Editing Iconoclasm (section)

=== Early Islam in Arabia ===
The first act of Muslim iconoclasm dates to the beginning of Islam, in 630, when the various statues of [[Arabian mythology|Arabian deities]] housed in the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]] were destroyed. There is a tradition that [[Muhammad]] spared a fresco of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Jesus]].<ref>{{cite book | title=The Life of Muhammad. A translation of Ishaq's "Sirat Rasul Allah".|publisher=Oxford University Press | last=Guillaume | first=Alfred | author-link=Alfred Guillaume | year=1955 | page=552 | isbn=978-0-19-636033-1 | quote=Quraysh had put pictures in the Ka'ba including two of Jesus son of Mary and Mary (on both of whom be peace!).&nbsp;... The apostle ordered that the pictures should be erased except those of Jesus and Mary. | url=https://archive.org/details/IbnIshaq-SiratRasulAllah-translatorA.Guillaume | access-date=2011-12-08}}</ref> This act was intended to bring an end to the [[idolatry]] which, in the Muslim view, characterized [[Jahiliyyah]].

The destruction of the idols of Mecca did not, however, determine the treatment of other religious communities living under Muslim rule after the expansion of the [[caliphate]]. Most Christians under Muslim rule, for example, continued to produce icons and to decorate their churches as they wished. A major exception to this pattern of tolerance in early Islamic history was the "Edict of Yazīd", issued by the [[Umayyad]] caliph [[Yazid&nbsp;II|Yazīd II]] in 722–723.<ref>{{cite book | last=Grabar | first=André | title=L'iconoclasme byzantin: le dossier archéologique |trans-title=Byzantine iconoclasm: The archaeological record | publisher=Flammarion | series=Champs | year=1984 |orig-year=1957 |isbn=978-2-08-012603-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D9GfAAAAMAAJ | language=fr | pages=155–156}}</ref> This edict ordered the destruction of crosses and Christian images within the territory of the caliphate. Researchers have discovered evidence that the order was followed, particularly in present-day [[Jordan]], where [[archaeological]] evidence shows the removal of images from the mosaic floors of some, although not all, of the churches that stood at this time. But Yazīd's iconoclastic policies were not continued by his successors, and Christian communities of the [[Levant]] continued to make icons without significant interruption from the sixth century to the ninth.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = King | first1 = G. R. D. | year = 1985 | title = Islam, iconoclasm, and the declaration of doctrine | journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | volume = 48 | issue = 2| pages = 276–277 | doi=10.1017/s0041977x00033346| s2cid = 162882785 }}</ref>