Short answer
No. The Upanishads point away from it. Most Hindus hold these scriptures to be revealed. The Svetasvatara says of God (﷾), "There is no image of him", and "His form cannot be seen". The Kena says five times that Brahman, the Supreme Being, is "not this which people worship here". Many Hindus reply that a murti (a sacred image) is only a symbol through which God (﷾) is worshipped. But their own great teachers ruled on worship through a symbol. Ramanuja wrote that the symbol alone is then meditated on, not Brahman. Shankara wrote that the meditation "is not fixed on Brahman". The Qur'an says that nothing is like God (﷾) and no vision can grasp Him. Yet He is near, and hears whoever calls on Him. So Islam asks everyone to worship the unseen One directly, with no image at all.
Full explanation
The Upanishads: no image of God (﷾)
The Svetasvatara is an Upanishad. It belongs to the shruti, the layer of scripture that Hindus hold to be revealed. Of God (﷾) it says, "There is no image of him" (na tasya pratima asti). The next verse says, "His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye." The word pratima can mean an image or a likeness. Max Müller, a 19th-century scholar, has "image". R. E. Hume, a scholar of the early 20th century, has "There is no likeness of Him". The same half-line stands in the Yajur Veda, one of the four Vedas, the main Hindu scriptures. There the translator Ralph Griffith renders it "There is no counterpart of him". The point holds on any of these. A statue is a likeness made to be seen. These verses say that God (﷾) has no likeness and that no eye sees His form. The Katha Upanishad repeats that second line: "His form is not to be seen. No one can see Him with the eye." The Svetasvatara also says that "no one is seen like unto him".
“No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.”
“Not above, not across, Nor in the middle has one grasped Him. There is no likeness of Him Whose name is Great Glory (mahad yaśas).”
“There is no counterpart of him whose glory verily is great.”
“His form is not to be seen. No one can see Him with the eye. He is perceived by the heart, by the intellect and by the mind. They who know this become immortal.”
“There is no effect and no cause known of him, no one is seen like unto him or better; his high power is revealed as manifold, as inherent, acting as force and knowledge.”
"Not this which people worship here"
The Kena Upanishad is on this site in the translation of Swami Paramananda, a Hindu monk. It says that Brahman, the Supreme Being, is not something speech can light up, the mind can think or the eye can see. It is that by which speech, mind and eye work. Five times it ends with the same words: "not this which people worship here." By the Upanishad's own words, what people worship here is not Brahman. Shankara, a Hindu teacher of about the 8th century, reads "this" more widely still. It means whatever is worshipped as other than one's own Self, even the Lord. Then it covers an image all the more. The same Upanishad says that Brahman "is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam": by a name, not an image.
“That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here. That which cannot be thought by mind, but by which, they say, mind is able to think: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which is not seen by the eye, but by which the eye is able to see: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ear is able to hear: know that alone to be Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which none breathes with the breath, but by which breath is in-breathed: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here.”
“Disregarding these, know the Atman itself to be the unconditioned Brahman. This is the meaning. Brahman is not what people here worship, such as Iswara, which is not the Atman, and which is conditioned and referred to as 'this'.”
“That Brahman is called Tadvanam (object of adoration). He is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam. He who knows Brahman thus, is loved by all beings.”
What Hindus answer: God (﷾) worshipped in an image
Hindus who worship God (﷾) in a murti give two answers. The first is that the image is a symbol. Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk of the 19th century, told the Parliament of Religions in 1893 that we cannot think without a mental image. So the Hindu uses one to keep his mind on the Being he prays to, and knows that the image is not God. In his book Bhakti-Yoga (1896) he taught that the omnipresent Brahman may be worshipped through a symbol. Such worship, he wrote, is "absolutely necessary for all mankind" until they pass beyond the first stage. An image standing for the one God (﷾), he held, brings devotion and liberation. The second answer is that God (﷾) Himself is present in the image. The Sri Vaishnavas teach this. They are the followers of Ramanuja, a Hindu teacher of about the 11th and 12th centuries. A handbook of their school, the Yatindramatadipika, speaks of images consecrated in temples. In them, it says, God's (﷾) spiritual body "incarnates (in the Images) after the vitalising (Prāṇa-pratishṭhā) process". It says that He descends into any material His worshipper lovingly chooses, man-made images included, and accepts bath, food and rest. Ramanuja upholds the authority of the Pancharatra, a Vaishnava scripture. It teaches that God (﷾) takes on bodily forms out of tenderness towards His devotees. Even Shankara said that Brahman is near the worshipper "just as Vishnu is near to us in the Sâlagrâma-stone".
“My brethren, we can no more think about anything without a mental image than we can live without breathing. By the law of association the material image calls up the mental idea and vice versa. This is why the Hindu uses an external symbol when he worships. He will tell you it helps to keep his mind fixed on the Being to whom he prays. He knows as well as you do that the image is not God, is not omnipresent.”
“But where Brahman Himself is the object of worship, and the Pratîkâ stands only as a substitute or a suggestion thereof, that is to say, where through the Pratîkâ the omnipresent Brahman is worshipped—the Pratîkâ itself being idealized into the cause of all, the Brahman—the worship is positively beneficial; nay, it is absolutely necessary for all mankind, until they have all got beyond the primary or preparatory state of the mind in regard to worship.”
“The same ideas apply to the worship of the Pratimâs as do to that of the Pratîkâs; that is to say, if the image stands for a god or a saint, the worship is not the result of Bhakti, and does not lead to liberation; but if it stands for the one God, the worship thereof will bring both Bhakti and Mukti.”
“In the case of the Arcâ'vatāra, (or Images consecrated in Temples) the spiritual body, by God's grace won by propitiation, incarnates (in the Images) after the vitalising (Prāṇa-pratishṭhā) process.”
“The Image-Incarnation is the species of Forms presented (for worship), in homes, hamlets, cities, selected hills etc., devoid of distances interposed by space and time; deigning to descend with His immaterial (i. e., spiritual) Person into any material substance as may lovingly be chosen by the votary; lending Himself to the sweet will of His worshipper in all details (of worship such as) bath, food, place and rest; All-forgiving; the All-sufficient God! Four varieties of this (aspect) exist viz., Self-manifest (Svayam-Vyakta), Superhuman or Celestial (Daiva), Saint-made (Saiddha) and Man-made (Mānusha).”
“Saṅkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are thus mere bodily forms which the highest Brahman voluntarily assumes. Scripture already declares, 'Not born he is born in many ways,' and it is this birth—consisting in the voluntary assumption of bodily form, due to tenderness towards its devotees—which the Bhâgavata system teaches; hence there lies no valid objection to the authoritativeness of that system.”
“Or else (taking brahmapura to mean gîvapura) we may understand the passage to teach that Brahman is, in the city of the individual soul, near (to the devout worshipper), just as Vishnu is near to us in the Sâlagrâma-stone.”
The same books also speak of God's (﷾) form and face
The same Upanishad asks Rudra, its name for God (﷾), to "look upon us with that most blessed form of thine". It prays, "let thy gracious face protect me for ever". It says that the Self is fire, the sun, the wind and the moon. In the Yajur Veda, "There is no counterpart of him" is followed by a verse saying that he dwells "born aforetime, in the womb". The Sanskrit is purvo ha jatah, sa u garbhe antah. Hindus who defend image worship point to lines like these. But a form that no eye in this world can see cannot be carved or painted. A face asked for protection in prayer is not a face shaped by a sculptor. The Qur'an too speaks of "the Face of thy Lord", and of the hands with which God (﷾) created Adam. It affirms them without likening them to anything, for "there is nothing whatever like unto Him". It says, "Invent not similitudes for Allah". It never calls God the sun or the moon: "Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them". Of a God who is born, it says, "He begetteth not, nor is He begotten". Beside their lines of pure oneness, the Hindu books also say that the Self is the sun. They also say that he dwells "born aforetime, in the womb". The Qur'an keeps the lines of pure oneness and has nothing that contradicts them.
“O Rudra, thou dweller in the mountains, look upon us with that most blessed form of thine which is auspicious, not terrible, and reveals no evil!”
“'Thou art unborn,' with these words some one comes near to thee, trembling. O Rudra, let thy gracious face protect me for ever!”
“That (Self) indeed is Agni (fire), it is Âditya (sun), it is Vâyu (wind), it is Kandramas (moon); the same also is the starry firmament, it is Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), it is water, it is Pragâpati (Virâg).”
“There is no counterpart of him whose glory verily is great.”
“This very God pervadeth all the regions; yea, born aforetime, in the womb he dwelleth. He verily born and to be born hereafter meeteth his offspring, facing all directions.”
“No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.”
“All that is on earth will perish: But will abide (for ever) the Face of thy Lord,- full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.”
“(Allah) said: "O Iblis! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with my hands? Art thou haughty? Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?"”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“Invent not similitudes for Allah: for Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”
“Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve.”
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
The Vedanta's own ruling on worship through a symbol
The Upanishads do tell people to meditate on mind and on the ether (space) as Brahman, and they call the syllable Om Brahman. Many Hindus read the murti the same way, as a symbol through which God (﷾) is worshipped. The Brahma Sutra is a short text that sums up the teaching of the Upanishads. Every school of Vedanta, the tradition built on the Upanishads, writes a commentary on it. It rules on exactly such meditations on a symbol (pratika). Ramanuja explains that in them the symbol alone is meditated on, not Brahman. The idea of Brahman is laid on something that is not Brahman, as one might view a servant as a prince. Shankara, the best-known teacher of the Advaita school, agrees that the symbol is what is meditated on, though Brahman gives the fruit. Brahman too is meditated on, he adds, in so far as its thought is laid on the symbol. It is like the thought of Vishnu laid on his images. The Sutra then rules that those who depend on symbols are not led on. Ramanuja concludes that such a devotee "does not reach Brahman", and Shankara that his meditation "is not fixed on Brahman". Vivekananda himself wrote that the same ideas apply to images as to symbols. He held that an image standing for the one God (﷾) brings liberation. But the Sutra, as both its great teachers read it, leaves those who depend on symbols out of those who are led on.
“Let a man meditate on mind as Brahman (n.), this is said with reference to the body. Let a man meditate on the ether as Brahman (n.), this is said with reference to the Devas. Thus both the meditation which has reference to the body, and the meditation which has reference to the Devas, has been taught.”
“Yama replied: That goal which all the Vedas glorify, which all austerities proclaim, desiring which (people) practice Brahmacharya (a life of continence and service), that goal I tell thee briefly--it is Aum. This Word is indeed Brahman. This Word is indeed the Supreme. He who knows this Word obtains whatever he desires.”
“Not in the symbol; for (the symbol) is not that one (i. e. the Self of the Devotee).”
“This view the Sûtra sets aside. A pratîka cannot be meditated on as being of the nature of Self; for the pratîka is not the Self of the meditating Devotee. What, in those meditations, is to be meditated upon is the pratîka only, not Brahman: the latter enters into the meditation only as qualifying its aspect. For by a meditation on a pratîka we understand a meditation in which something that is not Brahman is viewed under the aspect of Brahman, and as the pratîka—the object of meditation—is not the Self of the Devotee it cannot be viewed under that form.—But an objection is raised here also, it is Brahman which is the real object of meditation; for where Brahman may be viewed as the object of meditation, it is inappropriate to assume as objects non-sentient things of small power such as the mind, and so on. The object of meditation therefore is Brahman viewed under the aspect of mind, and so on.—This objection the next Sûtra disposes of.”
“The view of Brahman may appropriately be superimposed on mind and the like; but not the view of mind, and so on, on Brahman. For Brahman is something superior to mind, and so on; while the latter are inferior to Brahman. To view a superior person, a prince e. g., as a servant would be lowering; while, on the other hand, to view a servant as a prince is exalting.”
“Against the remark that in all the mentioned cases Brahman only has to be meditated upon in order that a fruit may result from the meditation, we point out that from the mode of proof used above we infer that (not Brahman but) only Âditya and so on have to be meditated upon. But as in the case of hospitality shown to guests, Brahman, that is the supreme ruler of all, will give the fruit of meditations on Âditya and so on as well.”
“And, after all, Brahman also is meditated upon (in the cases under discussion) in so far as a contemplation on Brahman is superinduced on its symbols, analogously as a contemplation on Vishnu is superinduced on his images.”
“Those not depending on symbols he leads, thus Bâdarâyana thinks; there being a defect in both cases; and he whose thought is that.”
