Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Islamic Sunna
Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Islamic Sunna

Summary/Abstract: The present article excerpts and analyses source material from the era of early Islam (the Sunna) and analyses its inherent “aniconic” rather than “iconoclastic” character. The evidence presented, when compared with and analysed alongside the iconoclastic sources of the eighth century, demonstrates the factual impossibility of maintaining any thesis of non-Christian influence (specifically Islamic) on the emergence, development, or legislative establishment of iconoclasm in the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium). The iconoclasts produced their own arguments against holy images and did not seek or adopt such arguments from non-Christians.

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