Art and Islam
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Art is influenced by a number of forces in society, in the environment, in the psychology of the people who produce and consume it, and in different institutions. Art is an expression of inner feelings and beliefs and so naturally is influenced by religion in many societies. Some religious systems speak of art directly or have tenets which influence what can and cannot be depicted in art. The Quran is the theological basis for Islam and shapes the way people in Islamic societies express themselves, and this includes how they express themselves through art and architecture. The "rules" are not always followed and may not always be clear, and Islamic art has changed through the centuries, showing that the precepts in the Koran are flexible enough to allow for aesthetic development. Islamic society, however, will only accept art that conforms to certain underlying principles as set forth in the Quran. According to Muslim tradition, the Quran was revealed to Muhammad over a twenty year period. To this day, there is argument over precisely what the Koran means and about the validity of certain passages, notably whether they allow certain behavior or prescribe certain behavior. Mortimer says that it is not certain that the Quran has set specific terms for many issues (Mortimer 398-399), and one such issue is the limits of artistic expression. In Islam, Muhammad stands as the example of perfection to which the faithful are to aspire. Those who ach
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elers, and hospitals for the sick, and "to found and maintain these were works of charity enjoined by the Qur'an" (Hourani 55).
The Quran describes God as a being who has communicated Himself to the many by His Word, and the word is given special importance and becomes a central element in art through the influence of the Quran. The walls of mosques and other public buildings were not plain but were instead covered with decoration such as forms of plants and flowers which tended to be highly stylized, and patterns of circles and lines endlessly repeated. Calligraphy was also an important artistic expression and meant that the writing of words was considered a suitable form of architectural decoration: "Words in endlessly varied forms, repeated or in sentences, were blended with vegetal or geometric forms. Thus calligraphy became one of the most important of Islamic arts, and Arabic writing adorned not only buildings, but coins, objects or brass or pottery, and textiles, particularly those woven in royal workshops and given as presents" (Hourani 56-57). This writing proclaimed the glory and eternity of God and can be found in areas such as the inscriptions around the Dome of the Rock. This tendency derived from the Quran as
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ATTITUDE ARTS, Tansey Kleiner, Qur'an Hourani, Mary God, Chapter II, INTRODUCTION Art, ARCHITECTURE Quran, Alaettin Bey, ART QURAN, Muslims Knhnel, tansey kleiner, quran chapter ii, chapter ii, quran chapter, knhnel 2, art quran, kleiner 339, tansey kleiner 339, islamic art, islamic world, hourani 55, grabar 81 grabar, god quran chapter, art grabar, quran walls mosques,
Approximate Word count = 2804
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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