The Arts of Islamic Civilization€¦ · new motifs, materials, and techniques as the need and inspiration arose. ... The Arts of Islamic Civilization 3 ... these infinite patterns,

the international institute of islamic thought •

Isma¢Ïl R¥jÏ al F¥r‰qÏ

24

The ARTS ofIslamic Civilization

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Cultural Atlas The ARTS_FARUQI 06/01/2014 15:12 Page ii

Foreword

() hasgreat pleasure in presenting Occasional Paper 24 The Arts of IslamicCivilization by Isma¢Ïl al F¥r‰qÏ. It was originally published as chap-ter eight of The Cultural Atlas of Islam by Isma¢Ïl al F¥r‰qÏ and LoisLamy¥’ al F¥r‰qÏ (1986), and formed part of a monumental andauthoritative work presenting the entire worldview of Islam, itsbeliefs, traditions, institutions, and place in the world. Aside fromthe map illustrations, all other images have been updated and are notthose of the original unless specified. Where the text refers to chap-ters these are to be found in the original work.Professor Isma¢Ïl R¥jÏ al F¥r‰qÏ (1921–1986) was a Palestinian-

American philosopher, visionary, and an authority in comparativereligion. A great contemporary scholar of Islam, his scholarshipencompassed the whole spectrum of Islamic Studies, covering areassuch as the study of religion, Islamic thought, approaches to knowl-edge, history, culture, education, interfaith dialogue, aesthetics,ethics, politics, economics, and science. Without doubt al F¥r‰qÏwas one of the great Muslim scholars of the 20th century. In thispaper he presents the meaning and message of Islam to the widerworld, pointing to taw^Ïd (the unity of God) as its essence and firstdetermining principle which gives Islamic civilization its identity.The IIIT, established in 1981, has served as a major center to

facilitate serious scholarly efforts based on Islamic vision, values andprinciples. The Institute’s programs of research, seminars and con-ferences during the last thirty years have resulted in the publicationof more than four hundred titles in English and Arabic, many ofwhich have been translated into other major languages.

. --Academic Advisor, IIIT London Office

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In dealing with any aspect of Islamic civilization,its final raison d’etre and creative base must be seen as resting onthe Qur’¥n, the Holy Scripture of Islam. Islamic culture is, in fact, a

“Qur’¥nic culture”; for its definitions, its structures, its goals, and itsmethods for execution of those goals are all derived from that series ofrevelations from God to the Prophet Muâmmad in the seventhcentury of the common era. It is not only the knowledge of UltimateReality that the Muslim derives from the Holy Book of Islam. Equallycompelling and determining are its ideas on the world of nature, onman and all other living crea tures, on knowledge, on the social,political, and eco nomic institutions necessary for the healthy runningof society – in short, on every branch of learning and activity known.This does not mean that specific ex planations and descriptions ofevery field of endeavor are literally spelled out in that small book of114 suwar (sing. s‰rah) or chapters. It does mean that in it the basicprinciples are provided for a whole culture and civilization. Withoutthat revelation, the culture could not have been generated; withoutthat revela tion, there could have been neither an Islamic reli gion, anIslamic state, an Islamic philosophy, an Islamic law, an Islamicsociety, nor an Islamic political or economic organization. Just as surely as these aspects of Islamic culture may be rightly seen

as Qur’¥nic in basis and motiva tion, in implementation and goal, thearts of Islamic civilization should also be viewed as aesthetic expres -sions of similar derivation and realization. Yes, the Islamic arts areindeed Qur’¥nic arts.This statement may be startling to non-Muslims who have long

viewed Islam as an iconoclastic and conservative religion that denied

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The Arts ofIslamic Civilization

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or prohibited the arts.1 It may be equally strange to some Muslims whohave misunderstood the efforts of the ¢ulam¥’ (learned men) and theummah to guide aesthetic par ticipation toward certain forms andtypes of art, and away from others. Some Muslims have thought thatthat guidance implied a rejection of, rather than a guidance for, Islamicart. Both of these views are misunderstandings of Islamic art and itsgenesis.How then are the Islamic arts to be seen as “Qur’¥nic” expressions

in color, in line, in movement, in shape, and in sound? There are threelevels on which such an interpretation rests.

The Qur’¥n as Definer ofTaw^Ïd orTranscendence

The Message to be Aesthetically Expressed: Taw^Ïd

The Qur’¥n was a revelation sent to mankind and intended to reteachthe doctrine of monotheism, a message conveyed to numerous Semiticprophets of earlier times – Abraham, Noah, Moses, and Jesus, forexample. The Qur’¥n comprised a new statement of the doctrine ofmonotheism, of the one God Who is the unique, unchanging, and eter-nal Creator as well as Guide of the universe and all that exists within it.Allah is described in the Qur’¥n as a transcendent Being of Whom novisual or sensory experience is possible. “No vision can grasp Him, . . .He is above all com prehension” (Qur’¥n 6:103) . . . . “Nothing is likeunto Him” (Qur’¥n 42:11). He is beyond exhaustive de scription, andincapable of being represented by any anthropomorphic or zoomor-phic image. In fact, Allah is that which defies answers to the questionsof who, how, where, and when? It is this idea of the utter oneness andtranscendence of Allah that is known as taw^Ïd (literally, “makingone”).The Qur’¥nic statements regarding the nature of God certainly pre-

clude God’s representation through sensory means, whether in humanor animal forms or in figural symbols from nature; but this is not all


