Islamic Art
Chapter 8
The Kaaba is the "cubic"
shrine in Mecca, the
center of Islamic worship
and the holiest place in
Islam. ("Kaaba" means
"cube" in Arabic.) It was
originally a shrine built by
Abraham devoted to the
one God, about 2000
B.C.
• Muslims pray five times a day facing the Kaaba
in Mecca, and if they are able, they will make a
Pilgrimage, or "hajj", there at least once in their
lives.
• At the time before Islam, the Kaaba was used to
house about 360 idols for the various tribes of
Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad was against
idol worship and preached that there was one
God (Allah). This started the hostilities against
him and his followers. After leaving Mecca and
going to Medina, the Prophet Muhammad and
his followers finally returned triumphantly into
Mecca. There the Muslims destroyed the idols
and rededicated the Kaaba to the one God.
Dome of the Rock
• This is the oldest Muslim building which has survived
basically intact in its original form. It was built by the
Caliph Abd al-Malik and completed in 691 CE. The
building encloses a huge rock located at its center, from
which, according to tradition, the Prophet Muhammad
ascended to heaven at the end of his Night Journey. In
the Jewish tradition this is the Foundation Stone, the
symbolic foundation upon which the world was created,
and the place of the Binding of Isaac. The Caliph Omar
is said to have cleared the waste which had accumulated
on the rock during the Byzantine period. The structure is
octagonal and the dome is borne by a double system of
pillars and columns. The walls, ceiling, arches, and
vaults are decorated with floral images. The dome, on
the inside, is covered with colored and gilded stucco.
Dome of the Rock
Cross section of the Dome of the Rock (Tower
of David Museum)
Dome of the Rock
Interior
Dome of the Rock
• The plot of land on the elevated stone platform known as Haram
Ash-Sharif on Temple Mount upon which sits the Dome of the Rock
is sacred to three of the world's major monotheistic religions:
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
• The site was first consecrated by the Israelites of Exodus. Later,
according to Jewish tradition, Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son
Isaac upon a rock that protruded from the centre of the platform.
Later still, upon the same platform, Solomon erected his temple.
• For Christians, in addition to the Old Testament Jewish associations,
the Temple Mount was revered because of its place in the life and
ministries of Jesus Christ.
• For Moslems, the rock was sanctified by the story of the Prophet
Mohammed's Miraaj or Night Journey to Jerusalem and back to
Mecca (Qur'an 17:1). From the top of the rock, Mohammed began
his ascent to Heaven.
Detail from
Frieze, Façade
of the Palace at
Mshatta
• Islamic belief in Aniconism and the
doctrine of unity (al-twahid) demanded a
rich vocabulary of abstract, geometric
forms that translated into the architecture
of mosques.
• Artists reiterated these forms in complex
decoration that covered the surface of
every work of art from large buildings, to
rugs, paintings and small sacred objects.
Jordan,
Mshatta
Palace, c. 750,
Plan
Plan of Typical, Early Islamic Mosque
The numbers below correspond to the
circled numbers to the right.
1. Qibla wall.
2. Mihrab niche.
3. Hypostyle hall.
4. Courtyard (or "sahn").
5. Minaret.
The Great Mosque, Kairouan, Tunisia, 836 - 875
The Great Mosque , Cordoba
(785-786)
The double horseshoe
arcades of the prayer-hall
Dome of the great mosque of Cordoba, 965
Arches and Muqarnas
Horseshoe Arches
Tiled Moorish style Arches in Seville Palace,
Reales Alcazares.
Pointed arch
Muqarnas is the Arabic word for stalactite vault, an architectural ornament
developed around the middle of the tenth century in north eastern Iran and
almost simultaneously, but apparently independently, in central North
Africa.
Page from Koran in kufic script, from Syria. Ink, pigments,
and gold on vellum, 9th century
Leaf from a Qur’an
manuscript
Ahmad ibn alSuhravardi al-Bakri,
calligrapher
Muhammad ibn
Aybak, illuminator
Baghdad, Iraq
Ilkhanid, 1307–1308
Ink, colors, and gold
on paper; 20 3/16 x
14 1/2 in. (51.3 x
36.8cm)
The most complete
documentation of Samanid
art is to be found in its
ceramics, and during the 9th
century, the wares of
Transoxiana were very
popular throughout the
eastern provinces of Persia.
The best-known and most
refined pottery of this
Samarkand type is that
bearing large inscriptions in
Kufic (the earliest version of
Arabic script used in the
Koran, named after the city
Kufa in Iraq) painted in black
on a white background.
