Approaching
Islam through
the Arts
eudaemonia conferences
Charlotte Fowler
The Purpose of the Arts
Education
from ‘educare’ > to bring out
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In the ancient world, education was a lifelong process; its
structure was based on that worked out by the Greeks.
Before specialising all scholars had to complete the TRIVIUM
(Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric) and then the QUADRIVIUM
(Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy) before going on
to study Philosophy and Theology.
Students should first become expert communicators in their
own and classical languages, then develop an understanding of
the four ‘universal languages’ before beginning to process
accumulated wisdom about the world and God.
The Arts were the languages of knowledge; tools through
which to seek out truth and communicate it. The Arts are the
processes of good education.
Master of the Arts
An Educated Person > Fully Human
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We still refer to those
holding university degrees
as ‘bachelors of arts’ or
‘masters of arts’.
In the USA most students
study ‘the liberal arts’
before specialising
This goes back to the
ancient belief that the
literary, mathematical,
musical and natural arts
liberate us from
subjectivity, and open the
door to objective truth.
Know the truth and the
truth will make you free...
Islam and the Arts
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Islam retained this
traditional, rigorous and
ideological approach to
education for longer than
‘the west’.
Although few Arabic schools
(madrassas) and universities
still aspire to the ancient
standards, the relationship
between scholarship and
the arts remains in some
places.
Questions 1
Sixth Form General Studies / Critical Thinking
"Logic is the anatomy of thought." John Locke
i.
ii.
iii.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a longer,
deeper process of education which demands that
everybody has good common skills before specialising.
Assess the belief that grammar, logic, rhetoric,
arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy are the
‘languages of learning’.
Would you add or replace ‘languages’ in the light of
the modern world? Why?
Use a clip from the beginning of ‘Dead Poets
Society’ (Peter Weir 1987) – first 25 minutes
show different interpretations of education
and its purposes – ultimately showing the
liberating power of engaging with the arts.
In Islam, the Arts…
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Are expressions of the truth through local and
universal languages.
Artists must be deeply spiritual, philosophers but
also musicians, mathematicians, lovers of nature
and eloquent.
If the artist lacks substance or skill, the art is
worthless.
Art must speak to its audience – and must speak
of something that really matters.
The Islamic attitude to artists and the arts is a
direct inheritance from Plato.
‘Traditional art asks the viewer to look
at the work not as a personal expression
of the artist but as the artist’s
particular evocation of a universal
principle.’
www.psta.org.uk
The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts
www.psta.org.uk
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The School is the only one in the world to
specialise in traditional arts.
The school does outreach work with universities in
other countries – in many cases re-teaching the
traditional arts of the host countries.
All students start with a course in geometry which
leads them into a broader consideration of the
philosophy behind traditional arts, the real purpose
of art.
They come to understand that the process of
producing art is as important – if not more
important – than the end product and that the
product is only as important as the thought and
skill that went into it.
All the work is done by hand – computers are used
as a tool but are not enough in themselves – detail
and oversight is always added by the artist
HRH The Prince of Wales
(at the opening of the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art at the
V&A, 18 July 2006)
“It is important, perhaps, to remember that
the beauty of form, pattern and colour (as
manifested in Islamic and other
Traditional Arts) is not just aesthetically
pleasing, but representative of a more
profound universal order. The point is that
the intricate and subtle patterns of Nature
transcend the purely decorative realm and
embody a profound and timeless beauty.”
Questions 2
Y10-11 PSHE or Art, 6th Form General Studies, Philosophy,
Critical Thinking, Art
1)
What makes art valuable?
• The time/skill it takes to make, its rarity, its
decorative value, its value as a conversationstarter, the number of people who want it
divided by the amount available,
status/price?
2)
What is art for?
• Is it purely the self-expression of the artist or
commissioner – or is there a broader
cultural, social even philosophical dimension?
Questions 2 (cont.)
3) What is the point of expressing something if it
only relates to you?
• What makes communications from other people
meaningful, valuable?
4) Think of modern art-forms which seem to speak
to an exclusive audience and others which speak
more widely – is it right that only more
‘universal’ art-forms should be taught and
publicly subsidised?