2


that the Qur’¥nic message contributes to the Islamic arts. We find thatthe whole iconography of Islamic art has been significantly influencedby the Qur’¥nic doctrine of taw^Ïd or Islamic monotheism. If God wasso com pletely nonnature, so ultimately different from His creation, itwas not just a negative prohibition of natu ralistic images of Him thatwas necessary as Islam began its new career. That was an aestheticachieve ment of the Semitic soul which had been made in an earlier peri-od by the followers of Judaism. Images of Yahweh were stronglycondemned by all the Hebrew prophets, as well as in the well-knownSecond Com mandment of the Mosaic Code. Even setting down thename of God was discouraged. Instead, the four con sonants of thename “Yahweh,” or other abbrevia tions, often served as written sym-bol for the God of the Hebrews.Arising after the aesthetic influence from an alien tradition (that of

the Greco-Romans and their Hellen istic offspring) had exerted itselffor centuries over many regions of the Semitic East, Islam brought ademand for a new manner of aesthetic expression. The new Muslimsneeded an aesthetic mode that could supply objects of aesthetic con-templation and delight that would reinforce the basic ideology andstructures of the society and be a constant reminder of its principles.Such art works would reinforce the awareness of that transcendentBeing, the fulfillment of Whose will was the end-all and be-all, the rai-son d’etre, of human existence. This orientation and goal of Islamicaesthetics could not be achieved through depiction of man and nature.It could be realized only through the contemplation of artistic cre-ations that would lead the percipient to an intuition of the truth itselfthat Allah is so other than His creation as to be unrepresentable andinexpressible.This challenge for aesthetic creativity was taken up by the early

Muslims. They worked with motifs and techniques known to theirSemitic, Byzantine, and Sassanian predecessors; and they developednew motifs, materials, and techniques as the need and in spirationarose. Even more important was their cre ation of new modes of artisticexpression which were to be adopted and adapted in various parts ofthe world as Muslim individuals and political power spread with thereligion in the regions from Spain in the West to the Philippines in the

The Arts of Islamic Civilization

3



4

Map 25. The EarthAccording to AlSharÏf al IdrisÏ,562/1177


East. These new modes have provided a basic aesthetic unity within theMuslim world without suppressing or prohibiting regional variety.Islamic art was to fulfill the negative implications behind the decla-

ration of L¥ ilaha ill¥ Allah – that there is no God but God and He iscompletely other than human and other than nature. But it also was toexpress the positive dimension of taw^Ïd – that which emphasizes notwhat God is not, but what God is. Probably the most salient aspect ofthe Transcen dent which the Islamic doctrine taught was that God isinfinite in every aspect – in justice, in mercy, in knowledge, in love.However fully one might try to enumerate His many attributes, ordescribe any one of those attributes as applied to Him, the attemptwould end in failure.2His qualities are always beyond human compre-hension and description. The pattern which has no beginning and noend, which gives an impression of infinity, is therefore the best way toexpress in art the doctrine of taw^Ïd. And it is the structures created forthis purpose that characterize all the arts of the Muslim peoples. It isthese infinite patterns, in all their ingenious variety, that provide thepositive aesthetic breakthrough of the Muslims in the history of artisticexpression. It is through these infinite patterns that the subtle contentof the Islamic message can be experienced.The art of the Muslims has often been designated as the art of the

infinite pattern or as “infinity-art.”3 These aesthetic expressions havealso been called “arabesques.”4 The arabesque should not be limitedto a particular kind of leaf design perfected by the Muslim peoples, ashas sometimes been maintained.5 It is not simply any abstract two-dimensional pattern that uses calligraphy, geometric figures, andstylized plant forms.6 Instead, it is a structural entity that accords withthe aesthetic principles of the Islamic ideology. The arabesque gener-ates in the viewer an intuition of the quality of infinity, of that which isbeyond space-time; but it does so without making the – to the Muslim –absurd claim that the pattern itself stands for that which is beyond.Through con templation of these infinite patterns, the recipient’s mindis turned toward the Divine, and art becomes a reinforcement andreminder of religious belief.This interpretation of the raison d’etre of Islamic art rules out many

common misconceptions regarding this art’s rejection of figural art

5



and the concentration instead on abstract motifs. For example, itdenies the notion that nature is regarded by the Muslim as an illusion.For the Muslim, nature is part of God’s tangi ble creation, equally asreal and valid and marvelous as humanity and the animal world. Infact, nature is re garded as a proof of the Creator’s power and benefi -cence (Qur’¥n 2:164, 6:95–99, 10:4–6, and so on). Neither can onemaintain that it is an Islamic idea to regard nature as an evil to be dero-gated. How could the Muslim think of God’s creation as evil? Instead,nature is described by the Qur’¥n as a field of perfect and beautifulmarvels presented for mankind’s use and benefit (Qur’¥n 2:29,78:6–16, 25:47–50, etcet era). For the Muslim, nature, although glori-ous in its variety and perfection, is only the theater in which humansoperate to fulfill the will of a higher realm or cause. God, for theMuslim, is this highest Cause, “the greater One.” Allahu Akbar is theubiquitous Muslim exclamation of appreciation, admiration, thanks,and inspiration that expresses this belief. While other cultures and peo-ples may have regarded man as “the measure of all things” or nature asthe ultimate determiner, the Muslim’s concentration has been on Godin His uncompromising transcendence.7 Islamic art then has a goalsimilar to that of the Qur’¥n – to teach and reinforce in mankind theper ception of divine transcendence.

Characteristics of the Aesthetic Expression of Taw^ÏdThat is not the only way in which a bond exists between the Qur’¥n andIslamic art. It is also embod ied in the aesthetic characteristics which the

Muslims devised in orderto create the impression ofinfinity and transcendencedemanded by the Qur’¥nicdoc trine of taw^Ïd. How isthis doctrine emphasizedthrough aesthetic contentand form to stimulate theimpression of infinity andtranscendence?


