(9.2) Chapter 14, Literature and
Arts
How Islamic culture has expressed itself
in visual art and mosque architecture
Arabesque
 Floral or geometrical
◦ Often no central focus
 (not so true of the floral arabesque from Topkopi)
◦ Abstract from nature something more regular
and harmonious
◦ Possibly the world of “images” that one may
perceive in contemplation
◦ Points toward the ultimate unity underlying
the diversity of the world
◦ May be “arbitrarily” cut off and thus trigger an
intuition of infinity
Geometrical arabesque, Fez, Morocco. Courtesy Peter Sanders/Saudi
Aramco World/ SAWDIA.
Floral Arabesque in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. Also shown is
the “tree of life”, a frequent theme from early Islamic times.
Window in the Hospital of Sultan Qalaun in Cairo (completed c. 1293). The windows present
geometric arabesques arbitrarily cut off as al-Faruqi suggests.
Calligraphy
 Provides a way of making the Word of God
visual
 Has been compared to Orthodox Christian
icons
 Writing as “a distant shadow of the divine
act” (Burkhardt)
Examples following:
Aftab Ahmad: Surah Ikhlas in a modern Kufic
(angular)
Surah Fatihah: in Nasta‘liq, a script developed
in Iran
Badī‘ in Mausoleum of Rumi
Surah Ikhlas of the Qur’an (112) in a modern Kufic (angular)
script by Aftab Ahmad of Pakistan. (Courtesy: Calligraphy by
Aftab Ahmad/Saudi Aramco World/SAWDIA)
Surah Fatihah: in Nasta‘liq, a script developed in Iran.
Shahāda in the form of a toughra, by Aftab Ahmad of Pakistan. The toughra
was originally a stylised signature of the Ottoman sultan but now is used in
other ways. (Courtesy: Calligraphy by Aftab Ahmad/Saudi Aramco
World/SAWDIA )
The Arabic word badī‘ (Originator, a name of Allah) written in
calligraphy (thuluth), in the normal direction on the right and
in mirror image on the left. Rumi's Mausoleum at Konya
Pictures
Opposition to depiction of living beings
 “O you who believe, wine, games of chance, idols
(or statues) and divining arrows and abomination
of Satan’s handiwork” (5:92).
[“idols (or statues)” may be taken to include all
forms of pictoral art.]
"Who is more wicked than the man who sets out
to work to imitate the creative activity of God"
(Bukhari, summarized by Arnold, 5)
 “Those who will be most severely punished on
the Day of Judgment are the murderer of a
Prophet, one who has been put to death by a
Prophet, one who leads men astray without
knowledge, and a maker of images or pictures.”
(Bukhari, quoted by Arnold, 8)
Pictures, ctd
“The learned authorities of our school and others
hold that the painting of a picture of any living
thing is strictly prohibited and is one of the great
sins because it is threatened with the above
grievous punishment as mention in the Hadith,
whether it is intended for common domestic use
or not. So the making of it is forbidden under
every circumstance, because it implies a likeness
to the creative activity of God . . . . On the other
hand, the painting of a tree or of camel saddles
and other things that have no life is not
forbidden.”
(al-Nawawi, 13th century Shafi‘i faqih, quoted by
Arnold 9).
Pictures, ctd
On the other hand
 The Prophet preserved a picture of Jesus and
Mary in the Ka‘ba
 Pictures appear in Islamic civilization, especially
from the 12th century
 In secular contexts particularly
 Religious topics and figures, including Muhammad,
sometimes appear.
 Usually prophets’ faces are veiled; there may be a
fiery nimbus
 Among Shi‘is figures such as Husayn are depicted
 Pictures (not of the Prophet) are regularly used in
entertainment, advertising, propaganda today.
Wine, women, song. Wall paintings in the Chehel Sotun (Forty Columns) Palace in Isfahan,
completed in 1646 by Shah Abbas II. They include scenes of battles and other historical
events as well as entertainment. Notice the Chinese influence on the mountains in the
background.
Mughal copy of Firdowsi’s Shahnameh (Book of Kings). The figure depicted is Prince Esfandiar
son of Goshtashp, fighter in the cause of Zarathushstra, who accomplishes a number of
herioic exploits but is finallly killed in combat with Rustom. (Courtesy Hussain A. AlRamadan/Saudi Aramco World/ SAWDIA)
“Jahangir’s Dream” Allegorical representation of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and
the Safavid Shah ‘Abbas of Persia, Mughal, ca. 1618. (Courtesy of Freer
Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)
Reflections on “Jahangir’s Dream”
Sense of confidence, stability and
dominance
 Mughal Emperor’s dominance claimed
over Safavid: relative size, position of lion
and lamb. In fact, Shah Abbas took
Kandahar from the Mughals in 1622, a few
years after this was painted
 Western influence (?): cherubs, lion and
lamb.
 Messianic (?):, lion and lamb

Architecture: Mosques
 Masjid (lit: place to prostrate oneself in prayer)
the most common term.
 Jāmi‘ (Lit: That which gathers [people] together)
larger mosque, especially for Friday noon ṣalāh ;
“Friday” mosque
 Muṣalla (Lit: place for performing ṣalāh), small
mosque, not normally used for Friday noon ṣalāh.
Main features of mosques:
 Miḥrāb: indicates the direction to Mecca (qibla)
 Minbar: pulpit from which khuṭba is given
 Minaret: from which adhān is given
Mosque as sacred space:
 Purity: Remove footware
 Generally calm, peaceful
 Orients one toward Ka‘ba (presence of
God, center of umma)
 Relatively undifferentiated space (God is
present everywhere)
 Nothing done in mosque that cannot be
done elsewhere
The Great Mosque of Sousse, Tunisia. The open court yard with
columned area is typical of early mosques. The mihrab is
approximately under the small dome at the far right of the picture.
(Picture is taken from the ribat, see figure 4.1.)