Is an Element of Art Derived From Reflected Light

Introduction to Islamic Art

Ane area where the genius of the Muslim civilisation has been recognised worldwide is that of art. The artists of the Islamic world adjusted their creativity to evoke their inner behavior in a series of abstruse forms, producing some amazing works of art. Rejecting the depiction of living forms, these artists progressively established a new style substantially deviating from the Roman and Byzantine art of their time. In the mind of these artists, works of art are very much connected to ways of transmitting the message of Islam rather than the cloth course used in other cultures. This article briefly examines the significant and character of fine art in Islamic culture and explores its principal decorative forms-floral, geometrical, and calligraphic. Finally, it looks at the influence of the art developed in the earth of Islam on the fine art of other cultures, particularly that of Europe.

Rabah Saoud*

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Comparing with Byzantine Art
3. Sources of the Islamic Art
iv. The Nature and Form in Islamic Art
5. Vegetal and Floral fine art
6. Geometrical Fine art
seven. Calligraphy
viii. Influence of Islamic Art in the West
9. Decision
x. References

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Notation of the editor
This article was showtime published in July 2004. It is edited here in HTML, with revision. © FSTC 2004-2010.

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one. Introduction

The art of Islam has attracted the attention of a number of Western scholars [1] who gained good reputations because of their contributions to the study and publicising of the field. Despite this positive aspect, their work independent an chemical element of prejudice as they repeatedly applied their Western norms and criteria to their evaluation of the fine art produced in Islamic history. In their views, far from contributing to the arts of its gild, Islam has restricted, diminished and undervalued artistic creativity. Islam is seen every bit obstructive and limiting to artistic talent and its art is often judged by its incapacity to produce figures and natural and dramatic scenes. Such arguments illustrate a serious misperception of Islam and its attitude to art. The view that Islam promotes harsh and elementary living and rejects composure and comfort is an allegation often made by orientalist academics. This false claim is rejected by both the Qur'an and the example of Prophet Muhammad. The Qur'an, for example, permits comfy living if it does not lead the believer off-target:

"Say, who is there to preclude the beauty which God has brought along for his servants, and the good things from among the ways of sustenance" (Qur'an 7:32).

This message is emphasised again in another poesy:

"O you who believe! Practice non deprive yourselves of the good things of life which Allah has permitted you, merely do non transgress, for Allah does not dear those who transgress." (Qur'an 5:87).

The accurate proverb of Prophet Muhammad which was narrated by Al-Boukhari:

"Allah is beautiful and loves beauty."

This is perhaps the clearest translation of the position of Islam towards art. Beauty, in Islam, is a quality of the divine. The great scholar Al-Ghazali (1058-1128) considered information technology to be based on ii main criteria involving the prefect proportion and the luminosity, encompassing both outer and inner parts of things, animals and humans.

The other determinant factor influencing Western scholars' views on Islamic art is continued to the Greek-influenced approach which considers the paradigm of homo as the source of artistic creativity. Thus, portraits and sculptures of man were seen equally the highest piece of work of art. According to this view, man is nature's virtually magnificent and most beautiful creature and should be both the first and destination of human being artistic endeavour. Successful works of art are those which explore the inner depth and external physical advent of the homo body. Perhaps the highest position given to man, in this art, is when divine beings are represented in his form, or when he is represented equally being created in the image of the Deity. Islamic art, withal, has a radically dissimilar outlook. Here, man is seen as an instrument of divinity created by a supremely powerful Beingness, Allah.

two. Comparing with Byzantine Art

Byzantine art was fundamentally based on the incorporation of Christian themes into Greek humanism and naturalism. Together, these concepts symbolised and reflected divinity. Man and nature were seen as the prototype of the divine. This new figurative fine art was not seeking the aesthetic per se, every bit in the Greek tradition, but striving to translate concepts in Christian belief such as salvation and sacrifice.