6

A MiddleEastern

wooden platedecorated

with mother-of-pearl andcamel boneinlay. The

entire designis inlaid –

not painted.


abstraction . The infinite pat-terns of Islamic art are, first of all,abstract. While figural representation isnot totally absent, there is generally littleargument that naturalistic figures are rarein the Islamic arts. Even when figures

from nature are used, they are subjected to denaturalization and styl-ization tech niques that render them more suitable for their role asdeniers of naturalism than as faithful depictions of natural phenomena.

modular structure. The Islamic art work is com posed ofnumerous parts or modules which are com bined to produce the largerdesign. Each of these modules is an entity carrying a measure of climaxand perfection which allows it to be perceived as an ex pressive and sat-isfying unit on its own as well as an important part of the largercomplex.

successive combinations. The infinite patterns ofsound, sight, and movement evidence successive combinations of thebasic modules and/or their repetitions. In this way, larger additivecombinations are formed which carry their own independent statusand identity. The successively larger combinations in a work of Islamicart in no way destroy the identity and character of the smaller units ofwhich they are made. Even such larger combinations may, in turn,

be re peated, varied,and joined to othersmaller or larger enti-ties in order to formstill more complexcombina tions. Thusthe infinite patternhas numerous centersof aesthetic interest,

7


Stylized animaldesign onthirteenth-century rugfrom Konya,Turkey.[CourtesyMinistry ofCulture andTourism,Governmentof Turkey].

Arabicengravingand designon a copperplate (IslamicCairo).


numerous “views” to be experi enced as the successive combinations ofsmaller mod ules, entities, or motifs are experienced. No design has asingle point of aesthetic departure or a progressive development to aculminating or conclusive focal point. Instead, the Islamic design hasan inexhaustible number of interest centers or foci, and a mode ofinternal perception that defies assignment of a begin ning or conclusiveend.

repetition. A fourth characteristic which is de manded inorder to create the impression of infinity in an art object is a high levelof repetition. The additive combinations of Islamic art use repetitionsof motifs, of structural modules, and of their successive combi nationswhich seem to continue ad infinitum. Ab straction is enhanced andreinforced by this curbing of the individuation of the constituent parts.It prevents any one module in the design from taking precedence overanother.

dynamism. The Islamic design is “dynamic,” that is, it is adesign that must be experienced through time. Boas has described art


8

Mausoleumof KoutlougAka (Shah-

i-Zinda,Samarqand).


works as being based either on time or onspace.8 For him the time-based arts includeliterature and music, while the arts of spaceare those of the visual arts and architecture.Dance and drama are categorized by Boas asarts utilizing both time and spatial elements.Although this description may prove mean-ingful for classifying the arts of Westernculture, it proves misleading for an under-standing of the Islamic arts. The superficialor obvious aspects of time and space doapply here, of course. A literary or musicalcomposition, for exam ple, is normally expe-

rienced through a series of tem poral aesthetic events. In the case ofliterature, the art product is experienced either through reading or lis-tening to its recitation; and in the case of music, through participatingin or listening to a performance. Less commonly, the musical perform-ance might be “read” from a score. On the other hand, the visual artsand architectural monuments all make use of space. They occupy phys-ical space and use spatial elements (points, lines, shapes, and volumes)for their creation. While granting

these characteris-tics as pointed outby Boas, one needsto go further inqualifying the Is-lamic arts if theyare to be properlyunderstood. Inaddition to havingthe external tem-poral or spatialcharac te r i s t i c smentioned above,

9


AncientKirşehirprayer rug inthe Tilavetroom,Mevlânamausuleum,Konya,Turkey. Therug includesmany “successivecombinations”of designmotifs andmodules.

>al¥ K¥rÏMadrasah,Samarqand,1646-1660.



10

characteristics that may be regarded asuniversally relevant, every work of Islamicart partakes, on a more subtle level, of astrong and perhaps unique temporal ori-entation. In fact, the visual arts in Islamicculture, though dealing with spatial ele-ments, cannot be properly experi encedexcept through time. The infinite patterncan never be comprehended in a singleglance, in a single moment, with a singleview of its multifarious parts. Instead, it

draws the eye and the mind through a series of views or perceptionsthat must be compre hended serially. The eye moves from pattern topat tern, from center to center of a two-dimensional de sign. The archi-tectural monument is experienced in the successive movement throughits rooms, aisles, dome chambers, or subdivisions. Even the building orcomplex of buildings is not comprehended from afar as a totality, butnecessitates its being experienced through time as the visitor movesthrough its many segments and quarters.9 The pictorial miniature artlikewise presents a series of characters or scenes that must be experi-

enced successively and sequen-tially, as in the time arts of litera-ture, musical expression, or dance.Whether belonging to the so-calledspace arts or the time arts, theIslamic art work is compre hendedserially and cumulatively. Theimagination is pushed to supply thecontinuation of an evolving, re -peating pattern which seems evento extend, by implication, beyondthe edge of a plate, the page of abook, the panel of a wall, or thefacade of a building. No overallunderstanding of even the architec-tural infinite pattern is possible

The JamesF. Ballardlate 16thCentury

Bursa PrayerRug

Traditionalwooden chair

against ablue and

white mosaicwall in the

historic med-ina of Fez in

Morocco.


except after the actual or imagined movementover its surfaces and through its spaces in a tempo-ral sequence. Ardalan and Bakhtiar speak of “amoving architecture . . . that reads like a musicalcomposition.”10 The totality cannot be com -prehended simultaneously; instead, one onlyknows the whole after experiencing and savoringits many parts.11

The arabesque therefore can never be a staticcomposition as has sometimes been charged by

mistaken interpreters.12 On the contrary, appreciation of it mustinvolve a dynamic process that investigates each of its motifs, modules,and successive combina tions serially. For those who understand itsmessage and structures, it is the most dynamic, most aestheti callyactive, of all art forms.13 It is an expression in which both the arts oftime and those of space require a temporally determined experienceand apprehen sion.

intricacy. Intricate detail is a sixth characteristic that definesIslamic art. Intricacy enhances the ability of any pattern or arabesqueto capture the attention of the viewer and force concentration on thestructural entities represented. A straight line or a single figure, howevergracefully executed, could never be the sole iconographic material ofthe Islamic pattern. It is only with the multiplication of internal ele-ments and the increased intricacy of execution and combination thatthe dynamism and momentum of the infinite pattern can be generated.