“In the case of those, on the other hand, who rely on the symbols (in which they meditatively contemplate Brahman), beginning with name and terminating with prâna ('He who meditates on name as Brahman,' Kh. Up. VII, 1 ff.), the meditation is not proved by texts of the two kinds previously mentioned to lead to Brahman; it rather is contaminated by an element not of the nature of intelligence, and hence—according to the principle that the result of a meditation is the same in nature as the meditation itself—the soul of the inferior devotee practising such meditation does not proceed by the path of light and does not reach Brahman.”
“That means: Excepting those who take their stand on symbols (i. e. who meditate on certain things as symbolically representing Brahman), that person who is not a man leads all others who take their stand (i. e. who meditate) on the effected Brahman, to the world of Brahman; this is the opinion of the teacher Bâdarâyana. For in acknowledging in this way a twofold relation there is no fault; since the argumentation as to the non-restriction of going (Sûtra III, 3, 31) may be understood as referring to all meditations with the exception of those on symbols. The words, 'and the meditation on that,' state the reason for this twofold relation. For he whose meditation is fixed on Brahman reaches lordship like that of Brahman, according to the scriptural relation, 'In whatever form they meditate on him, that they become themselves.' In the case of symbols, on the other hand, the meditation is not fixed on Brahman, the symbol being the chief element in the meditation.”
“The word Pratîkâ means going towards, and worshipping a Pratîkâ is worshipping some thing which as a substitute, is, in some one or more respects, like the Brahman more and more, but is not the Brahman.”
“The same ideas apply to the worship of the Pratimâs as do to that of the Pratîkâs; that is to say, if the image stands for a god or a saint, the worship is not the result of Bhakti, and does not lead to liberation; but if it stands for the one God, the worship thereof will bring both Bhakti and Mukti.”
If God (﷾) is present in the image
The Sri Vaishnavas answer that the consecrated image is not a symbol at all. Their handbook counts it among God's (﷾) own five forms, so rulings on symbols do not reach it. Islam does not teach that God (﷾) enters any made thing. The Qur'an says He is "firmly established on the Throne", yet near to each person. He knows what the soul whispers, and is nearer than the jugular vein. The Upanishads say He is perceived in the heart. So no rite is needed to bring Him near. The question is whether He asked to be worshipped in a made thing. Twice the shruti says that His form is not to be seen. The handbook itself lists the worship given to the image: bath, food, place and rest. What receives that service is the thing people see, "this which people worship here", which the Kena says is not Brahman. Even Dayananda Saraswati, a 19th-century Hindu reformer and no friend of Islam, answered this belief. No verse of the Vedas, he said, speaks of calling God into an image. The Agamas, the manuals of temple worship, and the Puranas, the traditional books on the gods, stand beside the Upanishads' words. They do not remove them. So Hindu scripture speaks with two voices on images. The Qur'an speaks with one.
“The Image-Incarnation is the species of Forms presented (for worship), in homes, hamlets, cities, selected hills etc., devoid of distances interposed by space and time; deigning to descend with His immaterial (i. e., spiritual) Person into any material substance as may lovingly be chosen by the votary; lending Himself to the sweet will of His worshipper in all details (of worship such as) bath, food, place and rest; All-forgiving; the All-sufficient God! Four varieties of this (aspect) exist viz., Self-manifest (Svayam-Vyakta), Superhuman or Celestial (Daiva), Saint-made (Saiddha) and Man-made (Mānusha).”
“His form is not to be seen. No one can see Him with the eye. He is perceived by the heart, by the intellect and by the mind. They who know this become immortal.”
“No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.”
“It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.”
“He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and is moreover firmly established on the Throne (of Authority). He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do.”
“That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here. That which cannot be thought by mind, but by which, they say, mind is able to think: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which is not seen by the eye, but by which the eye is able to see: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ear is able to hear: know that alone to be Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which none breathes with the breath, but by which breath is in-breathed: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here.”
Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, argues in the revised second edition of his Satyarth Prakash, a book that also gives a chapter to attacking the Qur'an, that no verse of the Vedas speaks of invoking God into an image, bringing it to life, or worshipping it; the verses recited for these rites, he says, come from the Tantras, not the Vedas. To the view that a god comes into the image when called by mantras and leaves when the rite ends, he answers that God, who fills all things, neither comes nor goes. He reads Yajur Veda 32.3 (na tasya pratima asti) and the Kena Upanishad's refrain as forbidding image worship, calls the Tantras and Puranas that enjoin it contrary to the Vedas, and denies that image worship is a first step toward God.
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
Hindu reformers who gave up images
Some Hindus have drawn the same conclusion. Ram Mohan Roy, a 19th-century Hindu reformer, founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828, for the worship of the Supreme Being alone. Its Trust Deed of 1830, to which he was a party, barred from its hall any "likeness of any thing", and any sacrifice or offering. Roy granted that the Vedas "tolerate idolatry" for those who cannot raise their minds to the invisible God (﷾). But he held that they repeatedly urge that it be given up. Debendranath Tagore later led the Samaj. He found that he could found its faith neither on the Vedas nor on the Upanishads. In the Upanishads he met "I am He" and "Thou art That", and was disappointed in them too. Dayananda Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj. He wrote the Satyarth Prakash, a book that also attacks the Qur'an. In it he held that no verse of the Vedas speaks of calling God into an image, bringing it to life, or worshipping it. A Hindu who wants one God (﷾) and no images must set much of his tradition aside. Even then, he is left with no scripture that teaches it plainly. The same Yajur Veda that says "There is no counterpart of him" says he dwells "in the womb". The Brahmos themselves agreed that the Vedas and the Upanishads were not infallible guides. The Qur'an teaches the worship of the one God (﷾) alone plainly, from its first chapter to its closing ones. It says that there is nothing whatever like Him.
The editor's introduction records that Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828. It was a church in which the Supreme Being alone was to be worshipped. He was to be worshipped under no name or title that any man or group gives to a particular being.