As they do with many fields, Western scholars frequently relate Islamic art to Greek and Byzantine origins, challenge that the artists of the Muslim globe only imitated or borrowed from these two cultures their fine art and reproduced it in a Muslim "dress" of Arabesque and calligraphy. Byzantine inspiration started in the early stages of the Muslim Caliphate when the Umayyad Caliphs Abd-al-Malik [2] and Al-Walid I [3] sent for Byzantine artists to decorate the Dome of the Stone (691-92) and the Not bad Umayyad Mosque of Damascus (705-714). Byzantine influence is seen in the iconographic themes in the Dome of the Stone, every bit reflected in the mosaics of crowns and jewels of that mosque, which Grabar (1973) believed were emulating Byzantine symbols of power. These decorations were symbols of holiness, ability and sovereignty in Byzantine art. Pursuing this theme, he says:

"In other words, the ornament of the Dome of the Rock witnesses a conscious use past the decorators of this Islamic sanctuary of representations of symbols belonging to the subdued orto the stillactive enemies of Islam" (Grabar 1973, p. 48).

Yet, Grabar later admits that the Arabs, both before and subsequently Islam, used to offer their precious belongings, including crowns, to the Kaabah and hang them in that location [4].

In relation to vegetal representations, in Grabar'southward view, over again the artists of Islam seem to borrow from Byzantine depictions of heaven as if they lacked any knowledge or literary description of it. He claims that Byzantine fine art was so complete and superior that the Muslims had to emulate it. Faced with the question of why the Muslims did not adopt figurative fine art, Grabar argued that they had to give it up due to the superiority of the Byzantine fine art which they could not compete with. He says that:

"the Umayyads could hardly in one generation acquire the sophisticated exercise of imagery which characterised Byzantium. Faced with this dilemma, the Muslims tried both alternatives, but soon discarded imagery, and, equally we have seen adopted the techniques of Byzantium without its formulas".

Grabar clearly disregarded the opposition of Islam to imagery, which is exemplified in a number of the Prophet Muhammad sayings (run across below).

Von Grunedaum (1955) provided a more comprehensive view arguing that the lack of imagery was due to the position of man in the Islamic organized religion. An important aspect of Muslim theology was the prominence of the attributes separating God, the Creator, and human being, his favourite creature. Homo is guided by and bailiwick to his fate and therefore cannot reach the position of God, which other religions say he tin reach. The primal principles of art in Islamic civilisation are the alleged truths that there is "no god but God" and "cypher is like unto Him"; His realm is neither infinite nor time and He is known by ninety 9 attributes, including the First and the Last, and the Seen and the Unseen, and the All-Knowing:

Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting' Eternal. No sleep can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on world. Who is there that can intercede in His presence except as He permits? He knows what (appears to His creatures) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He volition. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the globe, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in celebrity) (Qur'an2:255).

This is perhaps the main sectionalisation in the philosophy and arroyo towards art between the Muslims and non-Muslims. With this approach, Islamic art did non need whatsoever figurative representation of these concepts. How can he depict God if he believes that He is the Unseen and nothing is like unto Him? Any artistic expression of these, either in natural or human being forms, would undermine the meanings and the essence of the Muslim faith. Consequently, artists engaged in expressing this truth in a sophisticated system of geometric, vegetal and calligraphic patterns (Al-Faruqi, 1973). Islam was the only organized religion that did non need figurative fine art and imagery to establish its concepts (Von Grunedaum, 1955).

3. Sources of Islamic Fine art

Like other aspects of Islamic culture, Islamic art was a result of the accumulated knowledge of local environments [v] and societies, incorporating Standard arabic, Persian, Mesopotamian and African traditions, in addition to Byzantine inspirations. Islam built on this knowledge and developed its own unique way, inspired by three chief elements.