Part of the St. Josse silk, Khorasan 10th century.
The inscription wishes 'glory and prosperity to Abu Mansur
Bukhtegin, may God prolong (His favours to him?)'.
Mosque lamps
• Throughout the Islamic world, mosques
and other religious structures were
frequently illuminated with oil lamps
suspended from the rafters or ceiling.
During the fourteenth century, hundreds of
such lamps were commissioned by the
powerful Mamluk ruler and patron of the
arts, Sultan Hasan (reigned 1344–51 and
1354–61), for his vast religious complex in
Cairo.
• These mosque lamps were elaborately
decorated with paint, gilt, and enamel, and
often included the sultan's name as
symbolic representations of a specific
Koranic verse (sura 24, verse 35), known
as the Light verse, which encircles the tall
neck of the lamp.
• They provided light by means of a wick
placed in a container of oil within the lamp.
Egypt, Mamuk dynasty, about 1350-5 glass, enameled and gilded
• The lamps are also decorated with a bold
inscription frieze containing the name and
titles of Sayf al-Din Shaykhu al-Nasiri, an
important patron of art and architecture in
Cairo. His heraldic device incorporating a
red cup appears in the centre of the
roundels on the neck and the underside of
the lamp.
Isfahan is already a city of
ancient history and
considerable wealth when
Shah Abbas decides, in 1598,
to turn it into a magnificent
capital. It has a Masjid-i-Jami,
or Friday Mosque, dating from
the Seljuk period (11th-12th
century), still surviving today
and noted for its fine
patterned brickwork. And it
has a thriving school of
craftsmen skilled in the
making of polychrome
ceramic tiles.
Islamic Terms
• Mihrab - A mihrab is a niche in the wall which
points the worshipers toward Mecca.
• Minbar - A minbar is a "pulpit", or a place from
which a religious leader (an "imam") speaks to
the people. It looks something like a staircase.
• Minarets - Minarets are towers of a mosque.
From the minaret a person (a "muezzin") calls
people to prayer five times a day.
Mihrab
Isfahan, Iran
Ilkhanid, 1354
Mosaic of
monochrome-glaze
tiles on composite
body set on plaster;
135 1/16 x 113
11/16 in.
Egypt, Cairo, Mihrab and Minbar of the Mosque of Sultan Hasan, 13561360. This liwan, or niche is the side of the mosque used as a madrasa by
the Shafi, one of the four schools of Islamic legal and theological thought.
Alhambra-Court of Lions
Five Pillars of Islam
Art and Context
• The Five Pillars of Islam are core beliefs
that shape Muslim thought, deed, and
society. A Muslim who fulfills the Five
Pillars of Islam, remains in the faith of
Islam, and sincerely repents of his sins,
will make it to Jannah (paradise). If he
performs the Five Pillars but does not
remain in the faith, he will not be saved.
The First Pillar
• Shahada
• The Shahada is the Islamic proclamation that "There is
no true God except Allah and Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah."
• This is the confession that Allah is the one and only true
God, that Allah alone is worthy of worship, that Allah
alone is the sovereign lord who does what he wills with
whoever he wills. It means that all his rules and laws
found in the Koran are to be followed. It means that the
Christian doctrine of God as a Trinity is false as are all
other belief systems including pantheism.
• Muhammad is the true and greatest prophet of Allah and
recognition of Muhammad as the Prophet of God is
required. It was through Muhammad that Allah conveyed
the last and final revelation.
The Second Pillar
• Prayer (Salat)
• Prayer involves confession of sins which begins
with the purification of the body and ends with
the purification of the soul. Prayer is performed
five times a day. The first prayer is at dawn and
the last at sunset.
• The names of the prayers are Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr,
Maghrib, Isha. The Maghrib prayer is the sunset
prayer. Isha is the prayer that is said after
sunset. There is also a prayer that is said right
after Fajr known as Shurooq.
Prayer (Salat)
Third Pillar
• Fasting (Saum)
• The month of Ramadan is the month of
fasting in Islam. It is an act of worship
where the faithful follower denies his own
needs and seeks Allah. Usually, this
fasting entails no drinking or eating during
the daylight hours for the entire month of
Ramadan.
Fourth Pillar
• Alms-giving or charity (Zakat)
• Charity given to the poor. It benefits the
poor and it helps the giver by moving him
towards more holiness and submission to
Allah. Alms-giving is considered a form of
worship to God.