“and that no graven image statue or sculpture carving painting picture portrait or the likeness of any thing shall be admitted within the said messuages building land tenements hereditaments and premises and that no sacrifice offering or oblation of any kind or thing shall ever be permitted therein”
“It will also appear evident that the Veds, although they tolerate idolatry as the last provision for those who are totally incapable of raising their minds to the contemplation of the invisible God of nature, yet repeatedly urge the relinquishment of the rites of idol worship, and the adoption of a purer system of religion”
Debendranath Tagore later led Ram Mohan Roy's Brahmo Samaj as its spiritual head. He writes that he had founded its faith on the eleven Upanishads he knew. He rejected Shankara's commentary on the Vedanta, because its conclusion contradicted the relation of worshipper and worshipped. He calls that relation the very essence of the faith. When he found "I am He" and "Thou art That" in the Upanishads themselves, he was disappointed in them too. The faith, he concluded, could be founded neither on the Vedas nor on the Upanishads, but on the pure heart. Only those texts of the Upanishads that agreed with it could be accepted. His son's introduction adds that the Brahmos then held a general meeting. They agreed that the Vedas, the Upanishads and other ancient writings were not to be accepted as infallible guides.
Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, argues in the revised second edition of his Satyarth Prakash, a book that also gives a chapter to attacking the Qur'an, that no verse of the Vedas speaks of invoking God into an image, bringing it to life, or worshipping it; the verses recited for these rites, he says, come from the Tantras, not the Vedas. To the view that a god comes into the image when called by mantras and leaves when the rite ends, he answers that God, who fills all things, neither comes nor goes. He reads Yajur Veda 32.3 (na tasya pratima asti) and the Kena Upanishad's refrain as forbidding image worship, calls the Tantras and Puranas that enjoin it contrary to the Vedas, and denies that image worship is a first step toward God.
“There is no counterpart of him whose glory verily is great.”
“This very God pervadeth all the regions; yea, born aforetime, in the womb he dwelleth. He verily born and to be born hereafter meeteth his offspring, facing all directions.”
“Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
Abraham's questions
Abraham asked his people about the idols they worshipped: "Do they listen to you when ye call (on them)?" "Or do you good or harm?" He watched a star, the moon and the sun go down. Then he turned his face towards "Him Who created the heavens and the earth". The Qur'an says that those people call on besides Allah (﷾) "create nothing and are themselves created". They are "servants like unto you". It answers those who say, "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Ramanuja's own picture, a servant seen as a prince, describes just what the Qur'an turns away from. The page on praying before images of Jesus and Mary makes the same case from the Bible's own commandment.
“He said: "Do they listen to you when ye call (on them)?" "Or do you good or harm?"”
“When the night covered him over, He saw a star: He said: "This is my Lord." But when it set, He said: "I love not those that set." When he saw the moon rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord." But when the moon set, He said: "unless my Lord guide me, I shall surely be among those who go astray." When he saw the sun rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord; this is the greatest (of all)." But when the sun set, he said: "O my people! I am indeed free from your (guilt) of giving partners to Allah. "For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly, towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall I give partners to Allah."”
“Those whom they invoke besides Allah create nothing and are themselves created.”
“Verily those whom ye call upon besides Allah are servants like unto you: Call upon them, and let them listen to your prayer, if ye are (indeed) truthful!”
“Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors other than Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful.”
Is the image only an aid or a first step? And what of the Kaaba?
Some Hindus call the image only an aid, like the photograph of someone we love. But a photograph shows what someone looks like, and the Upanishad says, "There is no likeness of Him". Vivekananda himself said that the worshippers in every temple apply all the attributes of God (﷾), even omnipresence, to the images. Al-Biruni was a Muslim scholar who studied India. About 1030 he recorded a Hindu tradition. In it the Lord tells a king to make an image as a memorial, if forgetfulness overpowers him. In the same breath the Lord says, "if you speak, speak in my name". And al-Biruni found that the Hindus who seek liberation or study philosophy "would never dream of worshipping an image manufactured to represent him". Islam gives everyone a memorial with no image: prayer five times a day, and the remembrance of Allah (﷾). Others call the image a first step. The Vedanta's own ruling, as Ramanuja explains it, says that those who rely on symbols do not reach Brahman. Some say that the Kaaba, the house Muslims face in prayer, is the Muslims' own image. Yet Umar, a close companion of the Prophet (ﷺ), kissed its Black Stone saying that he knew it could neither harm nor benefit. The direction of prayer was Jerusalem until God (﷾) changed it. The page on whether Muslims worship the Kaaba and the Black Stone answers this in full. Muslims also affirm what God (﷾) says of Himself, His hands and His face, without likening Him to anything. There is nothing whatever like Him, so they make no image of Him.
“At the very outset, I may tell you that there is no polytheism in India. In every temple, if one stands by and listens, one will find the worshippers applying all the attributes of God, including omnipresence, to the images.”
“Not above, not across, Nor in the middle has one grasped Him. There is no likeness of Him Whose name is Great Glory (mahad yaśas).”
“And if you are overpowered by human forgetfulness, make to yourself an image like that in which you see me; offer to it perfumes and flowers, and make it a memorial of me, so that you may not forget me. If you are in sorrow, think of me; if you speak, speak in my name; if you act, act for me.”
“For those who march on the path to liberation, or those who study philosophy and theology, and who desire abstract truth which they call sâra, are entirely free from worshipping anything but God alone, and would never dream of worshipping an image manufactured to represent him.”
“"Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”
“Those not depending on symbols he leads, thus Bâdarâyana thinks; there being a defect in both cases; and he whose thought is that.”
“In the case of those, on the other hand, who rely on the symbols (in which they meditatively contemplate Brahman), beginning with name and terminating with prâna ('He who meditates on name as Brahman,' Kh. Up. VII, 1 ff.), the meditation is not proved by texts of the two kinds previously mentioned to lead to Brahman; it rather is contaminated by an element not of the nature of intelligence, and hence—according to the principle that the result of a meditation is the same in nature as the meditation itself—the soul of the inferior devotee practising such meditation does not proceed by the path of light and does not reach Brahman.”
Abis ibn Rabi'a reports that Umar came to the Black Stone and kissed it. Umar said that he knew it was a stone that could neither harm nor benefit, and that had he not seen the Prophet (ﷺ) kiss it, he would not have kissed it.
Al-Bara ibn Azib reports that after arriving in Madinah the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed facing Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months, until the direction of prayer was turned to the Kaaba.