The Qur'an is seen as the first piece of work of art in Islam and its chef-d'oeuvre (Al-Faruqi, 1973). The independence of some verses and the interrelation of others form extraordinary meanings every bit each poetry takes the reader into a unique divine feel feeling its joy and happiness, terror and fear, bliss and anger, and so on. The constant repetition of these experiences in the verses of the Qur'an "winds up consciousness and generates in it a momentum which launches it on a continuation or repetition and infinitum" (Al-Faruqi 1973, p.95). The final issue of this experience makes the reader feel the presence of God every bit described in the verse:

"when the verses of the Beneficent are recited unto them, they autumn down prostrate in adoration and tears" (Qur'an 19:58).

As a result, artists drew lessons and methods from their feel of the Qur'an, developing a new approach to art characterised by the independence and interdependence of its determinative elements. The emphasis was on the presence and attributes of the divine Creator rather than on His creatures, including human. Islam sees all men equal regardless of colour or form (perfect or imperfect). The only distinction between them is fabricated on the basis of their piety. Consequently, Islam sees the white-skinned and fair-haired ideal of man promoted by Western art as racial and misleading.

The second element comes from the Qur'anic verses which criticises poets as:

"As for the poets, the erring follow them. Have yous not seen how they wander distracted in every valley? And how they say what they do non? (Qur'an 26:224-26).

This formula regulates the arroyo of artists, writers and professionals. Islam only approves piece of work from

"those who believe, practice good work, and appoint much in the remembrance of Allah" (Qur'an 26:227).

With this background, the creative person'southward work was guided past this criterion and was always connected to the remembrance of God whether it was in ceramics, textile, leather or iron work or wall decoration. The ways this remembrance was expressed was, of course, many. Artists worked with many different materials, from ceramic to iron, and their creative style took many forms, such every bit Arabesque designs, geometrical patterns and calligraphy.

The third decisive cistron dictating the nature of art in Islamic civilization is the religious rule that discourages the depiction of human being or animal forms [6]. The presence of this rule is due to a business organisation that people would go back to the worship of idols and figures, a practice that is strongly condemned past Islam. In the early days of Islam, sculpture and imagery were seen equally reminders of the despised idolatrous past. Today, the bulk of Muslims still respect this dominion and their attitude extends to dislike the excessive "torso worship" practised in the Due west. The latter can exist seen in the revival of Islamic dress amongst educated Muslim women and in their avoidance of the excessive use of make-up.

Furthermore, Islam is free from metaphysical arguments such as those relating to the trinity, the truthful nature of Christ, the Holy Spirit and saints hierarchy, as found in Christianity. Consequently, there was no need in the mosque for apses, transepts, crypts also as images and sculptures of saints, angels and martyrs that played a prominent office in didactic art in Christian churches. All the same, at that place were some instances where human being and animate being forms were used in Islamic art, but these were mainly constitute in secular private buildings of some princes and wealthy patrons. Discoveries made in the Qasre Amra palace, built past the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I (705-715) in the Jordanian desert, revealed large illustrations of hunting scenes, gymnastic exercises, and symbolic figures. The most of import of these were illustrations depicting the main enemies of Islam, Kaisar (the Byzantine Emperor), Roderick (the Visigoth Male monarch of Spain), and Khosrow (the Emperor of Persia). There was too an illustration of the Negus, the Abyssinian rex, who gave the Muslims refuge when they were being prosecuted in Mecca in the early days of Islam [seven] (Creswell 1958, p.92).

In relation to the depiction of creature forms, many examples were discovered. Lions and eagles, for example, were found in illustrations of hunting scenes, and carved in sculptures and heraldic emblems. These emblems were transmitted by the Crusaders to Europe where they were widely copied.

4. The Nature and Class in Islamic Art

Islamic fine art differs from that of other cultures in its form and the materials information technology uses as well equally in its subject and meaning. Philipps (1915), for example, thought that Eastern art, in general, is mainly concerned with color, unlike that of western art, which is more than interested in form. He described Eastern art as feminine, emotional, and a matter of color, in contrast to Western art which he saw as masculine, intellectual, and based on plastic forms which disregarded colour. Of grade this reflected Philipps' cultural and artistic bias. Art in Islam never lacked intellectualism even in its simplest forms.

