebdo.
AoA Chiare LettereAo.
Stato.
Chiese e pluralismo confessionale, 2015, 1Ae5, https://doi.
org/10.
13130/1971-8543/4607.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
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hlm: 569-591 Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti These studies show that divergent visualizations of the Prophet Muuammad arise from differing motives and interpretive frameworks.
Within Islamic tradition, the Prophet is presented as a noble, idealized figure, and discussion of his physical traits is typically mediated by aniconic norms and descriptive uadth rather than pictorial rendering.
Such visualizations, whether endorsed or resisted, have generated enduring pro- and anti-depiction positions that form a long-standing axis of dispute between religious communities.
MuslimAeChristian relations, particularly in Western contexts, have therefore oscillated between accommodation and strain.
When images of the Prophet are produced outside Islamic interpretive horizons, they often diverge sharply from the canonical narrative and this divergence amplifies interfaith tensions.
Cartoons and films in particular crystallize this contestation in the public sphere, turning differences over authority, reverence, and freedom of expression into visible Visualizations of the Prophet Muuammad have become a recurrent trigger of contestation between different religious and cultural traditions.
Within Islamic discourse, descriptive uadth and devotional literature present an idealized portrait of the ProphetAiphysically sound and free of blemishAiwhose bodily perfection is understood to mirror his noble character.
By contrast, segments of Western media, particularly satirical outlets, have produced images that cast the Prophet in a negative light, often untethered from the canonical textual record.
This divergence stands in sharp relief against centuries of Muslim scholarship and practice in which the Prophet functions as the central moral exemplar and the focus of reverent remembrance.
The resulting gap between aniconic, text-based depictions and polemical visual renderings helps explain the persistence of controversy to the present day.
The visualization of the Prophet Muuammad has long served as a trigger for contestation between two different religious traditions and it continues to do so today.
65 Within Islamic circles, classical sources depict the Prophet as morally exemplary and physically ideal, a portrayal that underwrites an almost flawless 66 By contrast, some Western satirical and commercial media have produced negative representations that diverge from this canonical profile.
The resulting gap in depiction helps explain the persistence of tension across communities.
65 Christiane Gruber.
AoProphetic Products: Muhammad in Contemporary Iranian Visual CultureAo.
Material Religion 12, no.
: 284, https://doi.
org/10.
1080/17432200.
Christiane Gruber.
AoBetween Logos (Kalim.
And Light (N.
: Representations Of The Prophet Muhammad In Islamic PaintingAo.
Muqarnas Online 26, no.
: 229, https://doi.
org/10.
1163/ej.
66 Christiane Gruber and Avinoam Shalem.
AoIntroduction: Images of the Prophet Muhammad in a Global ContextAo, in The Image of the Prophet between Ideal and Ideology (German: De Gruyter, 2.
, 5.
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hlm: 569-591 Reception of the Prophet MuhammadAos.
This study approaches the ProphetAos physical visualizations not as an openended exercise in free expression but as a mode of textual reception governed by the uadth record.
The descriptive reports collected in the syamAil genre position the Prophet as a noble figure and supply the attributes that inform devotional Our analysis therefore evaluates contemporary images in light of those texts and of the pedagogical settings in which they are publicly recited, rather than adopting aesthetic criteria or speech-rights frameworks as the primary standard.
The study of how central religious figures are visualized creates opportunities for constructive dialogue while also generating new points of contention.
67 In Islamic sources, the Quran presents Jesus as a prophet whose creation is likened to that of Adam, and it recounts his miracles, his reception of revelation, and his mission to the Children of Israel, as well as addressing the question of the crucifixion.
68 adth likewise regard Jesus as one prophet among others.
Later reports in the Islamic tradition sometimes describe a close eschatological connection between Jesus and Muuammad, including claims that Jesus will be buried near the Prophet after his return at the end of time.
69 Descriptive reports also provide physical portrayals of Jesus and occasionally compare selected features to those attributed to Muuammad, emphasizing beauty and moral excellence.
The literature further anticipates JesusAos future descent and the emergence of the Mahd, with a dedicated chapter on the latter in Sunan Ab DAwd.
70 For these reasons.
Jesus holds an exalted place within Islam.
Christian views of Muuammad, by contrast, have been far from uniform.
One strand rejects his prophethood and has sometimes characterized Islam as a Christian heresy, including in modern polemics associated with writers such as Robert Spencer.
71 A second strand acknowledges MuuammadAos prophethood yet assigns him a diminished rank relative to other prophets.
72 A third approach, exemplified by W.
Montgomery Watt, seeks to understand Muuammad through historical and 67 Birgit Meyer.
AoReligious Revelation.
Secrecy and the Limits of Visual RepresentationAo.
Anthropological Theory 6, no.
: 431Ae32, https://doi.
org/10.
1177/1463499606071596.
68 L Ali Khan.
AoThe Ministry of Jesus: A Comparative Study of the QurAoan and New TestamentAo.
Available at SSRN 5199492 21, no.
: 1, http://dx.
org/10.
2139/ssrn.
69 Fatih Harpci.
AoMuhammad Speaking of the Messiah: Jesus in the Hadith TraditionAo (Dissertation.
Temple University, 2.
, 74Ae111.
70 SulaymAn ibn al-Asyats ibn IsuAq ibn Basyr al-Azd al-SijistAn Ab DAwd.
Sunan Ab DAwd Maa Syaruihi Awn Al-Mabd.
New Delhi (India: al-Mabaah al-AnAriyyah bi-Dihl Ae al-Hind, 1.
, 4:170.
