The Approach of the Three Great Religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism in terms of Icons and Iconography

In the divine religions, despite the common monotheistic teachings, there are different approaches to the creation of divine and human icons. Understanding why these approaches differ is essential for understanding the nature of the religious arts and the purpose of the present study. This research, which has been done using a descriptive-analytical method, shows that in the Torah, the construction of the icon is explicitly forbidden and its creator is cursed by God. But in Christianity, although at first there were prohibitions on the art of the form, in the following centuries, the creation of the image of Christ became very common, and this tendency emerged at times up to the extremist stage of the worship of images. In Islam, the restriction of the creation of the image with the philosophy of abstaining from the rituals of worship has been established due to the recognition of the minds of neo-Muslims. According to the principle of monotheism, the status of God is free from any similitude and incarnation, and this led to the emergence of a purgatory approach in Islamic images. The avoidance of creating images or making human and animal figures in Islam was also formed on the basis of this degrading dignity.