In 2009 after I published an update for my History of Faceless Dolls article I received an email from a mother who told me, "Muslims also have a tradition of faceless dolls." I didn't know that and thanked her for telling me as well as telling her I would include this in my next update.
She directed me to several websites selling faceless cloth dolls for Muslim children. They were as follows:Aisha Dolls
The Islamic Establishment
From what I understand Islam forbids the depiction of facial features of any kind, including those on dolls.
The faceless cloth doll shown in the picture to the left is from The Islamic Establishment website.
Besides the faceless cloth dolls they also sells faceless knit bears.
The Aisha Dolls by Umm ‘AbdirRahmaan website sells two categories of faceless dolls; Dolls 0+ for babies and children up to 3 and Dolls 3+ for children over 3 years of age.
The description for the Category 3+ dolls is as follows: Time for Play - Cater for Islamic Values
Once the children grow they want more challenging toys. The ragdolls from Aisha Dolls all have removable clothes and woolen hair which invite the child to imaginative play. All dolls are faceless.The faceless boy and girl dolls, Friends Asiyah and Bilal, shown in the picture to the right, are from the Dolls 3+ category of the Aisha Dolls website.
The description for the Category 0+ dolls is as follows:
Since babies always want to put everything in their mouth all our age 0+ dolls from Aisha Dolls webshop are made from 100% natural cotton. With Islamic clothing Aisha dolls 0+ cater for Islamic values from an early age. All 0+ dolls are faceless.