Fifth Pillar
• Pilgrimage (Hajj)
• This is the pilgrimage to Mecca. All
Muslims, if they are able, are to make a
pilgrimage to Mecca. It involves financial
sacrifice and is an act of worship. Muslims
must make the pilgrimage the first half of
the last month of the lunar year
Muqarnas dome, Hall of the Abencerrajes,
Palace of the Lions, built between 1354 - 1391
Portable Arts
• Metal Work – inherited skills of the Roman
and Byzantine craftsmen
• Ceramics – development of lustrous
metallic surface
• Textiles – traditional silk weaving passed
from Persian to Islamic artisans
Griffin.
Fatimid, (Egyptian), Islamic 11th century
Pen box, 13th century
Western Iran or northern Iraq (al-Jazira)
Brass inlaid with gold and silver; H. 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm), L. 8 3/4
in. (22.2 cm)
• Muslim metalworkers produced large numbers
of pen boxes, many of which were richly
decorated with inlays of gold, silver, and copper.
A typical medieval Islamic calligrapher's pen box
is an elongated rectangular object with rounded
corners, about ten inches long, three inches
wide, and two inches tall. In its simple
construction, it is composed of a main body and
a lid with two hinges along one of the long sides
and a clasp on the opposite side. The interior
includes a receptacle to hold the inkwell in one
corner while the remaining space is reserved for
a variety of reed pens and penknives.
The Macy Jug, from Iran,
1215 – 16
Composite body glazed,
painted fritware* and
incised with pierced outer
shell. 6 5/8” x 7 ¼”
*a flux that is stabilized by melting
it with silica and regrinding it into
a fine powder
Muslim Tapestry preserved
in the Monastery of the
Royal Strikes Burgos. It is
called "banner of Navas de
Tolosa," because it was
taken by King Alfonso VIII of
Castile the Almohad ben
Muhammad Yaqub. Very
richly decorated, upper and
lower bands bearing phrases
written religious significance.
To the sides, the scripts are
made so that they can be
read by the setback of the
tapestry. In the center, a star
with eight points evolves in
different ways to death in a
circle, according to Muslim
taste for geometry. The
predominant colors red and
gold.
Medallion rug with a
field of flowers, 17th
century; Safavid
Probably Kirman, Iran
Wool pile on cotton,
wool, and silk
foundation; 81 x 56 in.
(205.7 x 142.4 cm)
Textiles
• Roses, hyacinths, narcissi, campanula, irises,
carnations, and lilies are among the many types of
flowers that blossom in the field and borders of this
carpet, which is generally attributed to the seventeenthcentury production of Kirman, Iran. The flora are
arranged symmetrically in pattern and color around a
central octagonal medallion and four quarter medallions
in the corners. The art of illumination, especially that of
book covers, might have provided the inspiration for the
central and corner medallion design, which was woven
into so many Persian carpets. The decorative theme of
the medallion has Central Asian roots and was known in
the Timurid period, but its popularity greatly increased
during the rule of the Safavids and beyond.
Carpet Making
• Making knotted carpets were surely
regarded as a tradition in ancient Persia
like in today. The oldest piece of rug in the
world is an Iranian knotted one called
Pazyrik (named after an area where it has
been discovered in a frozen tomb in
Southern Siberia). It dates back to 400300 B.C.
• Iranian carpets consist of warp, weft, silk
pile, wool, cotton or fuzz knotted with weft
forming the flesh of carpets. In different
parts of Iran, carpet makers created their
own styles and schools. Techniques were
sometimes different from tribe to tribe or
city to city.
• Plain flat-weave or kilim weave implies a
tapestry-like flat woven structure. The
coloured woollen threads forming the
motifs are interwoven across the warps,
not from edge to edge, but only where the
pattern and colour make it necessary. The
result is a thinner, soft yet hardy reversible
tapestry-like weave.
Symmetrical Knot, used extensively in Iran
Asymmetrical knot used extensively in Turkey
Manuscripts and painting
• Calligraphy is the most highly regarded and most
fundamental element of Islamic art. It is significant that
the Qur’an, the book of God's revelations to the Prophet
Muhammad, was transmitted in Arabic, and that inherent
within the Arabic script is the potential for developing a
variety of ornamental forms. The employment of
calligraphy as ornament had a definite aesthetic appeal
but often also included an underlying talismanic
component. While most works of art had legible
inscriptions, not all Muslims would have been able to
read them. One should always keep in mind, however,
that calligraphy is principally a means to transmit a text,
albeit in a decorative form.