“We see the turning of thy face (for guidance to the heavens: now Shall We turn thee to a Qibla that shall please thee. Turn then Thy face in the direction of the sacred Mosque: Wherever ye are, turn your faces in that direction. The people of the Book know well that that is the truth from their Lord. Nor is Allah unmindful of what they do.”
“(Allah) said: "O Iblis! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with my hands? Art thou haughty? Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?"”
“All that is on earth will perish: But will abide (for ever) the Face of thy Lord,- full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
The One who is near without an image
The Qur'an teaches the God (﷾) those highest lines describe. There is nothing whatever like Him; there is none like Him; no vision can grasp Him. Yet He is near: "I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me." He is nearer to each person than the jugular vein, and with them wherever they are. "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer)." On a journey, the Prophet's (ﷺ) companions were calling out Allahu Akbar (Allah (﷾) is the Greatest) loudly. He told them that they were not calling on one who is deaf or absent, but on One who hears, sees and is near. "Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah." So a Muslim needs no image or go-between to call on God (﷾). The Qur'an asks for this worship in its opening chapter: "Thee do we worship". Near its end, Surat al-Ikhlas says, "there is none like unto Him".
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
“It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.”
“He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and is moreover firmly established on the Throne (of Authority). He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do.”
“And your Lord says: "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): but those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves in Hell - in humiliation!"”
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari reports that on a journey with the Prophet (ﷺ) the Companions called out Allahu Akbar whenever they climbed high ground. The Prophet (ﷺ) told them to go easy on themselves. They were not calling on one who is deaf or absent, he said, but on One who hears, sees and is near. In the same report in Sahih al-Bukhari 2992 he adds that He is with them.
“To Allah belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah. For Allah is all-Pervading, all-Knowing.”
“Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”
The replies, answered
Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.19-20 — chapter 4, verses 19-20
“No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.”
Cited for
Pratima means a likeness, an equal or a measure. The verse says that nothing equals God; it says nothing about statues. Reading it as a ban on the murti misreads it.
The response
Grant it: the argument does not need the word "statue". Hume renders the line "There is no likeness of Him", and Griffith, in the Yajur Veda, "There is no counterpart of him". A statue of God (﷾) is a likeness of Him, made to be seen. The next verse says "His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye", and the Katha Upanishad has the same line. The same Upanishad also says "no one is seen like unto him". On any translation, a likeness of God (﷾) that the eye can see is what these verses deny.
Where it lands — On any translation of pratima, the Upanishad denies God (﷾) a likeness, and says that no eye sees His form.
Chandogya Upanishad 3.18.1 — chapter 3, section 18, verse 1
“Let a man meditate on mind as Brahman (n.), this is said with reference to the body. Let a man meditate on the ether as Brahman (n.), this is said with reference to the Devas. Thus both the meditation which has reference to the body, and the meditation which has reference to the Devas, has been taught.”
Cited for
The Upanishads themselves tell us to meditate on the mind and on space as Brahman. They call Om Brahman, and say that the Self is the sun. A murti is used in the same way: a symbol through which the one God is worshipped. Image worship follows the shruti's own method.
The response
The Vedanta's own texts rule on exactly these meditations. The Kena says of the mind itself that Brahman is that "by which, they say, mind is able to think". It is "not this which people worship here". The Brahma Sutra takes up meditation on a symbol (pratika). Ramanuja explains that in it what is meditated on is "the pratîka only, not Brahman". It is a meditation in which something "that is not Brahman is viewed under the aspect of Brahman". Shankara agrees: "(not Brahman but) only Âditya and so on have to be meditated upon". The Sutra then rules, "Those not depending on symbols he leads". Ramanuja concludes that the devotee who relies on symbols "does not reach Brahman". Vivekananda himself wrote: "The same ideas apply to the worship of the Pratimâs as do to that of the Pratîkâs".
Where it lands — By the Vedanta's own ruling, in worship through a symbol the symbol is what is meditated on. It does not bring the worshipper to Brahman. Vivekananda himself puts images in the same class as symbols.
Svetasvatara Upanishad 3.5 — chapter 3, verse 5
“O Rudra, thou dweller in the mountains, look upon us with that most blessed form of thine which is auspicious, not terrible, and reveals no evil!”
Cited for
The very Upanishad quoted against images asks Rudra to look upon us "with that most blessed form of thine", and prays to his "gracious face". So God has forms, and the murti shows them.
The response
The Upanishad says this, and this page quotes it. The same Upanishad also says "His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye", and "There is no image of him". A form that no eye in this world can see cannot be carved or painted. A face asked for protection in prayer is not a face shaped by a sculptor. The Qur'an, too, speaks of "the Face of thy Lord", which abides when all on earth perishes. It affirms it without likening it to anything, for "there is nothing whatever like unto Him". And it says, "Invent not similitudes for Allah". So the Upanishad's "face" gives no warrant for a carved one. The Qur'an speaks of His Face, yet nowhere gives Him a likeness that could be carved.
Where it lands — Speaking of God's (﷾) face does not make an image of it. The same Upanishad says that no eye sees His form.
Shankara, commentary on Kena Upanishad 1.5 — S. Sitarama Sastri's translation, 1898, p. 48
“Disregarding these, know the Atman itself to be the unconditioned Brahman. This is the meaning. Brahman is not what people here worship, such as Iswara, which is not the Atman, and which is conditioned and referred to as 'this'.”
Cited for
The Kena is not about images. Shankara explains that Brahman is not what people here worship, such as Ishvara, the Lord: whatever is worshipped as other than one's own Self. On that reading the refrain rules out every Lord people pray to, the God of the Muslims too.
The response
Take Shankara's reading. If even the Lord, worshipped as an object, is not Brahman, a carved image is not Brahman all the more. His further step, that the worshipper's own Self is Brahman, is his school's teaching. Other Hindu teachers reject it: Ramanuja answers that there is no "pure Being" above the Lord. Nor does the Kena forbid worship. It says of Brahman, "He is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam": by a name, not by an image. The Qur'an says the same: "The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them". A Muslim worships no object that the eye sees or the mind pictures, for "No vision can grasp Him".
Where it lands — On any reading, the Kena denies that what the eye sees is Brahman, and it tells people to worship Brahman by a name. So does the Qur'an.