The invitation to discover and learn is found in both revealed and hidden messages in all its forms. Bourgoin (1879), on the other hand, compared the art forms of Greek, Japanese and Islamic cultures and classified them into three categories involving animal, vegetal, and mineral respectively. In his view, Greek art emphasised proportion and plastic forms, and the characteristics of human being and animal bodies. Japanese art, on the other hand, developed vegetal attributes relating to the principle of growth and the beauty of leaves and branches. Notwithstanding, Islamic art is characterised by an analogy between geometrical pattern and crystal forms of certain minerals. The main difference between it and the fine art of other cultures is that it concentrates on pure abstract forms every bit opposed to the representation of natural objects. These forms have diverse shapes and patterns. Prisse (1878) classified them into three types, floral, geometrical and calligraphic. Another classification was suggested by Bourgoin (1873) involving ornamental stalactites, geometrical arabesque, and other forms. For our decorative interest, we concentrate on the three forms suggested by Prisse, which appear, either lone or together, in most media, such as ceramics, pottery, stucco or textile.

Figure one: Detail of a floral ornamentation in the Dome of the Rock Mosque.

5. Vegetal and Floral art

Although, Muslim art was not, of course, adult independently of influences from nature and the environment, their representation was abstract rather than realistic, every bit in Western art. This is seen clearly in vegetal forms where plant branches, leaves, and flowers were woven and interlaced into and often not distinguished, from the geometrical lines around them every bit seen in the arabesque. The employ of vegetal forms in Islamic art is as well conditioned to some extent by the Islamic prohibition of the fake of living creatures. However, this interdiction naturally decreases with the descent from human being to animal to vegetable forms. Fine art critics describe the floral depictions and ornaments of the artists of Islam every bit conventional; lacking the effects of growth and the creation of life (Dobree 1920). In their stance, the reason behind the absence of growth was due to the natural surroundings of the Muslim countries, where the experience of spring, the season of found growth is fleeting. Even so, the religious prohibition mentioned above was behind the absenteeism of lifelike cosmos in much of the Islamic floral art.

Figure 2: Illustration of a tree in a landscape decoration in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.

In the Dome of the Stone and the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, which contain the earliest examples of Islamic vegetal art, we discover more realistic depictions of plants and trees, but these examples, as noted earlier, are regarded every bit Byzantine work for the Umayyad patrons. In contrast, the vegetal decoration in Samarra Mosque (Iraq) shows how artists, in contrast, deliberately reproduced the vine leaves and branches in an abstruse form. Still, by the 13^th century a more realistic approach gradually gained ground in Muslim Persia and Turkey, influenced by the Chinese and the Mongols (Al-Ulfi, 1969, p.114).

The Muslims used leaf with swell delicacy particularly effectually the arches and windows. The stucco borders used in the mausoleum of the Ayyubid Sultan Qalawun, built in Cairo (Arab republic of egypt) in 1284/85, consisted of buds and leaves arranged in a continuous gyre pattern. The mausoleum also independent examples of other floral illustrations fix in rectangular and circular panels, a feature which became especially pop in the 15th century (Poole, 1886). The employ of this type of art extended to many ornamental objects, such every bit pottery, and wood and leather etching likewise as coloured tiles.

half dozen. Geometrical Art

The 2d element of Islamic fine art involves geometrical patterns. The artists used and adult geometrical art for two primary reasons. The showtime reason is that it provided an alternative to the prohibited depiction of living creatures. Abstruse geometrical forms were particularly favoured in mosques because they encourage spiritual contemplation, in contrast to portrayals of living creatures, which divert attention to the desires of creatures rather than the will of God. Thus geometry became central to the art of the Muslim World, allowing artists to costless their imagination and creativity. A new course of art, based wholly on mathematical shapes and forms, such as circles, squares and triangles, emerged.