• Rank in order of ‘value’ - graffiti (pictures e.g.
‘Banksy’), commercial R&B music, ‘tagging’,
customised trainers/t-shirts, hand-decorated china,
nail-art, street dancing, unsigned local music,
tattoo/body art, free-jumping. Justify your order.
Pre-Islamic Art
In Arabia at least, could be described as
rather primitive, childish.
 Art was representational, decorative – the
material rather than the form was often
significant.
 Was a way for the rich to demonstrate
their wealth – to be able to buy time to be
used for frivolous ends was a luxury.
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Mohammed p.b.u.h
Rejected expenditure on frivolities while people
went hungry.
 Despised ‘status symbols’ and activities which
distracted people from facing up to and working
to resolve the ills of their society.
 Reacted against ‘images’ – superficial
representations of things which made people
neglect and even be dissatisfied with reality.
 Mohammed believed that images stand between
people and true submission to God…
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Questions 3
KS3-4 PSHE, RE
1) What ‘images’ do we worship today?
– Do ‘images’ make us neglect and/or feel dissatisfied with
reality?
– Can we avoid making and worshipping images?
2) What ‘Status Symbols’ do you have or do you
aspire to?
– How do/will they make you feel?
– Is it true that the business of chasing after status
symbols and the anxiety caused by not having them is a
distraction from more important things?
3) What decorative ‘frivolities’ do we spend money on
today?
– What effect might giving them up have on us and on our
ability/willingness to help others?
Islamic Art
Was initially much simpler.
The prophet’s message of reform had later
parallels in the Christian movements of
Protestantism and Puritanism.
 He may have approved of the Shaker/Quaker
approach to the arts, which was later advocated
by the Arts and Crafts movement.
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‘Have nothing in your house which you do not
know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’
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Buddhists teach a similar message – pointing out
that attachments to objects are a cause of
suffering ‘dukkha’.
Attachments
KS2-3 PSHE – could be used with older groups as a starter.
This statue by Anthony
Gormley (called
‘Capacitor’) evokes the
many connections or
attachments we all have
– and their effects.
i. What attachments do you have?
ii. Why might the Buddha have
said that ‘suffering comes from
our attachments’ (tanha)
iii. What could you do to reduce
this suffering?
iv. Which attachments should go
first? Last?
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Attachments (2)
KS4-5 PSHE, Philosophy, General Studies
In 1832-4 Henry David Thoreau left his job as a
teacher to lead a simple life by Walden Pond (near
Concord, Boston, Massachusetts)
 He built a tiny cabin and then only worked to pay
for what he really needed – about 25 days per year.
 He famously said ‘I went to the woods because I
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wanted to live deliberately, to live deep and suck out all
the marrow of life…’ he observed that ‘the mass of
men live lives of quiet desperation’, enslaved by their
belief that they need things and to work for things.
He concluded that ’I want to crow like chanticleer in
the morning, if only to wake my neighbours up…’ and
did so in effect by demonstrating the simple
alternative…
 There is a great parallel with Mohammed’s quest to
make life simple and honest, to free people from
their enslavement to property and maintaining an
image.
Attachments… An Activity
KS4-5 PSHE, Citizenship
Spend 15 minutes writing a
personal budget – note your
income and its sources and
what you spend your money
on.
– Consider how long it takes you to
earn the money to sustain your
current lifestyle – note that you
may have to do certain things even
to ‘earn’ pocket money…
– Do you really need all the things
you buy? Are these things worth
the time you put into earning
them?
 Now go on to consider how
you might budget when you
leave University…
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Start by noting down what you
expect to be able to do and
afford at this stage in your life…
– How much would you expect to earn
after earning a good degree?
– Where would you live?
– Would you drive, what?
– How much would you spend on
clothes and going out?
Your teacher will give you some
facts and figures – do they change
your expectations?
You will be pleased to hear that
having a degree means that you
will have a reasonable chance of
earning a lot more after 5-10 years
than you would otherwise!
The earliest visual expression of
Islamic belief…
Was distinctive and unadorned
dress for both men and women…
 Simple communal housing and
empty worship-spaces…
 Clear kufic calligraphy in copies
of the Qur’an
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As Islam Expanded
Things got rather more
complicated, but Islam did
not lose the idea that
decoration for its own sake
was unnecessary.