The Qur’¥n as Artistic Model

In addition to being determined by the ideological message of theQur’¥n, Islamic art is also “Qur’¥nic” in the sense that the scripture ofthe Muslim peoples has provided the first and prime model for aestheticcreativity and production. The Qur’¥n has been de scribed as “the first


11

PersianMiniature:Jamal al-DinMuhammadal-Siddiqial-Isfahani -Bahram GurKilling aDragon.


12

work of art in Islam.”14 This is not to be understood as meaning thatthe Qur’¥n is re garded as the creation of the literary genius of theProphet Muâmmad, as has been repeated so many times by non-Muslims and so vigorously denied by Muslims. On the contrary,Muslims hold that the Holy Scripture is divine in its form as well as itscontent, in its letters as well as its ideas; that it was revealed toMuâmmad in the exact words of God; and that its present arrange-ment in ¥y¥t (verses) and suwar (chapters)was dictated by God.

This content and this form of the Qur’¥n have pro vided all the dis-tinguishing characteristics which, as we have noted above, arerepresentative of the infinite patterns of the Islamic arts. The Qur’¥nitself is the most perfect example of infinite patterning – the examplethat was to influence all future creations in the literary arts, the visualarts (both decoration and architectural monuments), and even the artsof sound (see Chapter 21) and movement.15 As a literary work, theQur’¥n has had a tremendous aesthetic and emo tional impact onMuslims who read or heard its poetic prose. Many conversions to thenew religion were in fact made through the aesthetic power of itsrecita tions, and many are the accounts of people weeping or even dyingfrom listening to its recitation.16 Even non-Muslims have been deeplyimpressed by its liter ary excellence. This inimitable perfection of theQur’¥n has been designated as its i¢j¥z, or “power to incapacitate.” Butthe inability to match its eloquence has not kept it from being a modelfor all the arts. This contribution to Islamic culture has shaped the


Carved archin the

Alhambra.


13

adop tion and use of countless artistic motifs and tech niques borrowedfrom many cultures and many peo ples over the centuries. It is this coreor model that molded the adoption of those materials and ideas anddetermined the creation of new motifs and tech niques. The sublimeembodiment of the Islamic mes sage of taw^Ïd was to be the norm andthe ideal for all future examples of Islamic art (see Chapter 19). The Qur’¥n provides the first model for the six characteristics of

Islamic art mentioned above. First, instead of emphasizing realistic ornaturalistic depic tion, the Qur’¥n evidences a rejection of narrativedevelopment as a literary organizational principle. References to cer-tain events are treated segmentally and with repeated mention, as ifreaders were already familiar with the stories and characters. The mainpurpose is not narrative, but didactic and moral. The very ordering ofthe work (the longer, more proselike MadÏnan suwar near the begin-ning, and the shorter, strongly poetic Makkan suwar near the end)contrib utes, as well, to the Qur’¥n’s abstract quality. Verses do notlead the reader through a series of contrasting and dramatically stimu-lated moods. Instead, the reader is moved by emotions that seemabstracted or divorced from specific characterization. The ¥y¥t andsuwar certainly arouse the emotions of the listener, but they do so with-out evoking specific moods. Second, the Qur’¥n, like the Islamic work of art, is divided into liter-

ary modules (¥y¥t and suwar) which exist as satisfying segmentsstanding on their own. Each one is complete, and not dependent onwhat went before or comes after it. The modules have little or noorganic relationship that would necessitate a particular sequence. In itscantillated recitation, pe riods of silence (waqf¥t) provide a clear divi-sion of the musical rendering into aural modules (see Chapter 23). Third, Qur’¥nic lines and verses are combined to form longer enti-

ties or successive combinations. These may be short chapters orsections within a longer chapter. For example, ten ¥y¥t constitute a¢ushr. A series of ¢ushr divisions make a rub¢ or “quarter.” Four “quar-ters” combine to form a ̂ izb. Two a^z¥b (pl. of ̂ izb) constitute a juz’(“part”), and thirty ajz¥’ (pl. of juz’) are contained in the completeQur’¥n. Even the ¥y¥t modules are further subdivided into separatelines by end rhymes and assonance.



