How Muslims Have Preserved Islamic Art?

Islamic art is vibrant and distinctive. Muslims throughout history have preserved Islamic art in different parts of the world.

Unlike Christian art, Islamic art isn’t restricted to religious work but includes all the artistic traditions in Muslim culture. Its strong aesthetic appeal transcends time and space, as well as differences in language and culture.

This is because of common features in all Islamic art which give it a remarkable coherence, regardless of the country or the time in which it was created.

There are, however, strong regional characteristics, and influences from other cultures are also visible.

What is Islamic art?

The Dome of the Rock, the Taj Mahal, a Mina’i ware bowl, a silk carpet, a Qur‘an—all of these are examples of Islamic art. But what is Islamic art?

Islamic art is a relatively modern concept created by art historians in the 19th century to facilitate the categorization and study of the material first produced under the Islamic peoples that emerged from Arabia in the seventh century.

Today, the term Islamic art describes all of the arts that were produced in the lands where Islam was the dominant religion or the religion of those who ruled. Unlike the terms Christian art, Jewish art, and Buddhist art—which refer only to the religious art of these faiths—the term Islamic art is not used merely to describe religious art or architecture but applies to all art forms produced in the Islamic world.

Thus, the term Islamic art refers not only to works created by Muslim artists, artisans, and architects or for Muslim patrons. It encompasses works created by Muslim artists for patrons of any faith, including—Christians, Jews, or Hindus—and the works created by Jews, Christians, and others, living in Islamic lands, for patrons, Muslim and otherwise.

One of the most famous monuments of Islamic art is the Taj Mahal, a royal mausoleum, located in Agra, India. Hinduism is the majority religion in India; however, because Muslim rulers, most famously the Mughals, dominated large areas of modern-day India and Pakistan for centuries, the region has a vast range of Islamic art and architecture.

The Great Mosque of Xian, China is one of the oldest and best-preserved mosques in China. First constructed in 742 CE, the mosque’s current form dates to the 15th century CE and follows the plan and architecture of a contemporary Buddhist temple. Much Islamic art and architecture was—and still is—created through a synthesis of local traditions and more global ideas.

Gold-Plated Islamic Art

The Essentials of Islamic Art

Includes all Muslim art, not just explicitly religious art
Islamic art seeks to portray the meaning and essence of things, rather than just their physical form
Crafts and decorative arts are regarded as having full art status
Painting and sculpture are not thought of as the noblest forms of art
Calligraphy has been a major art form in the Islamic world
- Writing has a high status in Islam
- Writing is a significant decoration for objects and buildings
- Books are a major art-form too
- Geometry and patterns are important
- People do not appear in specifically religious art

Meaning and beauty

Art is the mirror of a culture and its worldview

The art of the Islamic world reflects its cultural values and reveals the way Muslims view the spiritual realm and the universe.

For the Muslim, reality begins with and centers on Allah. Allah is at the heart of worship and aspirations for Muslims and is the focus of their lives. So Islamic art focuses on the spiritual representation of objects and beings and not their physical qualities.

The Muslim artist does not attempt to replicate nature as it is but tries to convey what it represents.

This lets the artist, and those who experience the art, get closer to Allah.

For Muslims, beauty has always been and will always be a quality of the divine. There is a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad that says: “Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty.”

Geometry

A common feature of Islamic art is the covering of surfaces covered with geometric patterns.

This use of geometry is thought to reflect the language of the universe and help the believer to reflect on life and the greatness of creation.

So how is geometry seen to be spiritual?

Because circles have no end they are infinite – and so they remind Muslims that Allah is infinite.
Complex geometric designs create the impression of unending repetition, and this also helps a person get an idea of the infinite nature of Allah.
The repeating patterns also demonstrate that in the small you can find the infinite … a single element of the pattern implies the infinite total.

Fatamid gold bracelet: Syria or Egypt, 11th century CE © The use of patterns is part of the way that Islamic art represents nature and objects by their spiritual qualities, not their physical and material qualities.

The repeated geometric patterns often make use of plant motifs, and these are called arabesques. Stylized Arabic lettering is also common.

Islamic Arts and Crafts

The integration of arts and crafts into everyday life was very much the norm in the traditional Islamic world.

The idea is that Islam is integral to every part of a Muslim’s life and makes it beautiful, so Islamic art should be used to make the things of everyday life beautiful.

The emphasis in Islamic art is on ornamentation rather than on art for art’s sake.

Author

Hafiz M. Ahmed

Hafiz Maqsood Ahmed is the Editor-in-Chief of The Halal Times, with over 30 years of experience in journalism. Specializing in the Islamic economy, his insightful analyses shape discourse in the global Halal economy.
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