The Image Debate: Figural Representation in Islam and Across the World

The images released by the Islamic State of militants smashing statues at ancient sites were a horrifying aspect of their advance across Northern Iraq and Syria during 2015-16. Their leaders justified this iconoclasm by arguing that such actions were divinely decreed in Islam, a notion that has remained fixed in the public consciousness.

The Image Debate is a collection of thirteen essays which examine the controversy surrounding the use of images in Islamic and other religious cultures and...