14


Map 26.The Earth According to Ab‰ al-Rayh¥n al BirunÏ, 430/1048


15

So long as the meaning is not distorted, stopping places for thesecombinations of verses may be varied. A reading (qir¥’ah) of theQur’¥n may end with the completion of a s‰rah or may stop after anyverse or cluster of verses, even if they overarch two or more suwar. TheMuslim reads or hears m¥ tayassara (“what transpires”), that is, what-ever he/she is moved to read or hear at that particular time. Therecitation is therefore without predetermined length or beginning andend. It leaves no impression of con clusive development or finality.The fourth characteristic that can be found in all the arts of Islamic

culture – the profusion of repeti tive means – is equally represented inthe Qur’¥nic prototype. Poetic devices resulting in sound or metri calrepetitions abound in the Qur’¥n. In addition to frequent instances ofsingle- or multisyllable end-rhymes, the Qur’¥n contains numerousrhymes inter nal to the lines. Repetitions of metrical units and of voweland consonant sounds abound and poetically enliven this literarywork. Refrain phrases and lines return again and again to reinforceboth the didactic and the aesthetic message. The repetition of ideas andof patterns of speech are counted among the elements of eloquence orbal¥ghah. It is this eloquence that has provided substantiation for theargument of the Mus lims that the Qur’¥n is indeed miraculous, andthere fore the eternal word of God. The fifth outstanding characteristic of the visual arts of Islamic cul-

ture – the necessity of experienc ing them through time – is to beexpected in the Holy Qur’¥n, since all liter-ary works are considered to be time arts. Inthis case, however, as in all the Islamic arts,there is a serial process of perception andappre ciation that defies development to asingle major cli max and subsequent conclu-sion. The impression of overall unity is weak,and only through experiencing its individualparts in succession does the reader or listenergrasp a sense of the whole.Intricacy, the sixth characteristic of the

arts of the Muslim peoples, is equally mod-eled after the Qur’¥n. Parallelism, antithesis,



16


Map 27. The Earth According toIbrahÏm ibn Muâmmad alIs~akhrÏ (4th/10th century)


17

congery, metaphor, simile, and allegory are only some of the manypoetic devices that provide verbal richness and elaboration in theQur’¥n. The proliferation of these elements causes those who hear orread its passages to marvel at its beauty and eloquence.

The Qur’¥n as Artistic Iconography

The Qur’¥n not only provided Islamic civilization with an ideology tobe expressed in its arts; it not only furnished the first and most impor-tant model of artis tic content and form; but it also provided the mostimportant material for the iconography of the Islamic arts.The long tradition of literary emphasis and excel lence among the

Semitic forerunners of the seventh-century Muslims is well known.Following their inter est and excellence in literary creation, the art ofwriting had been developed by the Semitic peoples at an early stage.Writing was used for millennia in the pre-Islamic Mesopotamian cul-tures as a component of the visual arts. Accompanying bands of scripthave been found on numerous artistic reliefs and statues of theSumerians, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians, to name but a few ofthese peoples.17 The function of those pre-Islamic calligraphic inclu-sions was, how ever, primarily discursive. Writing was used as a logi calaccompaniment to explain the meaning of a visual representation.Such use of writing in artistic prod ucts continued in Byzantine art.With Islam, however, writing and calligraphy were to undergo a pro-found metamorphosis which changed them from merely dis cursivesymbols into aesthetic and fully iconographic materials. It was not by chance that this development took place. Rather, it

can be seen as another dimension of the basic “Qur’¥nic” influence onthe aesthetic sense and behavior of the Muslims. The aim of art for theMuslim is to direct human beings, as vicegerents of the one transcen-dent God, toward contemplation and remembrance of Him. Towardthis goal, no more suitable agent could be found than the poeticallyinspiring passages from the Holy Qur’¥n. Though God is indeedbeyond nature and beyond representation, His Word as revealed to the



18

Prophet Muâmmad carries remembrance of Him to the viewer or lis-tener without fear of violating divine transcendence. It is therefore theiconographic material par excellence for the work of Islamic art.Already in the seventh century c.e., this tendency had become manifest,as is so clearly demonstrated in the decoration of the Dome of the Rock(Qubbah al ßakhrah) in Jerusalem. This monument, which has anextensive decorative program incorpo rating Qur’¥nic quotations, wascompleted by the UmawÏ caliph ¢Abd al Malik in 71/691. Throughcon tinued and prolific use of Qur’¥nic expressions and passages, theart objects of the Muslim peoples were to be constant reminders oftaw^Ïd.Realization of the effectiveness, ennoblement, and suitability of

Qur’¥nic visual and discursive motifs brought in its wake a wealth ofcorrelative influences on Islamic culture and the arts. These include theastonishingly rapid development of the Arabic script, its elaborationinto a highly malleable catalog of forms, the incredible proliferation ofdistinctive styles, and the widespread use of calligraphic mate rials inartistic works.Inclusion of Qur’¥nic passages was never to be executed without

care, reverence, and perfection. Consequently, the art of beautifulwriting, or calligra phy, developed among the early Muslims with


Qubbah alßakhrah

(“The Domeof the Rock”)

Al Quds,completed691 c.e.



19

aston ishing inventiveness and rapidity. No pre-Islamic or post-Islamiccalligraphy has demanded of itself the cursiveness, malleability andplasticity, as well as legi bility, that was demanded of the Arabic script.Elonga tions and contractions in height as well as width were essayed asthe letters were molded into various shapes and sizes. Numerous stylesof script were used alone or were combined with noncalligraphicmotifs. Scripts of every imaginable angular and rounded mien havebeen created by the Muslim peoples. Some of the most interesting con-temporary aesthetic efforts in the Muslim world are indeed thosedeveloping around this most popular artistic subject matter of theMuslim peoples.Since every act and thought of the Muslim carries a religious con-

nection or determination, the incorpora tion of the words of God inevery possible decorative scheme, in every aural and visual experience,is a desired objective.18 Qur’¥nic passages have been used as decora-tive motifs not only on religiously significant items but also on fabrics,garments, vessels and ser vice trays, boxes and furniture, walls andbuildings, even the lowly cooking pot, in every century of Is lamic his-tory and in every corner of the Muslim world. It is no less prevalent andprominent in the literary and vocal arts. With the inclusion of beautifulcalligra phy reproducing passages from the Qur’¥n, the Is lamic work ofart derives not only a discursive influ ence from the Qur’¥n but also aQur’¥nic aesthetic determination. Even when the writing conveysmate rial other than passages from the Holy Scripture – pious sayings;proverbs; names of God, the Prophet, or religious persons; or details ofconstruction, pat ronage, or artist – there has been an emphasis onimaginative and beautiful exemplifications of Arabic script. FromRabat to Mindanao, from Kano to Sa marqand, the Qur’¥nic passagesexecuted in Arabic script have provided the most revered ingredient ofthe arts. In no aesthetic tradition of the world has such a decisive rolebeen played by the art of calligraphy or by a single book.A number of scholars have written in recent years about the sym-

bolic nature of Islamic art.19 Some of them are non-Muslims; othersare Muslims. In both cases, however, these writers, almost exclusively,have been born or educated in a Western environ ment. Their attribu-tion of symbolic significance to the Islamic arts does not merely imply


