Mohammed in the Mosque

India, mid-18^th century, watercolors, ink and gold on paper. Miniature:  28 cm. x 18.4 cm.; sheet – 47.8 cm. x 32.2 cm.

The prophet Mohammed is portrayed with his face in clear view, which is not the usual custom, in a picture which depicts the mosque. In the center, there is the mihrab in the background (a niche in a wall facing Mecca) with two large lit candles in front of him. To his right, there is the minbar (a raised dais for a preacher) with wooden steps leading up to him. To the left of the niche, over a high throne site Mohammed and his grandsons, Hassan and Hussein, on either side of him. In the fare left corner stand Billal, the first muezzin, who was a Habash servant and one of the first to convert to Islam. At his feet sit the first three caliphs, Abu Bakar, Omar and Otman, with the fourth caliph, Ali, opposite them. In the niche, at far right hand side, stands Abbas, Mohammed’s uncle, the forefather of the House of Abbas and founder of the Abbasid dynasty, and his son Abdullah. In the center stands Kanbar (in green), Ali’s freed slave, holding the famous sword of his master, Do al-Fikar which, according to legend, had a split blade. In the foreground, in front of Kanbar, stands Omar Ibn Yasser, one of the first converts to Islam, holding the Koran. On the right, on a prayer rug with prayer beads (misbahah) lying on it, Abu Dhar al-Jafri, another convert to Islam who won great respect due to his devotion. Behind him, at the end on the right, stands Salman the Iranian, a Christian slave from Medina who embraced the new religion in the first year of the Hegira. Behind the marble railing, to the left, sit six of the prophet’s most famous escorts. The miniature is intriguing due to its place in the annals of art, and its importance as a religious document. It is also very rare in Islamic art.