 Islamic Arts, though rich
and developed in time,
were employed to explore
and express the truths of
Islam rather than to
obscure or sweeten them.
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The Visual Arts
Allah – The World
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Muslims believe that the universe, in all its infinite variety
and complexity, was created by and is sustained by a
single eternal God, Allah.
The Cosmological Argument - the Universe seems infinite
and yet rationally actual infinity is impossible and God is
necessary.
There is a gap between how things seem superficially and
how we can come to understand that they really are.
Vision must be understood, extended, supported by
reason.
Art is not duplicating superficial images or decoration for
its own sake – it aims to communicate insight,
understanding of the Universe.
Pattern
Islamic Art is characterised by a use of
pattern.
 Pattern is not just decorative, it is
designed to draw our eyes and minds
into a deeper understanding of reality.
 Islamic Art is not about representing the
superficial appearance of things, trying
to capture normal experience – it is
about exploring the foundations of our
reality, the level which is closest to its
creator, God.
 Islamic patterns often feature a
deliberate mistake – to show that the
artist is not seeking to be a God in
producing perfection.
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Pattern
Mathematics through Islam
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Examining and discussing patterns can raise
some interesting, open philosophical questions…
– What is real and how do we access the real?
– Why is the natural world underpinned by
mathematical pattern?
– How do we explain the fact that humans can
understand this level of reality?
– Do the abstract patterns we use to represent the
world we see do its reality justice?
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Doing some basic geometry can be a way into
considering the bigger questions in Mathematics
– What are numbers?
– How do we explain the presence of rules in nature?
Making Time for Reflection:
Learning from Pattern
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The process and experience of
constructing patterns can be a
real learning experience for
children.
Our children have so little
opportunity to focus on doing one
thing perfectly.
Reflection at the end of a period
spent making a pattern can draw
out their experience into an
understanding of the satisfaction
that focussed work can bring.
Activities…
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Making a pattern inspired by a natural object. Try a pom-pom
chrysanthemum or sunflower, pointed broccoli, a snail shell,
photographs of fish-scales or of light filtering through leaves.
Display the patterns next to their inspiration – ask…
– How are the two connected together?
– Do the abstract patterns really exist in the object, or is it just how we are
looking at the object?
– Do the patterns make the object easier to understand?
– How do we explain the existence of these patterns in natural objects?
EXTENSION: Draw in some information about Fibonacci
Numbers – evidence of design or evolution? If evolution,
what does the existence of such pattern say about the
nature of our world and of numbers?
Architecture and Garden Design
Submission to Allah
The business of being a Muslim
begins with the declaration of
faith, the ‘shahadah’, and is a
continual process of exploring
and experiencing its truth.
 ‘Ashaduan la ilaha il-allahu wa
Muhammadar rasulullah’
‘I believe there is no God but
Allah, and Mohammed is the
Messenger of Allah’
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Awe and
wonder…
Although the Shahadah seems
simple, understanding it,
meaning it, is the most difficult
thing of all.
 Much Islamic Art explores the
connection between complexity
and an underlying oneness
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Look at examples of Islamic
Architecture and try to see how this is
being worked out.
An Islamic Design???
Islamic Garden Design…
One creation in all its complexity
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The overall garden should have a sense of
unity, often achieved through colour,
repetitive planting and the use of a simple
palette of materials..
Within the Garden, the elements of earth,
air, fire and water are displayed – usually
through clever use of sunlight and shade,
filters for the air and winds in terms of
carved screens and screens of plants,
trellises etc and plenty of water features –
both moving and still.
The garden may be laid out like a maze in
a medieval cathedral – showing a complex
path through to a focus, which suggests
contemplation and looking up to God.
Islamic Design Activity
KS2, 3 or 4 Art, DT or RS
(Ideal for a cross-curricular, off-timetable event)
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Ask students to work in a small
group to produce a design for a
local park.
The space should include a garden
and a pavilion, providing a covered
space which could be used for art
and sculpture exhibitions concerts
and poetry readings - and for
people to sit quietly at other times.