20


Map 28. The Indian Ocean, by Ahmad ibn Majid (10th/17th century)



21

the universally accepted notion that the artsare a way of expressing an abstract idea inpoetry, color, lines, shapes, sounds, move-ments, and so on. In this sense, of course, allart is symbolic. These writers claim muchmore for what they see as the symbolicimplications of Islamic art. For them, theforms, shapes, objects, scenes, and even let-ters and numbers used in Islamic art have ahidden (b¥~inÏ) significance. As the man-dala, the phallic pillar, or the anthropo-morphic representations of gods and god-

desses hold special religious signifi cance for the Hindu, or the cross,the Crucifixion scene, and the statue of Christ are powerful symbolsfor the Christian, so their argument goes, there are specific “Islamicsymbols” which visually represent a wealth of meanings to be graspedand understood by the viewer. Although the motifs or symbols ofwhich these scholars speak are judged to be peculiar to Is lamic culture,the aesthetic logique is identical to that which pertains to certain otherartistic traditions. The dome is to be regarded as the dome of heaven, itis claimed 20 ; the medallion at the center of a carpet is a representationof the passageway into heaven21; the blue of the manuscript illumina-tion is a symbol of the Infinite, of God22; the epigraphic decorationincluding the ruler’s name is a symbolic stand-in for the politicalstate,23 or even a manifestation of Allah.24 Even emp tiness or the“void” is regarded as “the symbol of both the transcendence of Godand His presence in all things.”25

All of these ascriptions of literal symbolic content are antagonisticto the essence ofIslamic art and toits abstract quali-ty. Islamic art wasborn and devel-oped in a Semitice n v i r o n m e n twhich forswore

Qur’¥nicverses in goldand yellowthread onkiswa (cover-ing cloth onthe Ka¢bah).

Detail ofmosque exterior wall,Fez,Morocco.


22


Map 29. The Earth According to Al ßafaq|Ï (4th/10th century)

and con demned all representations of the transcendent realm. It is anart based on an ideology – taw^Ïd – that cannot be aestheticallyexpressed by real or imagined linkages between nature and God. Suchlink age would be a kind of shirk or “associationism” of other beingsand objects with Allah; and this has been judged as the most hatedpractice, the major sin, in Islam.These beliefs and premises have generated a uniquely asymbolic

quality in the religion and culture of Islam. It has frequently beennoted that even the rituals of Islam are functional rather than symbolicin essence. The call to prayer, even the minaret itself, are not symbolicaural or visual elements. They are, respectively, an act to help theMuslims congregate for prayer at specific times of the day and anarchitec tural member to facilitate that act.26 The mi^r¥b niche of themosque commands no special deference on the part of the worship-per; the area is not holier than any other in the mosque.27 Thecrescent, which has often been associated with Islam by non-Muslims,



23

has no significance as a visual symbol of the faith within Islamic cul-ture.28 It is rather an insignia of the Ottoman army which theEuropeans mistakenly re garded as a symbol of the religion of Islam.Since the cross had much earlier come to symbolize Christian ity, theyjumped to the conclusion that Islam had adopted the crescent as itscomparable symbol.Surely these facts are known to the non-Muslim as well as Muslim

scholars of Islamic art. It is strange, then, that these scholars persist ininterpreting that art in a way that is inconsistent with the rest of theculture. The following hypotheses may help explain their adherenceto such explanations of aesthetic meaning in Islamic art.One hypothesis is that the authors are so indoctrinated by Western

interpretations of art that it is difficult, if not impossible, for them toescape those civilizational biases when dealing with the art of Islam.Unfortunately, premises that may fit perfectly for in terpreting theChristian art of Europe seem to have been transplanted to the field ofIslamic art, where they are patently out of place. This certainly under -lines the need for extreme caution, deep knowledge, and empathy to be


24


Map 30. The Earth According to Iban Yunis al Mi|rÏ (339/951)



25

exercised whendealing with com -parative and inter-cultural studies ingeneral and withIslamic art in par-ticular.A second reason

for the prevalencein recent publi -cations of symbolicinterpretations ofIslamic art is thatthe field of aesthet-

ics and art history is dominated either by Western scholars or thosewith Western training. The field has been held in such low esteem in theMuslim world that it has attracted few significant talents from within,necessitating its control by reli gio-cultural outsiders. In addition, sincecolleges and universities in the Muslim world have been negligent infostering studies in aesthetics and art history, Mus lims interested inthose disciplines, practically with out exception, have been trained inWestern institutions, under the influence of Western tutors andWestern art principles. The Muslim scholars, there fore, whether con-verts or Muslims by birth, are often as affected by the exogenousmisinterpretations of Islamic art as are their non-Muslim counterparts.There is a third reason for the recent attributions of a blatantly literal

symbolic content to Islamic art, in contradiction to its inherentabstract quality. This is the influence of ß‰fism, the mystical currentwithin Islam. Mysticism, in addition to its stress on the per sonal,inward experience of religion, is a doctrine or persuasion that empha-sizes the mysterious, the eso teric, and the magical qualities of religion.Such ideas are true of mystical thought in Islam, as well as in Christi-anity, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, and other religious traditions.Mystics have commonly ascribed hidden meanings to letters, words,and phrases as well as to all types of visual motifs and figures. As theyhave sought, by various means, to achieve union with the divine, they

Carved calligraphydecoration(from theQur’¥n) ondome ofMausoleumof Sul~¥nQayt Bay,Cairo(1472-1474 CE).