Srinivasadasa, Yatindramatadipika, chapter 6 — A. Govindacharya's translation, 1912, pp. 92-93
“In the case of the Arcâ'vatāra, (or Images consecrated in Temples) the spiritual body, by God's grace won by propitiation, incarnates (in the Images) after the vitalising (Prāṇa-pratishṭhā) process.”
Cited for
The murti is not a likeness of God's essence. By the rite of prana-pratishtha God Himself becomes present in it, out of love for His devotees. Sri Vaishnavas call the temple image His own descent (arca). Even Shankara said that Vishnu is near to us in the salagrama stone. To say that God cannot do this is to limit God.
The response
Islam does not teach that God (﷾) enters a made thing. He is near to every person by His knowledge. He is nearer than the jugular vein, and with them wherever they are, for "Allah sees well all that ye do". Wherever they turn, there is His presence. The Prophet (ﷺ) told his companions that they were calling on One who hears and is near. No rite is needed to bring Him near. The question is whether He asked to be worshipped in a made thing. The shruti answers twice. The Svetasvatara says, "His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye" (4.20). The Katha says, "His form is not to be seen" (2.3.9). The handbook itself lists the worship given to the image: bath, food, place and rest. What receives that service is the thing people see, "this which people worship here", which the Kena says is not Brahman. Shankara does take Vishnu's nearness in the salagrama stone as a familiar comparison. But he uses it to show that Brahman is near "in the city of the individual soul", within the worshipper himself. The same Shankara rules that in worship through a symbol "the meditation is not fixed on Brahman". Even Dayananda answered this very claim: no verse of the Vedas, he said, speaks of calling God into an image. The Qur'an says that those invoked besides Allah (﷾) create nothing and are themselves created.
Where it lands — God (﷾) enters no made thing, and is near without any rite. A statue given worship becomes "this which people worship here", which the Kena says is not Brahman.
Ramanuja, commentary on Brahma Sutra 2.2.42 — Sacred Books of the East 48, pp. 525-526
“Saṅkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are thus mere bodily forms which the highest Brahman voluntarily assumes. Scripture already declares, 'Not born he is born in many ways,' and it is this birth—consisting in the voluntary assumption of bodily form, due to tenderness towards its devotees—which the Bhâgavata system teaches; hence there lies no valid objection to the authoritativeness of that system.”
Cited for
Temple worship rests on the Agamas, which Shaiva and Vaishnava Hindus hold to be revealed, and on the Puranas, the Bhagavata among them. Ramanuja himself upholds the authority of the Pancharatra, which teaches that God takes on bodily forms for His devotees. And the consecrated image is no symbol, so the rulings on symbols do not touch it.
The response
Grant it all: the Agamas, the Pancharatra and the Puranas lay down the image and its worship. Then the Hindu scriptures speak with two voices. The Upanishads say, "There is no image of him" and "His form cannot be seen". The Kena adds, "not this which people worship here". Hindu teachers have not agreed which voice to follow. Dayananda called the Tantras and Puranas that enjoin image worship contrary to the Vedas, while Ramanuja upheld the Pancharatra. The Qur'an speaks with one voice: "there is nothing whatever like unto Him". It says of itself, "Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy."
Where it lands — Granting the Agamas, Hindu scripture speaks with two voices on images, and its teachers divide over which to follow. The Qur'an speaks with one.
Swami Vivekananda, Paper on Hinduism, World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 19 September 1893
“My brethren, we can no more think about anything without a mental image than we can live without breathing. By the law of association the material image calls up the mental idea and vice versa. This is why the Hindu uses an external symbol when he worships. He will tell you it helps to keep his mind fixed on the Being to whom he prays. He knows as well as you do that the image is not God, is not omnipresent.”
Cited for
The image is only an aid, like the photograph of someone we love. The Hindu knows as well as anyone that the image is not God. It helps him keep his mind fixed on the Being to whom he prays.
The response
A photograph shows what someone looks like. The Upanishad says no one sees what God (﷾) looks like: "There is no likeness of Him", and "His form cannot be seen". So an image of God (﷾) cannot be His photograph. Some Hindu stories do tell of God (﷾) showing a form. In the tale al-Biruni retells, the Lord tells a king to make an image "like that in which you see me". Then the story and the Upanishad speak with two voices, and the Upanishad is the scripture most Hindus hold to be revealed. And the image, in a temple or a home shrine, is treated as more than a reminder. A Sri Vaishnava handbook, which speaks of such images in homes too, lists the service given to them: bath, food, place and rest. Vivekananda himself told the same audience that in every temple the worshippers apply all the attributes of God (﷾), even omnipresence, to the images. By his own definition, worship through a symbol is worship of something that "is not the Brahman". Abraham asked his people of what they worshipped: "Do they listen to you when ye call (on them)?"
Where it lands — A photograph shows a face someone has seen; the Upanishad says no eye sees God's (﷾) form. An image that is bathed, fed and prayed to is treated as more than an aid.
Swami Vivekananda, Bhakti-Yoga (1896), Worship of Substitutes and Images
“But where Brahman Himself is the object of worship, and the Pratîkâ stands only as a substitute or a suggestion thereof, that is to say, where through the Pratîkâ the omnipresent Brahman is worshipped—the Pratîkâ itself being idealized into the cause of all, the Brahman—the worship is positively beneficial; nay, it is absolutely necessary for all mankind, until they have all got beyond the primary or preparatory state of the mind in regard to worship.”
Cited for
Images are a stage. Where the one God is worshipped through the image, the worship is necessary for everyone until they pass beyond the first stage. An image that stands for the one God brings devotion and liberation. All these, Vivekananda said, seem to be necessary stages.
The response
If the image is the first step of a ladder, the Upanishads are its top. At the top they say, "not this which people worship here". The Brahma Sutra answers the claim that such worship brings liberation: only "Those not depending on symbols" are led on. Ramanuja concludes that the devotee who relies on symbols "does not reach Brahman", and Shankara that his meditation "is not fixed on Brahman". Dayananda, a Hindu reformer, rejected the same ladder: image worship, he said, is no step toward God (﷾). Islam offers everyone, from the first day, the worship of the unseen One, whom the Upanishad says is known "through heart and mind". "I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me."
