What is Islamic Art?

About Clarifying the Elements that Unify Islamic Art


 


 


    Introduction

The term Islamic art represents an entry to a rich field of artistic traditions of Islamic civilization.  Although Islamic art has been the subject of study by many scholars since the nineteenth century, and it has, come to receive growing attention during the last three or four decades as a distinct category of art, the term “Islamic art” might be confusing to some. Grabar (1987) refer this obscureness to the correlation between Islam and art he noted, “A great deal of occasionally acrimonious confusion surrounds the use and meaning of the word Islamic when applied to art” (p.5). As many scholars recommended, this matter of confusion may be caused by the impact of many factors; one of them, is the variety of significances that this term refers to. Hillenbrand (1999) had noted “It is truly no more than an introduction to a vast field”(p.9). It represents a remarkable unity and describes a vast field of artistic styles, and art forms that produced in a vast time span across a large geographical area that extended from Spain to the borders of china. Styles such as Moroccan in Spain and North Africa, Fatimids and Mamlouks of Egypt, Ottomany in Turkey and Asia Minor, Safavidy in Persia, Mughal In India, and other regional styles that appear in the Islamic world. These styles are all united under this term despite the differences in race, and tradition. Furthermore, it used to characterize a diversity of artistic forms such as, Moroccan art of pottery (Zillij), Arabic calligraphy, Arabesque, the art of book, and others.


 


Another factor that may cause this confusion is the different concepts, and the variety of perspectives that established by scholars to introduce or criticize Islamic art. The conflict in Scholars definitions about Islamic art may be caused by their concepts in the key subject of whether Islamic art is only a decorative art or is a symbolic type of art that contain meanings and values. In western or modern conception of art, it considered as a minor art, which created for decorative purposes and dose not contain any human expression. For example Kuhnel (1966) has noted “It would be a mistake to attribute symbolic or allegorical meaning to these natural motifs when they appear in fantastic stylisations, nor should one seek for the representation of historical events”(p.24). In the other hand we can see a totally different understanding to this art such as what Nasr (1987) revealed. He presented Islamic art in a religious concept through the connections he made between Islamic faith and Islamic art, “Traditional Islamic art conveys the spirituality and quintessential message of Islam through a timeless language which, precisely because of its timelessness as well as its direct symbolism. (p.195)


     


 


In this article the focus will be on clarifying the vagueness that surrounds the use of the term “Islamic art”, investigating what it refers to, what are the factors that create its unique identity, exploring what are the main elements that unify Islamic art across al Islamic world. In order to have comprehensive understanding of this art and the forms it created, it is necessary to investigate first whether the Islamic faith imposed certain rules that required or shaped artistic expression.  

 


Defining Islamic Art

What is the Islamic art? Is it the art of people who belong to Islam, or is it the art that serves Islam as a religion? Nasr (1987) defines Islamic art as “the result of the manifestation of unity upon the plane of multiplicity,” furthermore; he suggests, “without the tow fountains and sources of the Quran and the Prophetic blessing there will be no Islamic art ”(p.7). Nasr has made a clear connection between Islamic art and Islamic spirituality through clarifying the important role of Divine Revelation in art making. It is clear that Nasr`s definition is based on the religious affiliation of the Islamic art, which inconsistent with what most other scholars agree on. Many scholars have noted that the artist who actually produced a work of Islamic art may not be a Muslim. Grabar (1987) for example see that Islamic art “refers to the monuments and remains of material culture made by or for people who lived under rulers who professed the faith of Islam or in social and cultural enmities which, whether themselves Muslim or not, have been strongly influenced by the modes of life and thought characteristic of Islam”.  


 


Komaroff (1999) noted that this term “not only describes the art created in specifically in the service of Islam, but it also characterizes secular art produced in lands under Islamic rule or influence, whatever the artist’s or the patron’s religious affiliation. ” Burckhardt (1976) noted that this term “refers to all the arts of the Muslim people, whether those arts be religious or non-religious (p.31).


