The states with and without travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic

Joey Hadden
·9 min read
maryland travel restrictions
A sign outside of BWI airport advises travelers that have been to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut must quarantine for 14 days. Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images

  • As the coronavirus continues to spread, some US states have domestic travel restrictions in place. 

  • Some states are requiring those traveling from high-risk areas to fill out health forms and self-quarantine for 14 days once they arrive.

  • Other states, like Florida and Colorado, have not imposed statewide travel restrictions.

  • While nonessential travel is no longer discouraged, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that "travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19."

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Alabama

Alabama has no statewide travel restrictions in place.

Alaska

Those entering Alaska must be tested for the coronavirus within three days of their departure, or quarantine for five days upon arrival. On top of that, they have to submit a self-isolation plan and a travel declaration. 

Arizona

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Arizona.

Arkansas

Arkansas has no statewide travel restrictions in place.

California 

California has no statewide travel restrictions in place, but the state's public health officials recommend quarantining for two weeks upon arrival.

Colorado

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Colorado.

Connecticut

People who are traveling into Connecticut after spending at least 24 hours in a high-risk area have to fill out a health form and self-quarantine for two weeks or until they can provide proof of a negative test from three days before their arrival or later. These areas currently include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Delaware

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Delaware.

Washington, DC

People who are traveling to Washington, DC, from a place with more than 10 cases per 100,000 people must test negative for the virus within 72 hours before arrival. Visitors are required to get tested again 3 to 5 days after arriving.

Florida 

Florida has no statewide travel restrictions in place.

Georgia

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Georgia.

Hawaii

Hawaii has a mandatory travel declaration form, temperature checks, and a 14-day quarantine period for those entering the state. Hawaii started a pre-travel testing program on October 16 that allows people who have tested negative within 72 hours of their arrival to skip or shorten their quarantine period, per the Associated Press.

A traveler checks in with airport authorities at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport during the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S., April 28, 2020. Picture taken April 28, 2020.
A traveler checks in with airport authorities at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii. REUTERS/Marco Garcia

Idaho

Idaho has no statewide regulations in place, but Ada County recommends self-quarantining upon arrival when traveling from an area with a higher infection rate.

Illinois

While Illinois has no statewide restrictions in place, the City of Chicago has a travel order in place requiring those coming from certain states to self-quarantine for 14 days. The list is updated every Tuesday for the following Friday, and it currently includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Utah, Kansas, and Indiana. Those coming from the following states and territories should also quarantine, but can opt-out by testing negative within 72 hours of arrival: Alaska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico, Idaho, Rhode Island, Michigan, Tennessee, Arkansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Connecticut, California, Texas, New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Washington, DC, Virginia, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, and Georgia.

A sign alerts residents to a mobile COVID-19 testing site set up on a vacant lot in the Austin neighborhood on June 23, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. The site is one of four mobile testing sites, two community-based sites and two first-responder-focused sites being implemented by the city.
A sign alerts residents to a mobile COVID-19 testing site set up on a vacant lot in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Indiana

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Indiana.

Iowa

Iowa has no statewide travel restrictions.

Kansas

Kansas has restrictions requiring certain travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, including those who were in North Dakota, South Dakota, or the country of Andorra between November 4 and November 17, those who have been on a cruise since March, those coming from Belgium or Czechia, and those who attended events out-of-state with 500 or more people without masks or social distancing.

Kentucky

Those entering Kentucky from areas with an infection rate of 15% or higher are asked to self-quarantine for two weeks. This currently includes Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming, Idaho, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Utah, Oregon, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Mexico, Arizona, and North Dakota.

Louisiana

Louisiana has no statewide travel restrictions.

Maine

Aside from residents of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, those entering Maine must self-quarantine for two weeks or sign a form saying they tested negative for the virus in the last 72 hours upon arrival. Residents returning to Maine must do the same unless they are traveling from New Hampshire or Vermont. 

Maryland

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Maryland.

Massachusetts

Those entering Massachusetts have to fill out a travel form and self-quarantine for 14 days or test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of arrival unless they're commuters or coming from a low-risk area. Low-risk areas include Vermont and Hawaii.

massachusetts travel order
Travelers at Logan Airport walk past a poster board advertising the new Massachusetts Travel Order. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Michigan

Michigan does not have statewide travel restrictions in place.