The second reason for the development of geometrical art was the composure and popularity of the science of geometry in the Muslim globe. The recently discovered Topkapi Scrolls [viii], dating from the 15^th century, illustrate the systematic use of geometry by Muslim artists and architects (see Gülru, 1995). They also show that early Muslim craftsmen developed theoretical rules for the employ of artful geometry, denying the claims of some Orientalists that Islamic geometrical art was developed by accident (east.g. H. Saladin 1899).

This geometrical art is very much continued to the famous concept of the arabesque, which is defined as "ornamental work used for flat surfaces consisting of interlacing geometrical patterns of polygons, circles, and interlocked lines and curves" (Chambers Scientific discipline and Technology Lexicon 1991).

Figure 3: Floral Arabesque covering the interior of the dome of Masjid-i Shah Mosque, Isfahan (1611­1616).

The arabesque blueprint is composed of many units joined and interlaced together, flowing from each other in all directions. Each unit, although it is contained and complete and can stand alone, forms role of the whole blueprint; a note in the general rhythm of the design (Al-Faruqi 1973). The most common use of arabesque is decorative, consisting mainly of a 2 dimensional pattern, covering surfaces such as ceilings, walls, carpets, furniture, and textiles. From his study of 200 examples, Bourgoin (1879) concluded that this style of art required a considerable knowledge of practical geometry, which its practitioners must have had. In his view, the arabesque design is built up on a system of joint and orbiculation and is ultimately capable of being reduced to i of nine simple polygonal elements. The pattern may be built upwards of rectilinear lines, curvilinear lines, or both combined together, producing a cusped or foliated effect. It is reported that Leonardo da Vinci found Arabesque fascinating and used to spend considerable time working out complicated patterns (Briggs, 1924, p.178).

Arabesque tin can also exist floral, using a stalk, leaf, or blossom (tawriq) as its artistic medium, or a combination of both floral and geometric patterns. The expression embodied in its interlacing blueprint, cohesive motion, gravity, mass, and volume signifies infinity and produces a contemplative feeling in the spectator leading him slowly into the depth of the Divine presence (Al-Alfi 1969). Dobree (1920) explained the impact of Arabesque fine art every bit follows:

"Arabesque strives, not to concentrate the attending upon whatsoever definite object, to liven and quicken the beholden faculties, but to diffuse them. It is centrifugal, and leads to a kind of abstraction, a kind of self-hypnotism even, so that the devotee kneeling towards Makkah can bemuse himself in the maze of regular patterning that confront shim, and gratis his mind from all connection with bodily and earthly things" (quoted in Briggs1924, p.175).

It is clearly axiomatic that much of the credit for the development and the popularity of geometrical art goes to the artists of the Islamic world, although its origins are notwithstanding debated. Claims have been fabricated that primitive geometrical ornamentation was used in Ancient Arab republic of egypt too every bit in Mesopotamia, Persia, Syria, and India. The star pattern, for instance, was widely used by the Copts of Egypt (Gayet, 1893), but the artists of the world of Islam were its all time masters.

Figure 4: Kufic Lettering (from Al-Jiburi, 1974).

7. Calligraphy

The third decorative grade of art developed in Islamic culture was calligraphy, which consists of the use of creative lettering, sometimes combined with geometrical and natural forms. Equally in other forms of Islamic fine art, Western scholars attempted to chronicle calligraphy to the lettering art of other cultures. The decorative use of letters in both China and Japan seem to be an area of interest to them. Theories claiming that the evolution of Islamic calligraphy was influenced by the Chinese, dubiously based on the pottery found in sometime Cairo (Al-Fustat), seem to exist absurd (Christie, 1922). The lack of any substantiated proof is clear evidence as are the wide differences betwixt the two languages in the mode and the direction they are written. The suggestion of any link between Islamic calligraphy and ancient is besides inconceivable. Information technology is true that the aboriginal Egyptians widely used hieroglyphics on wall paintings, but these had no decorative purpose (Briggs 1924, p.179).