• Objects from different periods and regions vary in the
use of calligraphy in their overall design, demonstrating
the creative possibilities of calligraphy as ornament. In
some cases, calligraphy is the dominant element in the
decoration. In these examples, the artist exploits the
inherent possibilities of the Arabic script to create writing
as ornament. An entire word can give the impression of
random brushstrokes, or a single letter can develop into
a decorative knot. In other cases, highly esteemed
calligraphic works on paper are themselves ornamented
and enhanced by their decorative frames or
backgrounds. Calligraphy can also become part of an
overall ornamental program, clearly separated from the
rest of the decoration. In some examples, calligraphy
can be combined with vegetal scrolls on the same
surface though often on different levels, creating an
interplay of decorative elements.
• Consisting of, or generated from, such simple forms as
the circle and the square, geometric patterns were
combined, duplicated, interlaced, and arranged in
intricate combinations, thus becoming one of the most
distinguishing features of Islamic art. However, these
complex patterns seem to embody a refusal to adhere
strictly to the rules of geometry. As a matter of fact,
geometric ornamentation in Islamic art suggests a
remarkable amount of freedom; in its repetition and
complexity, it offers the possibility of infinite growth and
can accommodate the incorporation of other types of
ornamentation as well. In terms of their abstractness,
repetitive motifs, and symmetry, geometric patterns have
much in common with the so-called arabesque style
seen in many vegetal designs. Calligraphic
ornamentation also appears in conjunction with
geometric patterns.
• The four basic shapes, or "repeat units,"
from which the more complicated patterns
are constructed are: circles and interlaced
circles; squares or four-sided polygons;
the ubiquitous star pattern, ultimately
derived from squares and triangles
inscribed in a circle; and multisided
polygons. It is clear, however, that the
complex patterns found on many objects
include a number of different shapes and
arrangements, allowing them to fit into
more than one category
Leaf from a
Qur’an, 1302–
8; Ilkhanid
Iraq (Baghdad)
Ink, gold, and
colors on paper;
17 x 13 7/8 in.
(43.2 x 35.2 cm)
• This illuminated page originally formed the right
half of a double-page opening to a section of a
Qur’an. It combines the three main Islamic types
of nonfigural decoration: calligraphy, vegetal
patterns, and geometric patterns. The vegetal
patterns here are the classical scrolls utilized as
the background to the calligraphy, within the
compartments of the geometric interlace, and in
the text frame and margin medallion. Two
ground colors are used to introduce additional
patterning.
The Ottoman Empire
• The empire they built was the largest and most influential
of the Muslim empires of the modern period, and their
culture and military expansion crossed over into Europe.
Not since the expansion of Islam into Spain in the eighth
century had Islam seemed poised to establish a
European presence as it did in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. Like that earlier expansion, the
Ottomans established an empire over European territory
and established Islamic traditions and culture that last to
the current day (the Muslims in Bosnia are the last
descendants of the Ottoman presence in Europe).
• The Ottoman empire lasted until the twentieth
century. While historians like to talk about
empires in terms of growth and decline, the
Ottomans were a force to be reckoned with,
militarily and culturally, right up until the breakup of the empire in the first decades of this
century. The real end to the Ottoman culture
came with the secularization of Turkey after
World War II along European models of
government. The transition to a secular state
was not an easy one and its repercussions are
still being felt in Turkish society today;
nevertheless, secularization represents the real
break with the Ottoman tradition and heritage.
The Selimiye Mosque (Turkish:
Selimiye Camii) is a mosque in
the city of Edirne, Turkey.
The mosque was commissioned by
Sultan Selim II and was built by
architect Mimar Sinan between
1568 and 1574. It was considered
by Sinan to be his masterpiece and
is one of the highest achievements
of Islamic architecture.
Sinan
(1489 -1588)
• Prolific and brilliant master-architect of the
Ottoman Empire, holding responsibilities for an
enormous range of public works. One of his
greatest buildings was the Süleymaniye Mosque
in Istanbul (1550–7) which shows how much he
had absorbed of Byzantine forms and
construction, especially those of the Church of
Hagia Sophia, but Sinan improved and
rationalized the system of buttressing for the
central dome, and clarified the subsidiary
elements.
Interior, Mosque of Sultan Selim
Illuminated Manuscripts and
Tugras
• A peculiarly Ottoman Turkish phenomenon
is the calligraphic "tughra" (handsign),
unique to each sultan, which gives his
name and titles and appears at the head
of every firman (royal edict). The
spectacularly bold calligraphy contrasts
with the dense yet delicate flowering
plants, arabesques, and floral scrolls.
Tughra of Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent, 16th century;
Ottoman period (c.1555-60) attributed to Istanbul, Turkey
Ink, colors and gold on paper; H: 20 1/2 in. W: 25 3/8 in.