Minnesota

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Minnesota.

Mississippi

Mississippi does not have statewide travel restrictions in place.

Missouri 

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Missouri.

Montana 

Montana has no statewide travel restrictions in place.

Nebraska 

Nebraska does not have statewide travel restrictions in place.

Nevada

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Nevada.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire requests that those who are visiting from outside of New England and are planning on staying for an "extended period of time" self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.

New Jersey

New Jersey requests that visitors from high-risk states and territories that are staying longer than a day self-quarantine for 14 days, even if they tested negative for the virus. The state also has an online survey for travelers to fill out.

High-risk states currently include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Newark testing covid
Booths for patients are seen at the new COVID-19 testing facility that is now available for passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal B in Newark, New Jersey. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

New Mexico

New Mexico requires those entering the state to self-quarantine for two weeks if they're coming from a state with a 5% test positivity rate or higher, or more than 80 out of every 100,000 residents test positive.

Additionally, there is a state-wide lockdown from November 16 to November 30 to curb the spread of the virus. 

New York

Those entering New York from a noncontiguous state, a US territory, or another country with a CDC Level 2 or 3 Health Notice must fill out a traveler health form before leaving the airport and self-quarantine for 14 days.

Travelers who were out-of-state for more than 24 hours can cut their two-week quarantine short by getting tested within three days of arriving in New York. After taking a test, travelers must quarantine for another three days before getting tested again. If both tests come back negative, the person can stop quarantining. 

Additionally, nonessential travel between Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut is discouraged. 

new york travel restrictions covid
A sign displaying a COVID-19 travel advisory is placed in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images

North Carolina

There are no statewide travel restrictions in North Carolina.

North Dakota

North Dakota has no statewide travel restrictions in place.

Ohio

People traveling to Ohio from states with an infection rate of 15% or higher are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days. That list currently includes South Dakota, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Arizona, Alabama, Montana, Utah, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.

Oklahoma 

Oklahoma requests that those traveling from high-risk areas wear face masks in public and limit indoor gatherings for 10 to 14 days.

Oregon

Oregon requests that those traveling from other states self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania requires travelers to test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of travel or self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Pennsylvania travel restrictions
Travelers make their way through TSA inspection as Pennsylvania remains under restrictions for work and travel at Pittsburgh International Airport. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Rhode Island

Rhode Island is requiring travelers coming from states with an infection rate of 5% or higher to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arriving. Those who have tested negative for the virus within 72 hours of their trip to Rhode Island are exempt from quarantine. Similarly, those who test negative amid their quarantine can stop once they receive results.

The list of impacted states currently includes Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

South Carolina 

South Carolina requests that recent travelers stay home as much as possible and that those who may have been exposed self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival to the state.

South Dakota

South Dakota has no statewide travel restrictions, but some routes through tribal lands are closed.

Tennessee

Tennessee has no statewide travel restrictions.

Texas

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Texas.

A man walks through an empty terminal at the George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Texas, on June 10, 2020.
A man walks through an empty terminal at the George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Texas. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Utah

Utah has no statewide travel restrictions. 

Vermont

People who are entering Vermont from any county with more than 400 positive tests per million have to quarantine for 14 days, or seven days if they test negative during that time. 

Virginia 

There are no statewide travel restrictions in Virginia, but the state recommends staying home for 14 days to those who have been in high-risk situations for infection, like large gatherings or cruises.

Washington

Washington recommends that travelers self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival to the state. 

West Virginia

There are no statewide travel restrictions in West Virginia.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin does not have statewide travel restrictions, but the state recommends stopping all travel, both in and out of state.

Wyoming

Wyoming does not have statewide travel restrictions.

Read the original article on Insider

Latest Stories

  • 'Close the bars' and open schools, Fauci says

    Evidence strongly indicates that schools are not the sites of significant viral transmission, leading some to wonder why schools are being forced to bear the pandemic’s brunt, when it is adults in adult spaces who seem to be spreading the virus. 

  • Computer repairman who claimed he gave Hunter Biden data to Giuliani closes shop as laptop saga gets stranger

    Computer repairman John Paul Mac Isaac, who gave a copy of the laptop to Rudy Giuliani, shuttered his Delaware store and a neighbor said he left town.