Figure 5: Kufic calligraphy combined with floral and geometrical decoration with intersecting horseshoe arches. Plate on Cordoba Mosque façade.

The evolution of calligraphy equally a decorative art was due to a number of factors. The start of these is the importance which Muslims attach to their Holy Volume, the Qur'an, which promises divine blessings to those who read and write it down. The pen, a symbol of noesis, is given a special significance by the verse:

"Read! Your Lord is the Nearly Bounteous, Who has taught the use of the pen, taught human what he did non know" (Qur'an 96:3-five).

This indicates that the aim of Islamic calligraphy was not only to provide decoration just also to worship and think Allah. The Qur'anic verses mostly used are those which are said in the human activity of worship [9], or contain supplications, or describe some of the characters of Allah, or his Prophet Muhammad. Calligraphy is as well used on dedication stones to record the foundation of some primal Islamic buildings. In this case, a man is referred to equally the founder, often a Caliph or an Emir, but he was consciously described as poor to Godor Slave of God, a reminder of his position earlier Allah.

The 2nd factor behind the advent of Arabic calligraphy is attached to the importance of the Arabic language in Islam. The use of Arabic is compulsory in prayers and it is the language of the Qur'an and the language of Paradise (see Rice, 1979). Furthermore, the Arabs have always attached a considerable importance to writing, emanating from their appreciation of literature and verse. Information technology is reported that the Prophet Muhammad said:

"Seek nice writing for it is i of the keys of subsistence" and the fourth Caliph, Ali commented on calligraphy as:

"The beautiful writing strengthens the clarity of righteousness"
(both quotes from Al-Jaburi 1974).

In improver, the mystic ability attributed to some words, names and sentences equally protections against evil also contributed to the evolution of calligraphy and its popularisation.

Standard arabic calligraphy was mostly written in two scripts [x]. The get-go is the Kufic script, whose name is derived from the city of Kufa, where it was invented past scribes engaged in the transcription of the Qur'an who set a famous school of writing [11]. The messages of this script have a rectangular form, which made them well suited to architectural utilise.

Figure 6: Transcript of Naskhi calligraphy past Mahmud Yazre.

The other script of Standard arabic calligraphy is known as Naskhi. This style of Arabic writing is older than Kufic, nonetheless it resembles the characters used past modern Standard arabic writing and press. It is characterised past a round and cursive shape to its messages. The Naskhi calligraphy became more pop than Kufic and was substantially developed by the Ottomans (Al-Jaburi 1974).

8. Influence of Islamic Art in the West

In general, the diffusion of the Islamic art motifs to Europe and the rest of the world occurred in three different means. The first of these was direct false through the reproduction of the same theme in the same type of medium. For example, an artistic theme (or themes) in an Islamic ceramic could have been reproduced in a European ceramic. There are a multitude of examples of this kind of imitation. Possibly the virtually widely acknowledged ones are the many instances of copying of Kufic inscriptions in Medieval and Renaissance European art. Co-ordinate to Christie (1922), Kufic inscriptions in the Ibn Tulun Mosque, built in Cairo in 879, were reproduced in Gothic art first in French republic, so in the rest of Europe. Lethaby (1904) likewise attributed to the carved pattern of wooden doors in a chapel of the Cathedral of Le Puy (France), and of another door in the church of la Vaute Chillac nearby, which were made by the Master carver "Gan Fredus". This connectedness is attributed to the special relationship Amalfi had with Fatimid Cairo at that fourth dimension. Amalfitan traders visiting Cairo were believed to be responsible for the transmission of these motifs to Europe.

Effigy seven: Tiles in the Alhambra Palace showing geometrical Decorations and Naskhi Calligraphy, Granada, Spain.