26

have been much less careful to main tain the clear distinction betweenthe transcendent and the natural realms which is a hallmark of ortho-dox Islam and taw^Ïd (see Chapter 16).No one can deny the existence of such ideas within Islamic history

or the proliferation of certain occult practices and interpretationswhich they brought in their wake. But these facts should not be blownout of proportion to explain the whole phenomenon known as Islamicart. Though mystics have tried to argue that the originator of ß‰fismwas Muâmmad himself, it was only centuries after the Prophet’sdeath that the movement gained any statistical significance. Its wideracceptance in certain periods of Islamic history cannot be adduced toexplain the genesis and whole history of Islamic art. The presence of a uniquely Islamic art was already evident in the first century a.h., aperiod certainly antedating widespread ß‰fÏ influence. ¢Abd al Malik’sQubbah al ßakhrah (Dome of the Rock) in Jerusalem (71/691) has allthe ingre dients and characteristics of Islamic art – of Qur’¥nic art –long long before ß‰fism proliferated and began to attach its interpreta-tions of literal symbolism to the Islamic arts. The Dome of the Rockwas certainly not a product of mystical Islamic ideology. Therefore, itmust be accorded an aesthetic interpretation that ac cords with Islam asa whole.Exaggerations (both religious and social) of some mystical groups

have given ß‰fism a bad name in many parts of the Muslim world. Itsinward-looking, personalist tendencies have been regarded by the Is lamic modernists as one of the prime causes for the subjugation anddegradation of the Muslim peoples at the hands of internal and exter-nal powers. It is argued that an overemphasis on personal piety wasachieved at the expense of the traditional Islamic stress on individualand collective achievement, development, and progress. This transval-uation diminished the striving for cooperation between dÏn and duny¥(be tween “religion” and “this world”), and brought an exaggeratedconcern instead for the afterlife. Recent Islamic reform and revivalmovements are therefore generally opposed to mysticism, and the lead-ership of the contemporary Muslim ummah is largely nonmys tical oreven antimystical.Although the majority of Muslims living in the Muslim world are




27

not adherents of mystical brother -hoods, and although those organiza-tions and their ac tivities are regardedwith some suspicion by many in theMuslim world, it would certainly beerroneous to say that the mysticalmovement of Islam is dead. How-ever, the power ß‰fism held over thepeople after the disruptions of theMongol invasion and the Cru sades,and the influence it exerted duringthe subse quent decline in power andincrease of political frag mentation, is

no longer widely evident. In fact, it is primarily in Europe and Americathat ß‰fism flour ishes, whether in actual communities or in scholarlyinterest, research, and publication. It is there that Muslim ß‰fÏs find asympathetic ear and attain power and prestige. It is there that West-erners – divorced from their former religious traditions and cast adriftwithout religious moorings – have taken an interest in the ecstatic andexotic practices of Islamic mysti cism and espoused its emphasis on theinner spirit. A latent background in Christian or Jewish mysticismoften provides a bridge for the Westerner to the mys tical elements inIslam. In fact, a considerable number of the Anglo-Saxon converts toIslam in recent dec ades have entered through the influence of ß‰fÏmove ments. Contributors of writings expounding the sym bolic inter-pretations of Islamic art have come mainly from this group of white,upper-class, educated West ern converts or their non-Muslim Westerncounter parts.The mystical, literally symbolic interpretations of recent writings

are in opposition to the abstraction so deeply imbedded in the aestheticconsciousness and production of the Muslim peoples. They are alsoan tagonistic to the Islamic aversion to any practice that hints of divineimmanence or compromises divine transcendence. Although they mayattract the West ern-trained scholar and the mystic, they do not satisfythe need for a comprehensive and internally consist ent interpretationof the Islamic arts.

Courtyard ofan oldmadrasah,Marrakech,Morocco.


28

An acceptable theory of Islamic art is one that assigns its premises tofactors internal to the religion and culture rather than to those imposedby an alien tradition. It is also one that bases itself on the most signifi-cant rather than on the minor or accidental ele ments affecting thatculture. Given such demands, the Holy Qur’¥n provides a ready andlogical source of inspiration for aesthetic creation. The Qur’¥n hasbeen as influential of the arts as it has been of the other aspects ofIslamic culture. The Qur’¥n has provided the message to be expressedaesthetically, as well as the manner of expressing it as evidenced in thesix characteristics of its literary form and content. It has even suppliedits own expressions and passages, as most important subject matter forthe iconography of the arts. The Islamic arts therefore can rightfully bedesignated “Qur’¥nic arts.”

n o t e s

1. This negative view is exemplified by such statements as the following: “TheIslamic doctrine of the unity of God, and its correlative, the menace of Shirk, ordeification, have demanded the prohibition of all representational art. In the realmof worship Islam enforces, often with a puritan severity, a total veto on artistic joyin shape and image, music and iconography” (Kenneth Cragg, The House of Islam[Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1975], p. 15).2. The |if¥t or attributes of God are traditionally considered to be ninety-nine,

though the implication is that they are infinite.3. Isma¢Ïl R. al F¥r‰qÏ, Islam and Culture (Kuala Lumpur: Angkatan Belia Islam