  • Trump unexpectedly held a 63-second press conference

    President Trump on Tuesday surprised the White House press corps by announcing he would be making remarks in the briefing room in just a few minutes. As it turned out, he just wanted to highlight that the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 30,000 for the first time ever earlier in the day. He called it a "sacred number."> President Trump: "I just want to congratulate everybody. The stock market Dow Jones Industrial Average just hit 30,000 which is the highest in history. We've never broken 30,000 and that's just despite everything that's taken place with the pandemic." pic.twitter.com/aKsXFqucfu> > -- CSPAN (@cspan) November 24, 2020Trump congratulated his administration and, "most importantly," the American people for the milestone, and then walked out of the room. The entire event lasted just over one minute, which CNN's Jim Acosta described as the "shortest briefing ever." Reporters, as has been the case for the past several weeks, fired questions at him to no avail and were left scratching their heads. > Trump spoke briefly about the stock market and took no questions.> > After he leaves, you can hear a reporter say, "Well that was weird as shit." pic.twitter.com/lrkjlEHx3h> > -- The Recount (@therecount) November 24, 2020More stories from theweek.com The airline industry begins to plan COVID-19 'vaccination passports' for international travel Obama the pretender Biden is stealing the spotlight. Trump can't stand it.

  • More charges filed in deadly attack at Nebraska restaurant

    Authorities filed additional charges Monday against a 23-year-old man in a shooting at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two employees were killed and two others were wounded. The two employees who were hospitalized are Zoey Reece Atalig Lujan, 18, and Kenneth Gerner, 25.

  • Pennsylvania Republicans File Emergency Lawsuit to Block Certification of Election Results

    A group of Pennsylvania Republicans filed a lawsuit over the weekend to block certification of the state's election results in an eleventh-hour attempt to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the key battleground state.The emergency petition, filed in state court, takes issue with a voting reform bill that passed Pennsylvania's Republican-held legislature in October last year. The lawsuit claims that the law's allowance of  no excuse mail-in voting is "unconstitutional" and seeks to block Pennsylvania counties from certifying their vote results ahead of the deadline on Monday to do so and invalidate millions of mail-in ballots cast in the 2020 election.The group is led by Pennsylvania Representative Mike Kelly and GOP congressional candidate Sean Parnell, who has not conceded since his defeat this month by his Democratic rival, Representative Conor Lamb. Their suit names Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, the GOP-led legislature, and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar as defendants.Meanwhile, a federal judge on Saturday dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump campaign that sought to invalidate millions of votes in Pennsylvania and block the certification of the state’s election results. Trump wrote in a tweet Saturday night that he plans to appeal the decision.About 2.6 million voters in Pennsylvania cast mail ballots in the general election this month. Biden won three out of every four mail ballots cast in the state, according to an analysis of data from Pennsylvania's state department.Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes over President Trump and is expected to be awarded the Keystone State's coveted 20 electoral votes. States have until December 8 to resolve election disputes, and electors will meet on December 14 to formally vote for the next president.Over the past several weeks, Trump has made allegations that voter fraud occurred on a massive scale through mail-in ballots. The president has claimed he won the election and has refused to concede even though his lawyers have not produced evidence of fraud widespread enough to alter the election outcome.

  • Georgia election official: We've 'crossed a tipping point' where many Republicans' distrust of system will suppress vote

    President Trump’s efforts to undermine the results of the November election in Georgia will “absolutely” hurt Republicans in two U.S. Senate runoff races there, an election official in the state said Monday. “We’ve crossed a tipping point where ... there may be some Republicans who don’t trust the outcomes of the system at all, and say, ‘Why bother to vote,’” Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager, told Yahoo News.

  • Metal monolith discovered deep in Utah desert leaves officials baffled

    A metal monolith has been found in the heart of Utah's red rock country by a state employee who was carrying out a count of bighorn sheep. The shiny structure was spotted by a biologist while conducting an aerial survey of southern Utah as part of a programme to double the number of sheep in the area. Bret Hutchings, the helicopter pilot, was dumbfounded. “That’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all my years of flying," he told the local tv news channel, KSLTV. “I’d say it’s probably between 10 and 12 feet high,” he added. “We were kind of joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears, then the rest of us make a run for it.” How the monolith got there remains a mystery. According to Mr Hutchings it was not just dropped in place, but firmly planted into the ground. He speculated the piece was a work of art deposited in the middle of nowhere by what he described as a "new wave" artist - perhaps inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey".