 


For many western scholars, it is not very clear to them what is really mean by “Islamic” when used as adjective modifying “art”. In western scholarship about Islamic art, Papadopoulo (1980) stresses that an artist’s personal religion “does not necessarily determine the aesthetic nature of his work” (p. 23). He points out that a representation of persons or events connected with Muslim religion would not in itself make the work “Muslim”. Other scholars consider issues of the artists’ identity and geographical context of art. But Muslim art scholars have no problems on the definition of Islamic art. Al-Faruqi (1984) believes that the integral relationship between Islam and Islamic art, whether or not the objects or monuments are specifically related to an Islamic ritualistic tradition. Al-Faruqi (1984) defines Islamic art as the art of Islamic culture that is integrally related to the Islamic ideology or the fundamental doctrine of Tawhid or “Divine Unity.” Furthermore, she differentiates Islamic art from Muslim art. According to her, the latter refers to the creation of a Muslim conglomerate where Islam as a religion is perceived to have brought little to the art.


 


    


The Impact of Islamic Faith on Art 


To have a clear understanding of what Islamic art is, an understanding of Islam as a faith and a way of life is necessary. The word “Islam” in Arabic means submission to the will of God (“Allah” in Arabic), it also means to achieve peace-peace, peace with oneself, peace with the creations of God, and commitment to his guidance.  Mohammad, Gods messengers and the last of Prophets, call upon the pure monotheism, he did not consider Islam a new religion, but a continuation and fulfilment of the same basic message that was revealed by God to other prophets before him (Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jesus) Quran, the holly book of God, is both a spiritual and social law. Sunna, the way of life of the Prophet, and his traditional sayings, regulate not only cult and common law but also the fundamental and recurrent facts of everyday life, such as how to eat, procreate, sleep, and other life activities.


 


The currency of Islam to cover central Asia in the east to cost of Africa and Spain in the west in less than eighty years is a one of the most extraordinary events of history. Islamic ideology and its meanings were diffused as the conquerors cross from region to anther. The major interest for the Moslems at that period was Al-Tabligh, which mean notifying the message of God to humanity.  In that early era of Islamic civilization, there was no clear achievement in art or architecture,


 


Muslims were affected more strongly by their common possession of religious confession; it bridged differences of race and tradition, and even forced the customs and manners of its components, as well as their spiritual concerns, into an extraordinarily clear and uniformed mould. The importance of Quran as a guide in all life’s questions as well as in matters of faith was the bond that held the whole Islamic world together. The unity of the Islamic world was preserved by the general acceptance of Divine law, the (sharia,) which gave Islam a coherent social structure in an immutable law that has sustained it for more than a century. Islam as perceived by many Muslims is a binding force toward each other that creates a sense of brotherhood and a sense of a wider belonging to a moral code and a greater interest.  As a creed of faith, Islam underpins the moral values of justice, goodness and family, and denounces atrocious acts of evil. This “divine” concept has a reflection on all aspects of Muslims life, especially in art. 


 


Aesthetics of painting, sculpture, and other arts are not mentioned in Quran. Nevertheless it contains a number of precise statement and general attitudes which impact on later Islamic art was significant, such “ O you who believe, indeed wine, games of chance, statues, and arrows for divination are a crime, originating in Satan”(Quran 5:93). While the word use her (Alansab) is often translated as “statue”, it refers to idols, many of which were in human or living form. Grabar (1987) has noted that at the time of the growth of Islam images had acquired a meaning much beyond their value as works of art; they were symbols of mystical, theological, political, imperial, and intellectual ideas and were almost the equivalents of the acts and personages they represented (p.6).


 


 The absence of figurative art in Islamic art may be attributed to an Islamic antipathy toward anything that might be mistaken for idols or idolatry, which are explicitly forbidden by Islam. One of Islam’s fundamental beliefs is that God is the only Creator, the Creator of everything, and the only who give life, taking this creed with the view of idol meanings at that time we can understand the often repeated tradition that the artist who fashions a representation of a living thing is a competitor of God.


 


Islamic art is based on the Islamic principle of “Divine Unity” or Tawhid is the Islamic doctrine of radical unity of God and with God. This doctrine defines God by the Will— God the Omnipotent, The Perfect, The Unknowable, The Incommensurable. This concept of wholeness of reality encompasses both the temporary material aspect of things and their being reflections of God (Sakili, 1990). The “Divine Unity” as the encompassing concept considers everything in relationship and in unity. The unity of the universe, the unity of life, the unity of mankind, and the unity of knowledge among others, is not only a passive expression of the philosophical outlook, but an active and dynamic drive that pushes the Muslim to behave and act in accordance with this principle.