Where it lands — The Vedanta's own ruling denies that worship through symbols brings a person to Brahman. There is no need to climb a ladder whose top says "not this".
al-Biruni, Tahqiq ma li-l-Hind (India), about 1030 CE, chapter 11 — the story of King Ambarisha
“And if you are overpowered by human forgetfulness, make to yourself an image like that in which you see me; offer to it perfumes and flowers, and make it a memorial of me, so that you may not forget me. If you are in sorrow, think of me; if you speak, speak in my name; if you act, act for me.”
Cited for
The Upanishads' way, with no image, is for those who leave the world. A householder, busy with work and family, needs a memorial. Al-Biruni records the Hindus' own account of it. The Lord told a king that release comes by keeping aloof from the world. The king asked how people bound to the world could do this. The Lord told him to make an image as a memorial if forgetfulness overpowered him.
The response
The Upanishads themselves were not only for those who leave the world. In the Chandogya, "five great householders and great theologians" meet to ask "What is our Self, and what is Brahman". In the story al-Biruni tells, the same Lord also says, "if you speak, speak in my name". Islam gives the person in the world that memorial, with no image. He prays five times a day, and the Qur'an praises "men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the Remembrance of Allah". It says that "in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction". Al-Biruni also found that the Hindus who seek liberation "would never dream of worshipping an image manufactured to represent him". Hundreds of millions of Muslims, most of them busy with work and family, show every day that no image is needed.
Where it lands — The Upanishads' own seekers include householders. Islam gives every person in the world a memorial with no image: prayer, and the remembrance of Allah (﷾).
Swami Vivekananda, Addresses on Bhakti-Yoga, The Chief Symbols
“The Mahommedans think that when they pray, if they try to form a mental image of the Temple with the Kaba, the black stone, in it, and turn towards the west, it is all right, but if you form the image in the shape of a church it is idolatry. This is the defect of image-worship. Yet all these seem to be necessary stages.”
Cited for
Muslims turn to the Kaaba five times a day, picture it in prayer, walk round it and kiss the Black Stone. That is image worship, with a building in place of a statue.
The response
Umar kissed the Black Stone and said that he knew it was a stone that could neither harm nor benefit. He kissed it only because he had seen the Prophet (ﷺ) do so. In Medina the direction of prayer was Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months, until God (﷾) changed it. A Muslim can turn from one direction to another, but not from the One he prays to. "Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah." In every prayer he says to God (﷾), "Thee do we worship". Islam asks nothing of the Kaaba or the Stone and offers them no food, and no Muslim is taught that God (﷾) has entered them. The page on whether Muslims worship the Kaaba and the Black Stone sets out the rest.
Where it lands — A direction appointed by God (﷾), and a stone told that it can neither harm nor benefit, receive no worship.
Swami Vivekananda, Bhakti-Yoga (1896), Worship of Substitutes and Images
“Of the principal religions of the world we see Vedântism, Buddhism, and certain forms of Christianity freely using images; only two religions, Mahomedanism and Protestantism, refuse such help. Yet the Mahomedans use the graves of their saints and martyrs almost in the place of images”
Cited for
Muslims do the same thing another way. Vivekananda wrote that Muslims use the graves of their saints and martyrs almost in the place of images. At shrines across India, many Muslims lay cloth and flowers on a saint's tomb and ask him for help.
The response
Islam forbids making a tomb a place of worship. Five days before his death, the Prophet (ﷺ) spoke of earlier peoples. They had made the graves of their prophets and righteous men into places of worship. He forbade Muslims to do the same. His own grave was not left in the open, for fear that it would be taken as a place of worship. The Qur'an says, "And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not any one along with Allah". What some Muslims do at tombs is what their Prophet (ﷺ) warned against. A faith is judged by what it teaches, not by what some of its followers do.
Where it lands — Islam forbids turning a tomb into a place of worship. Its teaching, not every Muslim's practice, is the measure.
Qur'an 56:77-79 — Surat al-Waqi'a (The Inevitable), verses 77-79
“That this is indeed a qur'an Most Honourable, In Book well-guarded, Which none shall touch but those who are clean:”
Cited for
Muslims also treat a made thing as holy. They keep the Qur'an wrapped and high, touch it only when clean, and kiss it. That is how Hindus treat the murti.
The response
A book of God's (﷾) words is not a likeness of God (﷾). Muslims honour the written Qur'an for the words it holds, not for its paper and ink. They do not pray to it, ask it for help, or offer it food, and Islam teaches no one that God (﷾) has entered it. In their daily prayers they recite the same words from memory, with no book before them. What they worship is the One who spoke them: "Thee do we worship".
Where it lands — Muslims honour the Qur'an as God's (﷾) words and pray to God (﷾) alone. A book of His words is not an image of Him.
Qur'an 38:75 — Surat Sad (The letter Saad), verse 75
“(Allah) said: "O Iblis! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with my hands? Art thou haughty? Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?"”
Cited for
The Qur'an says that God created Adam with His hands, and speaks of His face. So Islam, too, gives God a form. Hindus only make visible what Muslims leave in words. And the same verse rebukes Iblis for refusing to bow to Adam, a form God had fashioned and breathed His spirit into. That is what the consecration of a murti does.
The response
Muslims affirm what God (﷾) says of Himself, His hands and His face, without likening them to anything, because "there is nothing whatever like unto Him". A word God uses of Himself is not a likeness made by human hands. Muslims make no picture or statue of God (﷾) and pray before none. The angels bowed to Adam because God (﷾) commanded it, so their bow was obedience to God (﷾), not the worship of a creature. And Adam was a living man, whom God (﷾) taught "the names of all things", not a figure carved by a craftsman. The words "of My spirit" honour a spirit God (﷾) created, as the Kaaba is honoured as "My House". The Qur'an never says that God (﷾) Himself entered Adam. No one was told to pray to Adam or ask him for help. It commands no bow to any image: "Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them". The Upanishad says the same of its God: "There is no image of him".
Where it lands — Muslims affirm God's (﷾) words about Himself without making a likeness. The angels bowed to Adam at God's (﷾) command; the Qur'an commands no bow to an image.
Perspectives
God present in the consecrated image
Out of love for those who worship Him, God takes on forms so that they can reach Him. When an image in a temple is made holy by a rite called prana-pratishtha, His spiritual body becomes present in it. He accepts the worship offered there. It is God Himself who receives the worship, not the stone or metal the image is made of.