Male person (1928) institute traces of Islamic influence in many religious buildings of Southern France, in the region known equally the Midi. The list of Islamic motifs, which he collated from these buildings, included horseshoe and multifoil arches and polychromy. Male believed they were copied from Andalusia. Islamic influences were also traced in Westminster Abbey in London, in bands of ornaments in the retable as well every bit in the before stained glass windows (Lethaby 1904). This was non all. Motifs such as the eight pointed star, the stalactite, the Ottoman flower (tulip and carnation) and Alhambra geometrical and colour schemes are merely a few items that form an essential function of most European works of art (run across Fikri 1934) [12]. In add-on, it is widely held that Gothic geometrical medallions such as polyfoil, quatrefoil or the foliated square were also of Islamic origin (Marcais, 1945).

The second way Islamic art motifs were transferred to Europe was through the transposition of source or media. In this instance, an Islamic theme in a detail medium was reproduced in a European work of art in a different type of medium. For case, a theme in an Islamic ceramic piece of work could have been reproduced in European furniture, textile, sculpture and so on. Examples of this type of transfer are one time over again very extensive, and nosotros cannot cover them all here. The example of arabesque must suffice. Co-ordinate to Ward (1967), the fecundation of European ornamental art during the Renaissance (16^thursday century) was at the hands of arabesque. Arabesque and other Islamic geometrical patterns invaded European salons, living rooms, and public reception halls.

Figure 8: View of Al-Azhar mosque courtyard in Cairo.

The third way of transfer is the most difficult to explain. Here, the motif was not copied or reproduced just gradually inspired the development of a particular style or fashion of fine art. There is increasing testify that Islamic art, and the arabesque in item, was the inspiration for both the European Rococo and Bizarre styles which were popular in Europe between the 16^th and 18^th centuries (Jairazbhoy, 1965). The Rococo style consisted of light curvilinear decoration composed of abstract sinuosities such as scrolls, interlacing lines and arabesque designs. It was developed in France in the 18th century, and later spread to Germany and Austria. The germ of this style is found in the Islamic Aljaferia Palace (also known every bit Hudid Palace), built in northern Kingdom of spain in the 11^th century, where a number of blind arches and squinches in a style very similar to Rococo decorate its minor mosque (Jairazbhoy, 1973). Other examples of this early "Islamic Rococo" are establish in the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, Algeria, which was built in 1136.

Baroque architecture has likewise been traced back to an Islamic origin. According to some sources (for instance Jairazbhoy 1965), the word "bizarre" is ultimately derived from the Arabic word of burga, meaning "uneven surface", which was the source of the word barrocco in Portuguese, which meant "irregularly shaped pearl".

Figure nine: Decorative arcade in Aljaferia showing elements that subsequently inspired the Baroque way.

Muslims used motifs such as curviangular arches and squinches, which characterise the Baroque style, in their decorative art as early as the 12^th century. They became especially popular nether the Almoravid rulers (al-Murabitunin Arabic) who ruled Due north Africa and Andalusia between 1062 and 1150.

Figure 10: Northern entrance of the Ulu Cami Hospital (13th century) showing a close upward view of "Baroque" features.

In addition to the to a higher place, a more complicated decorative fashion, consisting of a combination of multifoil arches intersecting with one another similar a screen mesh, is found in the Aljaferia Palace as well as in mosques of Tlemcen (1136) and Qarawiyyin, congenital in Morocco between 1135 and 1143. Another instance is the Ulu Cami Hospital in Divrighi, Turkey, completed in 1229, which shows a remarkable resemblance to Baroque in its ornamentation and décor, fifty-fifty though it predates it by four hundred years.

