Moroccan Ceramics

Sir Bannister Fletcher, A History of
Architecture, 20 th ed. P. 573
In summary, the authors of this standard text say the
“absence of figurative design or prohibition for it does not
arise directly from the Prophet, but from comments based on
the impropriety of man attempting to usurp the function of
God in creating representations of living creatures”
It further states that the Iconoclast Controversy which was
raging in the Byzantine Christian church was at its height at
this time, and that Christians converting to Islam influenced
Islamic thoughts on this point
“Consequently, calligraphy and patternmaking took the place
of figures.”