  • ‘People are going hungry as you tweet from vacay’: AOC doubles down attacks on senate for failure to pass Covid relief bill

    Congresswoman’s criticism comes as virus spikes across US

  • Marco Rubio blasts Biden White House picks for Ivy League degrees — despite Trump administration's similar credentials

    Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Tuesday predicted President-elect Joe Biden's new hires for his incoming administration would be "polite and orderly caretakers of America's decline," facetiously citing how many members of the group have Ivy League degrees.It's true that many of Biden's picks so far went to Ivy League schools, but Rubio's remark makes less sense when considering that the current White House is a similarly Ivy-infused crowd. President Trump himself went to the University of Pennsylvania, after all.> Come on, @marcorubio pic.twitter.com/xYjMwjRyli> > -- Yashar Ali (@yashar) November 24, 2020The GOP's critique that Democratic administrations are oversaturated with Ivy Leaguers isn't new. NBC News' Benjy Sarlin pointed out that Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who has a Harvard degree, issued a similar complaint about former the Cabinet chosen by former President Barack Obama, who defeated him in the 2012 election. > This is always a classic. Mitt Romney derided Obama's "Harvard faculty lounge" cabinet in 2012 while he had a Harvard JD/MBA, three (!!!) sons who attended Harvard business, and his advisors included famous Harvard faculty members. https://t.co/GiTVVD5Jlw> > -- Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) November 24, 2020More stories from theweek.com The airline industry begins to plan COVID-19 'vaccination passports' for international travel Trump unexpectedly held a 63-second press conference Obama the pretender

  • CEOs at chains like McDonald's and Waffle House stop fighting a $15 minimum wage — but say it could mean higher menu prices for customers

    For years, chains have been battling against a federal minimum wage hike. Now, in 2020, some are giving up the fight.

  • Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Encourages Residents to Call Police on Neighbors Violating COVID Rules

    Oregon Governor Kate Brown is encouraging residents to call the police on any neighbors who flout state COVID-19 restrictions, which include limiting in-home gatherings to a maximum of six people.“This is no different than what happens if there's a party down the street and it's keeping everyone awake,” Brown said in an interview Friday. “What do neighbors do [in that case]? They call law enforcement because it's too noisy. This is just like that. It's like a violation of a noise ordinance.”Last week the Democratic governor instituted a new round of restrictions aimed at mitigating the spread of coronavirus in the state via executive order, including a two-week “freeze” limiting indoor and outdoor gatherings to no more than six people from no more than two households just ahead of Thanksgiving. Residents are also prohibited from eating out at restaurants and going to the gym, though faith-based gatherings of up to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors are allowed.Violators can face up to 30 days in jail, $1,250 fines or both. The Marion County Sheriff’s office said in a statement on Friday that it believes “we cannot arrest or enforce our way out of the pandemic.”“We believe both are counterproductive to public health goals.”Brown pushed back, calling criticisms of the new restrictions "irresponsible."“This is about saving lives and it's about protecting our fellow Oregonians,” she said. “We have too many sporadic cases in Oregon. We can't trace these cases to a particular source. We have to limit gatherings and social interactions.”On Sunday, new COVID-19 cases reached a record high in the state for the third straight day, with 1,517 new infections recorded, bringing the state total to 65,170.

  • Clever’s 2020 Gift Guide Is Here and It Just Wants You to Have a Nice Time

    We rounded up a mix of gifts that help others, keep folks healthy, and add a little something-something to the home Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Latest North Korean defector reported to be a gymnast who jumped border fence

    In the annals of great escapes, vaulting the barbed wire, heavily-surveilled fence that separates the mined no-man’s land between North and South Korea would surely feature strongly. According to the South Korean media this week, a defector who evaded security in one of the most dangerous border crossings of the world on November 3 was a former gymnast who managed to swing himself over the imposing barricades, reportedly without triggering key sensors. The authorities vowed to investigate why high-tech security systems did not work. “We will look into why the sensors did not ring and make sure they operate properly,” an official told Yonhap news agency. The man, reported to be wearing blue civilian clothes and in his twenties, later surrendered after a manhunt by the South Korean military units who discovered a breach of the fence. He was detained without incident just under a mile south of the fence and has asked for asylum.