71 Robert Spencer.
The Truth about Muhammad: Founder of the WorldAos Most Intolerant Religion (USA:
Regnery Publishing, 2.
Tarif Khalidi.
Images of Muhammad: Narratives of the Prophet in Islam across the Centuries (USA: Harmony, 2.
72 John Wansbrough and Andrew Rippin.
Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods Of Scriptural Interpretation (New York: Promotheusbook, 2.
, 55Ae57.
Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti comparative analysis that is not contingent on doctrinal acceptance.
73 These divergent perspectives shape the interreligious field in which visualizations of prophetic figures are produced, received, and debated.
The controversial visualization of the Prophet MuuammadAos physical form has become a critical test for interreligious harmony and the sustainability of a pluralist public sphere.
Across the Abrahamic traditions, pictorial depictions of central sacred figures have often been treated as taboo and in some communities explicitly prohibited, especially when they take the form of concrete, visible likenesses.
history of restraint heightens the stakes of contemporary image production and helps explain why such depictions readily generate tension.
74 In this context, there is a need to cultivate shared forums of understanding oriented toward respect for the sanctity attached to particular religious figures.
Mutual learning between Muslim and Christian communities, including those in Western settings, can clarify the theological meanings invested in figures such as the Prophet Muuammad and help distinguish legitimate critique from incitement, not by demanding doctrinal agreement but by fostering an informed appreciation of each traditionAos norms of representation and reverence.
Conclusion Within Islamic tradition, the only authorized AuvisualizationAy of the Prophet Muuammad derives from verbal descriptions transmitted by his closest Companions and relatives.
because these accounts are aniconic rather than pictorial, they have generally been received without controversy.
Dispute arises when other parties attempt concrete, physical depictions of the Prophet, since such images often become occasions for competing claims to religious truth.
Media portrayals that do not engage the canonical sources commonly used by Muslims tend to sharpen this contrast by recasting the central figure as merely ordinary, flawed, or even morally The resulting tensions reflect not only divergent readings of the uadth record but also deeper differences over what the Prophet signifies within Islamic piety and communal memory.
The recurrent controversy is best understood as a difficulty in situating Auholy figuresAy across religious traditions.
Adherents typically sacralize their own prophet while encountering the sacred personages of others as ordinary.
In Islamic reception, visualization is primarily aniconic and textual, grounded in descriptive uadth that 73 W.
Montgomery Watt.
BellAos Introduction to The QurAoAn (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1.
74 Takycs.
AoMary and Muhammad: Bearers of the Word-Their Roles in Divine RevelationAo, 220.
Michael Lywy.
AoThe Secular Prophet of Religious Socialism: The Erich FrommAos Early Writings .
Ao.
Tempo Social 32, no.
: 21Ae31, https://doi.
org/10.
11606/0103-2070.
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present the Prophet Muuammad as an idealized physical and moral exemplar.
contrast, in many Western Christian contexts figural representation of holy persons is normalized, and holy figures may be approached as fully human within certain theological frameworks.
when external media portray the Prophet as merely ordinary or morally flawed, the contrast with Islamic expectations becomes stark and tensions This article is accordingly limited to examining, first, the visualization of the Prophet in the uadthAiespecially the syamAilAiand, second, its relation to physical depictions circulating in films and cartoons on social media.
The data set consists of textual sources and a bounded corpus of digital images, and therefore does not analyze in depth other devotional media such as praise poetry, sung mawlid performances, or panegyrical prose that express longing for the Prophet and devotion to his teaching.
Future research should incorporate these genres to provide a fuller account of how Muslims construct and receive the ProphetAos image.
Because visualizations of a central religious figure affect both insiders and outsiders, any evaluative discussion should engage Muslim and non-Muslim publics in order to cultivate informed appraisals of representation within and across traditions.
Supplementary Materials The data presented in this study are available in .
nsert article or supplementary material her.
(Usually the datasets were analyzed from library research can be found in the whole data references ).
Acknowledgements The acknowledgment of individuals who contributed to this research, whether as sources or editors, is a crucial aspect.
If there are no such contributors, this section may be left blank.
AuthorsAo contributions All listed authors contributed to this article.
Muhammad Alfatih Suryadilaga led the conceptualization, prepared the initial framework/outline, and collected classical Hadth materials on the ProphetAos physical traits.
Ahmad Murtaza MZ .
orresponding autho.
handled the methodological design and validation, provided critical revision for coherence and argumentative consistency, interpreted media representation & social discourse, and approved the final version.
Cut Nadila Apni conducted substantive revision, strengthened narrative structure, and added contemporary contextualization .
ocial media.
Islamophobi.
Resky Eka Yulianti Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-QurAoan dan Hadis 26, no.
2 (Juli 2.
hlm: 569-591 Suryadilaga.
Murtaza.
Apni.
Yulianti carried out investigation & data curation, performed comparative analysis of digital visuals vis-y-vis classical Hadth, prepared descriptive tables, and synthesized the findings in the conclusion.
Data availability statement The availability of data is an integral aspect of this study, and the following statement outlines the specifics regarding data accessibility.
In adherence to transparency standards, the data supporting this research are available upon request.
Researchers interested in accessing the dataset may contact [Author/Institutio.
to obtain the necessary information.
This commitment to data availability aligns with the principles of open research and facilitates further scrutiny and validation of the studyAos findings.
Conflicts of Interest The authors affirm that there are no conflicts of interest that could potentially influence the research outcomes or compromise its integrity.
Full disclosure ensures a clear understanding of the studyAos objectivity and underscores the commitment to unbiased scientific inquiry.
Funding We would like to thank Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) for supporting this study.
References