Malaysia, 1980), p. 44.4. The “arabesque” is most narrowly defined as a particular form of stylized

leaf and vine design created by the Arabs/Muslims. According to Ernst Kühnel(The Arabesque: Meaning and Transformation of an Ornament, tr. RichardEttinghausen [Graz, Austria: Verlag für Sammler, 1949], p. 4), it was in the latenineteenth century that Alois Riegl wrote a book in which he limited the term tothis specific category of design. It has generally had a much wider meaning whichincluded a whole range of ornamental designs, including calligraphic, geometric,and vegetal motifs. A still wider significance for this term has been claimed by LoisIbsen al F¥r‰qÏ in “Ornamentation in Arabian Improvisational Music: A Study ofInterrelatedness the Arts,” The World of Music, 20 (1978), pp. 17–32; idem, “TheIslamization of the Hagia Sophia Plan,” paper delivered at the Symposium on TheCommon Principles, Forms, & Themes of Islamic Art, Istanbul, April, 1984;Isma¢Ïl R. al F¥r‰qÏ, “Islam and Art,” Studia Islamica, 37 (1973), pp. 102–103.




29

5 Kühnel, The Arabesque.6 Ernst Kühnel, “Arabesque,” The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed. (Leiden:

E. J. Brill), Vol. I, pp. 558–561.7 See for a more detailed discussion, Lois Ibsen al F¥r‰qÏ, “An Islamic

Perspective on Symbolism in the Arts: New Thoughts on Figural Representation,”Art, Creativity, and Religion, ed. Diane Apostolos Cappadona (New York:Crossroad Pub. Co., 1983), pp. 164–178.

8 Franz Boas, Primitive Art (Oslo: Instituttet for SammenlignendeKulturforskning, 1927).

9 See the description of the city of Isfahan in Nader Ardalan and LalehBakhtiar, The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture (Chicago,1973), pp. 97ff.

10. Ibid., p. 95.11. See Marshall G. S. Hodgson’s description of Jal¥luddÏn R‰mÏ’s MathnawÏ

in The Venture of Islam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), Vol. II, pp.248–249.

12. Ernst Diez, “A Stylistic Analysis of Islamic Art,” Ars Islamica, 5 (1938),p. 36; Arthur Upham Pope, Persian Architecture: The Triumph of Form andColor (New York: George Braziller, 1965), p.81.

13. See David Talbot Rice, “Studies in Islamic Metal Work–VI,” Bulletin ofthe School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), 21 (1958),pp. 225–253.

14. I. R. al F¥r‰qÏ, “Islam and Art,” pp. 95–98.15. Lois Ibsen al F¥r‰qÏ, “Dance as an Expression of Islamic Culture,” Dance

Research Journal, 10 (Spring–Summer, 1978), pp. 6–13.16. ¢AlÏ B. ¢Uthm¥n Al-Jull¥bÏ Al ¤ujwÏrÏ, Kashf Al-Ma^j‰b of Al ¤ujwÏrÏ, tr.

Reynold A. Nicholson, in E. J W. Gibb Memorial Series, 17 (London: Luzac &Co., 1976), pp. 396–397.

17. See Giovanni Garbini, The Ancient World (New York: McGraw-Hill,1966); André Parrot, The Arts of Assyria, tr. Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons(New York: Golden Press, 1961); The Great King: King of Assyria, photographsby Charles Wheeler (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1945).

18. See René A. Bravmann, African Islam (Washington, D.C.: SmithsonianInstitution Press, 1983), chap. 1; and Clifford Geertz, “Art as a Cultural System,”Modern Language Notes, 91 (1976), pp. 1489–1490.

19. For example, Martin Lings, The Quranic Art of Calligraphy andIllumination (London: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976); Titus Burckhardt,The Art of Islam (London: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976); Nader Ardalanand L. Bakhtiar, The Sense of Unity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973);Anthony Welch, Calligraphy in the Arts of the Muslim World (Austin: Universityof Texas Press, 1979); Erica Cruikshank Dodd, “The Image of the Word,”Berytus 18 (1969), pp. 35–58; Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “The Significance of theVoid in the Art and Architecture of Islam,” The Islamic Quarterly, 16 (1972), pp.115–120; Annemarie Schimmel, “Schriftsymbolik im Islam,” in Aus der Welt der


islamischen Kunst: Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel, ed. Richard Ettinghausen (Berlin,1959), pp. 244–254; Schuyler van R. Cammann, “Symbolic Meanings in OrientalRug Patterns,” The Textile Museum Journal, 3 (1972), pp. 5–54; idem, “CosmicSymbolism on Carpets from the Sanguszko Group,” Studies in Art and Literatureof the Near East in Honor of Richard Ettinghausen, ed. Peter J. Chelkovski (SaltLake City and New York, 1975), pp. 181–208.

20. Burckhardt, Art of Islam, chap. 4.21. Cammann, “Symbolic Meanings” and “Cosmic Symbolism on Carpets.”22. Lings, Quranic Art, pp. 76–77.23. Welch, Calligraphy, p. 23.24. Ibid.25. Nasr, “Significance of the Void,” p. 116.26. In contrast with the sacraments of Christianity and the libation ceremonies

of the Hindus.27. In contrast with the significance of the altar of the Catholic cathedral and

the statue of the god in a Hindu temple.28. Thomas Arnold, “Symbolism and Islam,” The Burlington Magazine, 53

(July-Dec., 1928), pp. 155–156.


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The Arts of Islamic Civilization€¦ · new motifs, materials, and techniques as the need and inspiration arose. ... The Arts of Islamic Civilization 3 ... these infinite patterns,