  • With Senate on the line, Trump's claims of election fraud put Georgia Republicans in bind

    The state on Tuesday at Trump's request began tallying its 5 million ballots for a third time, which officials expect will again confirm Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's statewide victory. The Jan. 5 runoffs are critical for each party; while Biden narrowly carried the state, Georgia has not elected a Democratic senator in two decades.

  • Saudi Arabia calls Houthi missile strike on oil facility a 'cowardly' act

    Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for a cruise missile attack against an oil facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.The missile hit a fuel tank at a Saudi Arabian Oil Co. facility on Monday morning, and an Energy Ministry official said the strike caused a fire. The facility is near the King Abdulaziz International Airport.In 2015, the Iranian-backed Houthis seized Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. Since then, a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the rebels, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe. The Houthis have used cruise missiles against Saudi targets before, The Associated Press reports, with United Nations and Western officials accusing Iran of supplying the weapons, allegations Tehran has denied.A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Col. Turki al-Maliki, called the missile attack "cowardly," adding that it "not only targets the kingdom, but also targets the nerve center of the world's energy supply and the security of the global economy."More stories from theweek.com The airline industry begins to plan COVID-19 'vaccination passports' for international travel Trump unexpectedly held a 63-second press conference Obama the pretender

  • Alleged mafia members 'Joey Electric,' 'Tony Meatballs,' 13 others indicted

    Conspiracy, illegal gambling, loansharking and drug trafficking among charges unsealed, U.S. attorney says.

  • Muslims have visualized Prophet Muhammad in words and calligraphic art for centuries