Sri Vaishnava teachers of Ramanuja's school, and temple worship as the Agamas lay it down
A handbook of Ramanuja's school teaches that God comes down into whatever material His worshipper lovingly chooses, man-made images included. There He accepts bathing, food and rest.
Rebuttal
Grant that this school teaches it. The question is whether God (﷾) asked to be worshipped in a made thing, and the shruti says that no eye sees His form. What receives the bath and food is the thing people see, which the Kena says is not Brahman.
The same handbook teaches that God's spiritual body incarnates in images consecrated in temples after the rite of prana-pratishtha.
Rebuttal
God (﷾) is already nearer to each person than the jugular vein, and with them by His knowledge wherever they are. So no rite is needed to bring Him near. Dayananda, a Hindu reformer, said that no verse of the Vedas speaks of calling God into an image.
Ramanuja accepts the Pancharatra scriptures. They teach that God freely takes on bodily forms out of love for those who worship Him.
Rebuttal
Grant that Ramanuja upholds it. Then Hindu scripture speaks with two voices, and its teachers divide over which to follow. Dayananda called the Tantras and Puranas that enjoin image worship contrary to the Vedas. The Qur'an speaks with one voice.
The image as a symbol and a first step
No one can think without a mental image. So the Hindu uses an image to keep his mind on God, knowing that the image is not God. The Upanishads themselves teach meditation on the mind, the ether and Om as Brahman. Where the one God is worshipped through the image, the worship is necessary for everyone until they pass beyond the first stage. It brings devotion and liberation.
Shankara's Advaita, Swami Vivekananda, and much modern Hindu teaching
A Hindu uses an image to keep his mind fixed on the Being he prays to. He knows the image itself is not God.
Rebuttal
A photograph shows what someone looks like. But the Upanishad says, "There is no likeness of Him". And Vivekananda himself said that worshippers in every temple give the images all the qualities of God (﷾), even being present everywhere.
The Upanishads tell people to meditate on the mind and on space as Brahman, and call the sound Om Brahman.
Rebuttal
Even so, the Brahma Sutra rules on exactly these meditations. Ramanuja explains that in them only the symbol is meditated on, not Brahman. And the worshipper who relies on symbols does not reach Brahman.
Brahman, who is everywhere, may be worshipped through a symbol. Everyone needs that kind of worship until they move past the beginner's stage.
Rebuttal
The Vedanta's own teachers rule against this. Ramanuja says the worshipper who relies on symbols "does not reach Brahman". Shankara says his meditation "is not fixed on Brahman". Islam offers the unseen One to everyone, from the very first day.
An image that stands for the one God brings both devotion and liberation.
Rebuttal
Vivekananda himself puts images in the same class as symbols. The Sutra, as both its great teachers read it, leaves those who depend on symbols out of those who are led on.
Shankara holds that Brahman gives the fruit of meditations on symbols. Brahman is meditated on in so far as its thought is laid on them, as Vishnu's is on his images.
Rebuttal
Grant it. Yet the same Shankara writes that in worship through a symbol, "the meditation is not fixed on Brahman". The symbol is the chief element in it.
Shankara compares Brahman's nearness to the worshipper with Vishnu's nearness in the salagrama stone.
Rebuttal
He uses the comparison to show that Brahman is near "in the city of the individual soul", within the worshipper himself. The same Shankara rules that in worship through a symbol "the meditation is not fixed on Brahman".
No images: the reform movements
The one invisible God is to be worshipped without any image. Roy's Brahmo Samaj barred every likeness from its hall. Dayananda read the Yajur Veda's na tasya pratima asti as forbidding image worship, and held that no Vedic verse enjoins it. Roy granted that the Vedas tolerate image worship for those who cannot rise above it. Tagore found that he could build his faith on neither the Vedas nor the Upanishads.
Ram Mohan Roy and Debendranath Tagore (Brahmo Samaj); Dayananda Saraswati (Arya Samaj)
The Brahmo Samaj's Trust Deed of 1830 barred any image or likeness of anything from its hall of worship.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that worship needs no image or likeness. It goes further, because it rests this on what God (﷾) is: nothing whatever is like Him.
Roy wrote that the Vedas tolerate image worship as the last provision for those who cannot contemplate the invisible God. Yet, he wrote, they repeatedly urge that it be given up.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that the image should be given up. It goes further: it allows no image as a first or last step, and asks everyone to call on God (﷾) directly.
Debendranath Tagore concluded that his faith could be founded neither on the Vedas nor on the Upanishads. He was disappointed in the Upanishads when he found "I am He" and "Thou art That" in them.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that a faith of one God (﷾) needs a scripture that says so plainly. The Qur'an does, from its first chapter to its closing ones.
Dayananda Saraswati held that no verse of the Vedas speaks of calling God into an image. None speaks of bringing it to life, or worshipping it.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that God (﷾) is not called into an image. And it goes further. God (﷾) is already nearer to each person than the vein in their neck, so no rite is needed to bring Him near.
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) is One. Nothing at all is like Him, and no eye can take Him in. Yet He is near, and hears whoever calls on Him. So He is worshipped directly, with no image or symbol, and He hears everyone who calls on Him Himself. The highest lines of the Upanishads, and the Vedanta's own ruling on symbols, point the same way.
The Svetasvatara Upanishad says there is no image or likeness of God (﷾), and that His form cannot be seen. The Katha Upanishad has the same line.
The Kena Upanishad says five times that what people worship here is not Brahman.
Ramanuja teaches that in worship through a symbol, only the symbol is meditated on: something that is not Brahman, treated as if it were. Shankara teaches that such meditation is not fixed on Brahman.
The Brahma Sutra, as Ramanuja explains it, holds that those who rely on symbols do not reach Brahman.
Around 1030, al-Biruni found that Hindus who seek liberation or study philosophy worship God (﷾) alone. They would never think of worshipping an image made to stand for Him.
The Qur'an teaches that there is nothing whatever like God (﷾) and that no vision can grasp Him.
God (﷾) is near to every person and answers whoever calls on Him, so no image is needed to reach Him. The Prophet (ﷺ) said Muslims call on One who hears, sees and is near.
Whatever is worshipped besides God (﷾) creates nothing and is itself created. It cannot hear those who worship it, or do them good or harm.
Muslims accept what God (﷾) says of Himself, such as His hands and His face, without comparing Him to anything. So they make no image of Him.