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Many artistic pursuits have been declared haram according to some scholar somewhere, e.g., music, drawing. I'm wondering if there's any that would be established as halal, by being engaged in by the Prophet.

Question: Was the Prophet known to engage in any artistic pursuits?

I did an obvious Google search, but it didn't seem to give anything relevant. I'm not sure how to find this information.

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  • @G.Bach, if he was involved in any of those things, they would by default not be considered to be impermissible by the scholars. Its almost the same reasoning however the scholars opinions are drawn from certain actions or sayings of the prophet.
    – Kilise
    Sep 11, 2017 at 10:47

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No. He did not pursue artistic pursuits. He had a nation to lead and he was more preoccupied with guiding people or worship of God. However, he did use literary devices such as vivid analogies and visual displays such as drawing in the sand to teach.. in other words, for productive and educational reasons.

Bukhari (6417): The Prophet (ﷺ) drew a square and then drew a line in the middle of it and let it extend outside the square and then drew several small lines attached to that central line, and said, "This is the human being, and this, (the square) in his lease of life, encircles him from all sides (or has encircled him), and this (line), which is outside (the square), is his hope, and these small lines are the calamities and troubles (which may befall him), and if one misses him, an-other will snap (i.e. overtake) him, and if the other misses him, a third will snap (i.e. overtake) him."

That said, do we see him in the presence of some "artistic displays" at times? Yes.

  • Visual: He watched with Aisha as the Abyssinians did their "dance" i.e, display with weapons.
  • Literary: He listened to 'good poetry' such as the poetry of Umayya b. Abu Salt. He also encouraged Hassan ibn Thabit in his use of poetry to defend him/Islam.
  • Architectural: Construction of Mosques; architecture falls into the category of arts.

Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) had the greatest understanding of the world and what is to come. Such that if any of us knew, we would literally "laugh little and weep much" per his words. It would be hard to just 'enjoy life' knowing what is to come. Logically, a person with that awareness would not be spending most of their time for anything other than productive and beneficial reasons.

I hope this answer helps and sets up the context, somewhat.

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  • "Architectural: Construction of Mosques; architecture falls into the category of arts." Are there any mosques that were built during Muhammad's lifetime that would be considered artistic?
    – G. Bach
    Sep 11, 2017 at 16:45
  • @G.Bach Mosquese during the time of the Prophet and for some time afterward were plain. See Adorning mosques and extravagance in building minarets and domes.
    – III-AK-III
    Sep 11, 2017 at 19:33

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