THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD AT KAABA DURING THE CONQUEST OF MECCA, PERSIA, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

Ink and opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, depicting the prophet Muhammad praying beside the Kaaba during the conquest of Mecca and the doors of Kaaba opened by his companions where Muhammad and his companions visited the Kaaba, the idols were broken and their gods were destroyed. Thereupon Muhammad recited the following verse from the Quran 'Say, the Truth has come and falsehood gone. Verily falsehood is bound to vanish'.
20 by 15 cm.

CATALOGUE NOTE
On 11th January 630 the Prophet Muhammad returned to Mecca, where he was born 60 years before, as head of an army of 10,000 followers. This show of force was enough to dissuade their resistance and therefore the conquest of Mecca was nearly bloodless.
Many idols were removed and destroyed, although some accounts maintain that images of Abraham, Jesus and Mary were spared. His main aim was to restore the status of the Kaaba as a sanctuary that was so 'by virtue of the sanctity Allah has bestowed on it until the Day of Resurrection'. Mecca and the Kaaba have remained the focal points of Islam ever since.