 


In architecture, painting, arabesque, calligraphy, carving, weaving or in any arts, an inspired Muslim artist has always sought to create an ambience in which the transient and the temporal characters of material things are emphasised in which the space of object is accentuated. Art, elements, in accordance with the principle of wholeness and unity, must be transfigured or denaturalised in order to draw one’s imagination away from human nature and towards the contemplation of the Divine. The best way for a Muslim to experience the unity of art elements in Islamic art is through the space and architecture of the mosque. The mosque, as a recreation and recapitulation of the harmony and order of the whole of virgin nature, is to the Muslim an opportunity that enables him to return to the bosom of nature and be one with God. The space and other features of the mosque integrate it to the sacred space of the Divine as centre or focal point of very Muslim city or town. 


 


 


The Main Elements that Unify Islamic Art


This section is a brief look of three elements in Islamic art- geometrical patterns, arabesque (floral and foliage motifs), and Arabic calligraphy- clarifying causatives that make them to be popular in all eras and regions across the Islamic world. These are the main elements that unify the, and make an, Islamic art.


 


In Islamic art, stylisation is used to mask the growing or living characteristics of figures, transforming them into lifeless shapes (Al-Faruqi, 1984). In Islamic art, the natural figures of human, animal and even plant are transformed to make a positive effort to create a form. In addition, materials and structures must be treated in a manner that would negate their naturalistic qualities. The repetitive abstract elements and geometric shapes must be successfully arranged in well-ordered relationship to draw the viewers’ eyes and mind from elements to element or from rhythmic movement to rhythmic movement in a ceaseless series which cover the decorative area of a given space.


 


Geometric Patterns


According to Al-Faruqi (1984) there are three basic principles of Islamic art to correspond to the unifying nature of the Islamic faith: abstraction, stylisation or denaturalisation and infinite patterning. Abstraction in Islamic art is important in order to avoid confusing God with any object or living creature in His creation. Due to the Muslim’s religious passion for abstraction and “Divine Unity”, they recognized in geometry the unifying intermediary between the material and the spiritual world. In addition, Muslim artists use geometry in their works because of their close involvement with heavens.


 


The use of geometric patterns has been the most distinctive characteristic of Islamic art and architecture. Whether isolated or used in combination with other nonfigural ornamentation, these abstract designs not only adorn the surfaces of monumental Islamic architecture but also function as the major decorative element on vast array of objects of all types. Geometric patterns vary in their complexity and design, from simple shapes to very complex polygons and starts. Consisting of, or created from, simple forms as the circle, the square, and the triangle, geometric patterns were combined, duplicated, interlaced, and arranged in intricate unification, with a great concern to unity and order in the work structure.


           


However, the use of geometric motifs in Islamic art has been misinterpreted by some scholars. One of the most common misinterpretations of the use of geometry in Islamic art is that it was forced on Muslims because of discouragement of figurative art representing living beings. Abas and Salman (1995) state that Muslims recognized in geometry “the unifying intermediary between the material and the spiritual world”(p.9)     


Many interpretations have been established to link between geometric patterns and other types of arts. El-Sid and Parman (1976) referred the use of geometry in Islamic are as a “unifying concept of composition despite the diversity of materials, forms or styles used”(p.xi). They also traced this unifying concept to all art forms, including decorative arts, calligraphy, architecture and the composition of music and Arabic poetry. This unifying concept based on analogous principles of rhythm and harmony between their basic structures.


 


Arabesque


One of the unique characteristics of Islamic art is the extensive use of the arabesque or the floral or vegetal patterns to adorn surfaces. This creates a link between the outer and inner decorative patterns and motifs on the surfaces of the facades. The term “arabesque” refers to the use of floral, foliage, and plant forms in abstracted ornamental style. Decorative forms that use floral images are known in pre-Islamic arts such as Byzantine, Sasanian, and Persian as apart of a decoration style. Komaroff (1999) has noted “ this type of non-representational decoration may have been developed to such a high degree in Islamic art because of the absence of figural imagery, at least within a religious context”.  It has been developed since the early days of Islam as can be seen in the Mosque of (Alomawy) in Damascus and took its own principles as distinct style of ornamentation.


In the arabesque composition of Muslim painters, floral and vegetal motifs enable the negative space to enter into the very heart of the mater and to remove its materiality so that the Divine presence is illuminated. Moreover, the use of arabesque symbolizes balance of stability and growth. Through arabesque, the natural materials are freed from their suffocating heaviness so as to allow the mind and the spirit of man viewing it to breathe and expand.


Islamic art’s consistent predilection for floral and foliage ornamentation has frequently been ascribed to the religious prohibition against image making. Arabesque was not used in sacred places, but it widely used for objects of everyday use whatever the size or it purpose. 


