According to the Shia tradition; Muhammad formally designated his son-in-law; Ali ibn Abi Talib (the Caliph Ali) as his successor at the oasis of Gadir Khum; located mid-way between the holy cities of Mecca / Makkah and Medina; in the Arabian Hijaz. The Sunni tradition disputes this event ever took place.

Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial; and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya; Wahabi; Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali; Maliki; Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images; but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.