The Council has asked that the
space should be inspired by Islam
and should encourage people to
think and spend time being quiet
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The plot is rectangular – 100
meters by 250 meters. The
pavilion should be no more than
150 meters squared and only 1
storey.
As well as an overall plan for the
space the group should produce a
detailed design for the pavilion, a
‘mood board’ explaining the theme
for planting and the materials to be
used for walls, paths etc.
The group should finally prepare a
10 minute presentation of their
ideas to Council officials and be
prepared to answer questions…
Mysterium
Tremendum…
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Believing in a single creator
and sustainer God means
putting faith in an
unimaginably great reality.
Considering the complexity
of the world, even within
our limited experience, is
fascinating in the true
sense of the word and
leads to a sense of awe.
It makes us feel small but
part of an infinitely detailed
creation in which every tiny
thing matters.
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Early Islamic Scholars spent
their lives studying the
stars and the underlying
patterns in nature – the
phases of the moon, the
tides, the winds…
Spend time looking at a one
detailed aspect of nature – the
easiest might be to focus on a small
patch of ground on a playing field,
but alternatively look up at the
night sky or down into a rock-pool.
How does appreciating the detail
make you feel?
The Night of Power
Lailat al Qadr (27.Ramadan)
Islam began with the revelation of the
holy Qur’an to Mohammed.
 This powerful religious experience
sustained the prophet for the rest of his
life.
 The story and importance of the word of
Allah coming to Mohammed has inspired
many Muslim artists…
 A good shorter reflective exercise could
be to ask students to produce an image
of the night of power, without using
representations of people or animals.
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Art in Life…
The Pattern of Life:
The Art of Being a Good Muslim
Muslims all over the world find that
they are drawn into a meditative,
peaceful state when concentrating on
the detail and rhythm of things.
 Such concentration helps to focus the
mind and draw it out of itself, to block
out distraction and suffering.
 Pattern is a feature of every aspect of
a muslim life…
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– Prayer, both marking the rhythm of the
day and in its own rhythmic postures
(rakat) and words.
– Ramadan and Hajj marking out the
passing of the year.
– Zakat marking the routine of receiving
and giving.
The Pattern of Our Lives
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A useful exercise, which could draw together
learning about and from Islam in RE with
themes in PSHE and even PE, would be asking
children to describe and reflect on the patterns
in their lives.
– Describe your daily routine, the pattern of a school
week, the things that happen every year. How do
these patterns and routines make you feel?
– Why might patterns and routines be important to
religious people? To sportsmen and sportswomen? To
all people?
The Struggle
The true meaning of the word
‘jihad’ is ‘struggle’.
 For most Muslims, the
struggle is that to make their
beliefs the centre of their
lives, to make them real.
 Routine – in behaviour,
prayer, pattern of life, even
dress, is important as it
continually reminds the
believer of the demands of
their beliefs.
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Islamic Dress
Alien to our culture?
Although Islamic dress, particularly
as it relates to women, is often
portrayed as alien to our culture it
is worth thinking about things in a
longer time-frame…
 Islamic and ‘western’ societies
shared a demand for modest dress
for centuries – Indeed English
women sought out Muslim women
in 17th and 18th Century India
because they felt more comfortable
with modestly dressed women than
with Hindu women who dressed
more casually.
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Have things moved on?
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One suggestion is that
Muslim dress is Medieval
and that women should
embrace the 21st century in
casting off their veils.
Is 21st century liberalism
really about insisting on
wearing less though?
Surely the whole point of
developments in fashion is
to encourage individual
expression and challenge
‘rules’ about dress?
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Certainly, western liberals
have a concern about
women being forced to wear
Islamic clothing – or indeed
to do anything…
Yet women often choose to
dress modestly and to adopt
the cultural interpretation of
Islamic standards which
they feel comfortable with
and which expresses their
roots.
Hussein Chalayan
Turkish Cypriot, based in London.
Graduate of Central St Martin’s – has
own Fashion Label and has worked
for companies such as Asprey’s. Has
courted controversy by using his
work to comment on the relationship
between Islamic and ‘western’
culture. His work skirts around the
psychological and political
implications of dressing in certain
ways…
Rifat Ozbek
Turkish designer, based
in London and another
graduate of Central St.