9. Conclusion

The main objective of this paper has been to emphasise the uniqueness of Islamic fine art, which was defined past religious beliefs and cultural values prohibiting the depiction of living creatures including humans. The other most of import feature is the absence of religious representation. In Islam, worship is due only to God, a feature common to many cultures, although they approach information technology in different manners. Fine art critics propound the neutrality of Islamic art, which made information technology hands adaptable to these cultures. Due perchance due to its geographic proximity and religious "common footing", no other culture was more than exposed to the themes and motifs of Islamic art than the European. Despite their differences, Islam and Christianity share most of their key beliefs which are connected to the aforementioned God, the aforementioned origin (of the message), and sometimes the same moral message. Information technology is not surprising that vestiges of Islamic art were repeatedly traced in major European artworks, a fact which denotes its significance in the historical evolution of European art.

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• Von Grünebaum, Thousand. E. (1955). "Idéologie musulmane et esthétique arabe", Studia Islamica, vol. iii, Larose, Paris, pp. 5-23.
• Walker, P. M. B. (editor), (1990), Chambers Science and Applied science Dictionary. Chambers Harrap Publishers, Hardcover.

Footnotes

[1] Notably R. Ettinghaussen, E. Herzfeld, K. A. C. Creswell, and A. Grabar.

[2] Reigned betwixt (685-705).

[3] Reigned between (705-715).

[4] Until the time of Ibn Zubayr, who ruled Makkah between 678-693, The Kaabah was adorned with the horns of the ram sacrificed by the Prophet Ibrahim, in place of his son Ismail. The Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Kahttab also hung there two crescent shaped ornaments from the Persian Capital letter, Al-Madain. Most of the successive Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphs also sent precious items to the Kaabah equally gifts, to decorate the House of Allah.

[5] Read (1937), for instance, talked about environmental determinism in art. He argued that there are two primary approaches to artistic expression: organic and geometric. The former appears mainly in areas of natural beauty and favourable surround. In this case, the artist is more than attracted to depicting cute landscapes, seashores, plants, animals and humans. Geometric art, on the other hand, appears in societies of harsh natural and environmental conditions such equally deserts or tundra.

[vi] Although no reference to their prohibition is found in the Qur'an, a number of authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad did forbid them. An example of this is the Hadith reported by Muslim who narrated that Ibn Abbas: "I heard the Messenger of Allah saying: 'All those who paint pictures will exist in the Burn down of Hell. The soul volition be breathed in every picture prepared past the man and information technology punishes them in Hell" (Narrated past Muslim, 3945). Muslim scholars have different views on this matter. Some of them, especially those from the Shia school of thought permit the imaging of living beings. Others, such as Mohammed Abdu, allow imagery and photography as long they exercise non conflict with one's behavior or worship. Al-Ulfi (1969) reported that he said of photography: "In full general I am inclined to think that Islamic law (Shariah) does not preclude i of the best ways of learning, specially if information technology does not disharmonize with the Islamic behavior and worship" (encounter Al-Ulfi, 1969, p.84).

[7] It is believed that he converted to Islam. It was reported that on hearing about his death, the Prophet Muhammad performed prayers for his soul.

[eight] The scrolls, thought to exist a Timurid manuscript, contain 114 private geometric patterns for wall surfaces and vaulting.

[9] Surah Al-Fatiha, for instance, is particularly favoured since it is the opening of the Qur'an and is said in all prayers.

[10] From these 2 chief styles, a number of other sub-styles emerged as calligraphers introduced new modifications to the original style. The most familiar ones are Thuluth, Al-Rakaa, Al-Diwany, Jali Diwany, and Persain.

[11] According to Al-Jaburi (1974), after the establishment of Kufa, some Yemeni tribes who knew an early grade of this lettering style settled in that location. This style attained its complete shape under the reign of the fourth Caliph (Ali), between 657 and 661, who was a calligrapher himself.

[12] This excellent PhD thesis published by A.Fikri was devoted to the influence of Islamic art and architecture on southern France, peculiarly in the Auvergne region.

*Dr Rabah Saud wrote this article for www.MuslimHeritage.com when he was a researcher at FSTC in Manchester. He is now Banana Professor at the University of Ajman, Ajman, UAE.

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Source: https://muslimheritage.com/introduction-to-islamic-art/

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