    The republication of caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in September 2020 led to protests in several Muslim-majority countries. It also resulted in disturbing acts of violence: In the weeks that followed, two people were stabbed near the former headquarters of the magazine and a teacher was beheaded after he showed the cartoons during a classroom lesson. Visual depiction of Muhammad is a sensitive issue for a number of reasons: Islam’s early stance against idolatry led to a general disapproval for images of living beings throughout Islamic history. Muslims seldom produced or circulated images of Muhammad or other notable early Muslims. The recent caricatures have offended many Muslims around the world. This focus on the reactions to the images of Muhammad drowns out an important question: How did Muslims imagine him for centuries in the near total absence of icons and images? Picturing Muhammad without imagesIn my courses on early Islam and the life of Muhammad, I teach to the amazement of my students that there are few pre-modern historical figures that we know more about than we do about Muhammad. The respect and devotion that the first generations of Muslims accorded to him led to an abundance of textual materials that provided rich details about every aspect of his life. The prophet’s earliest surviving biography, written a century after his death, runs into hundreds of pages in English. His final 10 years are so well-documented that some episodes of his life during this period can be tracked day by day.Even more detailed are books from the early Islamic period dedicated specifically to the description of Muhammad’s body, character and manners. From a very popular ninth-century book on the subject titled “Shama'il al-Muhammadiyya” or The Sublime Qualities of Muhammad, Muslims learned everything from Muhammad’s height and body hair to his sleep habits, clothing preferences and favorite food. No single piece of information was seen too mundane or irrelevant when it concerned the prophet. The way he walked and sat is recorded in this book alongside the approximate amount of white hair on his temples in old age. These meticulous textual descriptions have functioned for Muslims throughout centuries as an alternative for visual representations. Most Muslims pictured Muhammad as described by his cousin and son-in-law Ali in a famous passage contained in the Shama'il al-Muhammadiyya: a broad-shouldered man of medium height, with black, wavy hair and a rosy complexion, walking with a slight downward lean. The second half of the description focused on his character: a humble man that inspired awe and respect in everyone that met him. Textual portraits of MuhammadThat said, figurative portrayals of Muhammad were not entirely unheard of in the Islamic world. In fact, manuscripts from the 13th century onward did contain scenes from the prophet’s life, showing him in full figure initially and with a veiled face later on. The majority of Muslims, however, would not have access to the manuscripts that contained these images of the prophet. For those who wanted to visualize Muhammad, there were nonpictorial, textual alternatives. There was an artistic tradition that was particularly popular among Turkish- and Persian-speaking Muslims. Ornamented and gilded edgings on a single page were filled with a masterfully calligraphed text of Muhammad’s description by Ali in the Shama'il. The center of the page featured a famous verse from the Quran: “We only sent you (Muhammad) as a mercy to the worlds.”These textual portraits, called “hilya” in Arabic, were the closest that one would get to an “image” of Muhammad in most of the Muslim world. Some hilyas were strictly without any figural representation, while others contained a drawing of the Kaaba, the holy shrine in Mecca, or a rose that symbolized the beauty of the prophet. Framed hilyas graced mosques and private houses well into the 20th century. Smaller specimens were carried in bottles or the pockets of those who believed in the spiritual power of the prophet’s description for good health and against evil. Hilyas kept the memory of Muhammad fresh for those who wanted to imagine him from mere words. Different interpretationsThe Islamic legal basis for banning images, including Muhammad’s, is less than straightforward and there are variations across denominations and legal schools. It appears, for instance, that Shiite communities have been more accepting of visual representations for devotional purposes than Sunni ones. Pictures of Muhammad, Ali and other family members of the prophet have some circulation in the popular religious culture of Shiite-majority countries, such as Iran. Sunni Islam, on the other hand, has largely shunned religious iconography.Outside the Islamic world, Muhammad was regularly fictionalized in literature and was depicted in images in medieval and early modern Christendom. But this was often in less than sympathetic forms. Dante’s “Inferno,” most famously, had the prophet and Ali suffering in hell, and the scene inspired many drawings. These depictions, however, hardly ever received any attention from the Muslim world, as they were produced for and consumed within the Christian world. Offensive caricatures and colonial pastProviding historical precedents for the visual depictions of Muhammad adds much-needed nuance to a complex and potentially incendiary issue, but it helps explain only part of the picture. Equally important for understanding the reactions to the images of Muhammad are developments from more recent history. Europe now has a large Muslim minority, and fictionalized depictions of Muhammad, visual or otherwise, do not go unnoticed.With advances in mass communication and social media, the spread of the images is swift, and so is the mobilization for reactions to them. Most importantly, many Muslims find the caricatures offensive for its Islamophobic content. Some of the caricatures draw a coarse equation of Islam with violence or debauchery through Muhammad’s image, a pervasive theme in the colonial European scholarship on Muhammad. Anthropologist Saba Mahmood has argued that such depictions can cause “moral injury” for Muslims, an emotional pain due to the special relation that they have with the prophet. Political scientist Andrew March sees the caricatures as “a political act” that could cause harm to the efforts of creating a “public space where Muslims feel safe, valued, and equal.” Even without images, Muslims have cultivated a vivid mental picture of Muhammad, not just of his appearance but of his entire persona. The crudeness of some of the caricatures of Muhammad is worth a moment of thought.[Insight, in your inbox each day. You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Suleyman Dost, Brandeis University.Read more: * Muslim schools are allies in France’s fight against radicalization – not the cause * Why there’s opposition to images of MuhammadSuleyman Dost does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • Trudeau: Canadians won't be among the first to get vaccine

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday Canada will have to wait for a vaccine because the very first ones that roll off assembly lines are likely to be given to citizens of the country they are made in. Trudeau said the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany have mass vaccine-production facilities but Canada does not. Trudeau said it is understandable that an American pharmaceutical company will distribute first in the U.S. before they distribute internationally.

  • Trump relents after steady drumbeat of fellow Republicans urge start of Biden transition

    President Donald Trump gave some ground on Monday to allow Joe Biden's transition to the presidency after the ranks grew of prominent Republicans calling for Trump to end efforts to overturn his election defeat. Twenty days after Election Day, most members of Trump's party still refused on Monday to refer to Biden as president-elect, or question Trump's insistence - without evidence - that he only lost on Nov. 3 because of fraud. Trump gave the go-ahead for federal funds to start flowing to Biden so that he can carry out his transition duties before his Jan. 20 inauguration as the 46th U.S. president.

  • Charles Koch doubles down on saying he 'screwed up' with partisanship, but he's still supporting a Republican in the Georgia runoffs

    Charles Koch told Axios that he was "horrified" by some of the policies and positions that the Republican politicians he supported were talking about.