Arabic Calligraphy


Calligraphy was perhaps the noblest form of art in the Islamic world as it was introduced to write the passages of the Holy Koran, which is written in Arabic (Introduction to Islamic Art, 2003). With the gracefully flowing lines and curves which combine the mood and meaning of an Islamic faith, calligraphers used this art of stylized writing to communicate to the masses the glory of the words of God.


Arabic calligraphy also represents one of the main unifying elements of Islamic art. Because of its association with the holly Quran, which written in Arabic, the rich meanings of Quranic verses and prayers give the art of calligraphy a high respect and appreciation among Muslims.  Throughout the Islamic world, calligraphic patterns in conjunction with decorative motifs embellish all kind of objects, architectural sites, including sacred and secular places; and those applied to metalwork, pottery, stone, plaster, glass, wood, and textiles.


        


Because Arabic is the language of Muslims worship, and the language of holy Quran, it binds Muslims of all times and places, it linked Muslims together in one cohesive brotherhood. It became a spoken language in all over the Islamic world; furthermore, it became the writing script to the non-Arabic –speaking peoples within the Islamic commonwealth (such as Persian, Turkish, and Urdu.). From early times many indigenous styles have evolved across the Islamic world, but only six are widely used and became common in Islamic art and architecture.


   


The term “calligraphy” in Arabic is “handast al -khatt” is translated as “the geometry of writing.” Geometry and calligraphy are associated with each other due to the geometric proportion of Arabic letters.


 


Closure


Art is the mirror that truly reflects the content of various aspects of culture in any society. There is no case to which this statement more directly applies than to the art of the Islamic world. Not only does its art reflect its cultural values, but even more importantly, the way Moslems unified and correlated in one single brotherhood of Islam, in spite of the diversity in cultures, and ethnic background. This remarkable unity is obviously reflected in the Muslims arts. Understanding   it can be more effective and less problematic than most of the theological explanation of Islam. 


 


In Islamic belief, God create the cosmos in “al-mizaan” (balance and order). Geometrical shapes, floral and vegetal motifs and Arabic calligraphy represent Muslim’s macrocosm. This is a manifestation of the Islamic belief, that the realities of permanence and change in the universe must be balanced and harmonised. This is achieved in Islamic art through the successful combination of geometric and curvilinear motifs and Arabic calligraphy. In Islamic abstract art, ‘permanence’ is suggested by geometrical elements and ‘change’ by the curvilinear motifs. In harmonious unity, permanence does not deny the form of its growth, and growth does not confuse the order of the environment.


 


The term “Islamic art” is a description that unify a group of different artistic styles that appeared in different periods and regions during Islamic civilization, it dose not only describe the art and architecture that historically produced in the lands ruled by Muslims, could be created by a Muslim artist or non-Muslim


 


      References

Abas, S.J., and Salman, A. S. (1995). Symmetries of Islamic geometrical patterns. Singapore: World Scientific.


Al-Faruqi, L. L. (1984). Islamic art or Muslim art. Kuala Lumpur: Balai Seni Lukis Negara.


El-Said, I., and Parman, A. (1976). Geometric Concept in Islamic Art. London: World of Islamic Festival Publishing.


 


Grabar, O. (1987). The Formation of Islamic Art. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.


 


Hillenbrand, R. (1999). Islamic art and Architecture. Thames and Hudson.


 


Introduction to Islamic Art. (2003). Calligraphy Islamic. Available at [http://www.calligraphyislamic.com/IntroIslamicArt.html]. Accessed [26/01/04].

 


Khatibi, A., and Sijelmassi, M. (1996). The Splendour of Islamic Calligraphy. New York: Thames and Hudson.


 


Komaroff, L. (1999). Introduction to Islamic Art. Los Angeles County Museum for the Arts. 23 Mar. 2000. Available at [http://www.lacma.org]. Accessed [26/01/04].


 


Kuhnel, E. (1966). Islamic Art & Architecture. London: G. Bell& Sons LTD


 


Nasr, S. H. (1987). Islamic Art and Spirituality. New York: State University of New York Press.


Papadopoulo, A. (1980). Islam and Muslim art. London: Thames and Hudson.


Sakili, A. P. (1990). Analysis of the Sulu traditional visual arts in relation to the basic principles of Islamic art. M. A. Thesis, Asian Center, University of the Philippines.


 


 



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