In our post-9/11 world, a greater understanding across cultures is more important than ever before, yet the purpose of this program is not simply to provide political or historical context. ... Read allIn our post-9/11 world, a greater understanding across cultures is more important than ever before, yet the purpose of this program is not simply to provide political or historical context. Rather it is to explore and celebrate the great richness of Islamic art and architecture t... Read allIn our post-9/11 world, a greater understanding across cultures is more important than ever before, yet the purpose of this program is not simply to provide political or historical context. Rather it is to explore and celebrate the great richness of Islamic art and architecture throughout the world to peer into extraordinary palaces and mosques, decorated with exquisi... Read all
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First of all, the great emphasis of Islamic art on writings illustrates the importance of it to Islamic culture. As Jesus Christ, the son of God is a gift of God to Christians, Qur'an is a gift for muslims. Our'an teaches the law and the way of life, but most importantly it is very word of God. So, for muslisms the Qur'an is not just a holy book or poetry but it is word of Allah. As Allah revealed himself through words the art of calligraphy, or beautiful writing is the most important art in Islamic tradition. So the Qur'an is a focus of devotion and also the focus of art as people try to make manuscripts as beautiful as possible. And the use of word everywhere is the distinctive feature of Islam different from other religious traditions. Various breathtaking mosques including Taj Mahal and Alhambra while having enormous territory, are full of scriptures on their walls. These are the words from the holy book that are painted painstakingly with great precision and attention. People also used glass cubes with gold foils, the most expensive kind of cubes. In addition, special minerals as cobalt from Iran were used to create unusual and vivid colors. This also reflects the extraordinary wealth of Islamic leaders. The meticulous attention of people to materials needed to calligraphy as reed pen, tools used to sharpen it, usage of expensive animal skins and also special treatment of paper prior writing on it shows the relation of people to writing and its importance. For muslims, copying Qur'an was the experience of divine presence in those words, and it was a kind of prayer and meditation.
By looking at different objects of Islamic art we can figure out what are the important things for muslims. For example, the symmetry and organization of columns and other objects in mosques illustrates the importance of geometry in religious and also everyday life of muslims. The geometry is required to determine the direction of prayer and also the time of prayer and this constitutes the religious importance of geometry. Moreover, the knowledge of geometry also was needed while traveling as a map in a desert landscape where people lived. So, the importance of geometry was reflected in the design and decoration of mosques that is common in different mosques throughout the world. This shows how Islamic art especially the decoration of mosque's walls reflects important aspects of people who follow Islam. In addition, the decoration as use of ornaments, mosaic paintings were also important as they created a play of light and gave special experience or feeling in a sacred place. So due to light playing people experience differently in summer, winter, sunrise or sunset. And this gives unusual feeling that is accesible to everyone. The special thing about the ornaments is that regardless of who you are muslim or of other religion you'd appreciate the beauty of them. This may bring to conclusion that the beauty of islamic art that reflect people's thought cannot call for hostility. The other important point is the water in Islamic tradition. So there can be a lot of reasons why water is important in Islamic tradition. Firstly, this can be due to scarcity of water in early and also present day Islamic societies. Also, it says «God make everything alive through water» in Qur'an and water is needed prior to prayer. So it is a sign of cleansing in a literal and metaphoric way that helps to put muslims in the right mental framework to approach the divine. So, a common feature of mosques are ablution places with water and also gardens that contain water and plants, too. So, the architectural design shows the importance of water in Islamic culture.
It is clear that islamic art reflects culture and also history of Islam, its development throughout the time and its interaction with other traditions. From the lecture we know that at the very beginning of emergence of Islam there was no clear distinction that this is the new religion, and at first there was believer's movement that included Hebrew and Christians, too. So we don't have clear distinction from the early times. Also the interaction of different traditions are illustrated in designs and architecture of mosques. For example, the earliest Quranic words found in stone building in Jerusalem the Dome of the Rock that borrows the form from Byzantine martyrdom. The Dome covers massive rock where prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven on his mystical night journey. So here we see the coexistence of different religions and their connection with each other. However, the new features are apparent in a way that the Arabic inscriptions are depicted throughout the Dome. This careful and beautiful writing is an indication of new culture. The another depiction of influence of other traditions on Islam is shown in the example of Emperor Jahangir. He collected European and also Christian art, and there is a picture of him with halo, that is a christian item. These findings show that Islam coexisted with other religious traditions in a peaceful environment and in tolerance towards them. And indeed, emergence of Islamic religion was not a breakage of preexisting traditions but their continuation.
The art reflects people's aspirations and deepest feelings. In the film Muhammad al-Asad says that Islam contains different people but need in shelter is common for all muslims. So, people put tremendous effort in what they build and therefore they reflect a great deal about them. Buildings reflect economic, social and cultural values. For example, the ornaments represent heaven that is the promise of God for his people. It is clear that the concept of heaven is important for muslims as they believe in resurrection when people will be judged by their deeds. So for proper behavior and righteousness they were promised with heaven and indeed most muslims carry the image of heaven in their hearts. The other reflection of religious aspirations of muslims by islamic art is representation of flora and fauna in other words the creatures of God. God says: "To know me, know my creatures". And as there is no depiction of God in Islam as in Christianity or Hinduism, muslims believe that they will get closer to God by deeply looking on its creatures and understand their essence. This belief is reflected in art in a form of living paintings on walls and rugs.
To sum up, I think that the purpose of the film was to show how islamic art reflects the people who believe in Islam. And that the art is common for whole humanity, one doesn't need to learn Islam to understand its art, everyone regardless of his religious background can appreciate the beauty of it. It shows who are the people that follow Islam, their religious and cultural aspirations. And their treatment of art and Quranic words with great attention, patience cannot beget violence. The beauty of Islamic art and architecture is universal and it teaches peace and unity of people. Knowing the essence and understanding the different religions are important in our world where we have various prejudice towards religions. The Islamic art is a very way to compehend Islam and its teachings.
- elnorabdrhmnvq
- Nov 1, 2020
Details
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color