Martin’s. Well known
for producing clothes
inspired by Islamic
Cultures – has worked
with Monsoon.
Veils and Partitions
The origins of ‘hijab’ or
modest dress as it applies
particularly to women may
be said to lie in the situation
that the prophet faced in the
early years of Islam.
 The prophet prayed for
guidance on how to protect
his wives from the intrusions
of followers who wanted to
get close to him and enemies
who wanted to get revenge
on him by insulting his
family.
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Allah revealed the truths
that public figures must cast
a veil or partition between
their private and public lives
and that Muslims should
dress distinctively to be
recognisable to both friend
and foe – and that all
Muslims should stand up for
others as they would for
memebers of their own
family.
 Ummah means
‘brotherhood’ – all muslims,
male and female, are
members of this.
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The veiled Ka’aba
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The holiness of
the Ka’aba is
protected with a
veil, the Qiswa.
This is
reminiscent of
the curtain that
shielded the Holy
of Holies in The
Jerusalem
Temple?
Islamic Music
Islamic Music
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Pakistani Qawwali)
‘Allah, Mohammed, Char, Yah’
Abida Parween (Pakistani female singer, influenced by
singing at sufi shrines – setting of a Ghazal, a tradtional love
poem)
‘Tere Ishq Nachaaya’
Literature and Poetry
Literature and Poetry
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Arabic Literature and Poetry is immensely rich – though it
does not always translate well.
As a language Arabic, like Hebrew, relies on triconsonental
roots and thus the language has a regular rhythmic shape
and words with related meanings share sounds.
Written Arabic is elegant, formal – and in ancient times
the form of literature and poetry was of primary
importance.
Odes were the earliest form of literature – they were
commissioned to celebrate, immortalise and publicise the
achievements of tribes.
Poets were retainers of rulers for the most part – though
some went freelance like minstrels and a few were even
known as brigands!
Sufism
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Much Islamic poetry
comes from the Sufi
movement, which
encourages the
individual to reflect
on the experience
of faith and express
that experience
through the
creative arts.
The Ghazal
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A traditional love
poem, the ghazal
was used within a
religious as well as
a chivalrous
context.
‘I loved you before you were
born, and when we die I
shall hear your echoes…’
JAMIL
Rabia al Basri
(717-801CE)
I have loved Thee with two loves, a selfish love
and a love that is worthy (of Thee).
As for the love which is selfish, I occupy myself
therein with remembrance of Thee to the exclusion
of all others,
As for that which is worthy of Thee, therein Thou
raisest the veil that I may see Thee.
Yet is there no praise to me in this or that,
But the praise is to Thee, whether in that or this
Al Ma’arri (973-1057CE)
Reflecting on the experience of being human…
I muse, but in my musing I recall
The days of my iniquity; we’re all
An arrow shot across the wilderness
Somewhere within the wilderness
To humankind, O brother, consecrate
must fall.
Thy heart, and shun the hundred sects
that prate
About the things they little know about.
Let all receive thy pity, none thy hate…
(Luzumiyyat, a late work)
For my religion’s love and love alone.
These spiritual window-shoppers,
who idly ask, 'How much is that?' Oh, I'm just looking.
They handle a hundred items and put them down,
shadows with no capital.
What is spent is love and two eyes wet with weeping.
But these walk into a shop,
and their whole lives pass suddenly in that moment,
in that shop.
Where did you go? "Nowhere."
What did you have to eat? "Nothing much."
Even if you don't know what you want,
buy something, to be part of the exchanging flow.
Start a huge, foolish project,
like Noah.
It makes absolutely no difference
what people think of you.
Rumi, 'We Are Three', Mathnawi VI, 831-845
Al-Halaj (influence on Rumi)
"Before" does not outstrip Him,
"after" does not interrupt Him
"of" does not vie with Him for precedence
"from" does not accord with Him
"to" does not join with Him
"in" does not inhabit Him
"when" does not stop Him
"if" does not consult with Him
"over" does not overshadow
Him…