Islamic art
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"WHILE the early Christian and Byzantine culture was evolving from a fusion of Greco-Roman, Near Eastern, and Northern elements, another culture, energized by an extremely dynamic religious force, was also rising. This was destined to meet the Christian religion at certain points and to fuse some of its forms, especially in Spain and Hispanic America, with those of Christian medieval art; in the Far East it met and fused with the arts of Far Asia. This was the Muhammadan religion. When we think of the Muhammadans, we think not of a nation in the modern sense of the word, with sharply defined geographical boundaries, but of groups of people of varying cultures, widespread geographically but bound together by a burning and at times fanatical religious faith. The Muhammadans call this faith Islam, which means obedience to the will of Allah (God); and their creed is embodied in the prayer chanted by the muezzin from the minaret as he calls the faithful to worship: “God is great, God is great, God is great. I bear witness that there is no god but God. I bear witness that there is no god but God. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Apostle of God, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Apostle of God. Come to prayer. Come to prayer. Come to security. Come to security. God is great. God is great. There is no god but God.” This religion, originating in Arabia, spread both east and west with amazing rapidity, chiefly by means of the sword; for the Muslim became an invincible soldier because of his fatalistic belief in the will of Allah, and because he was lured by the promise of immediate entrance into the Garden of Paradise if he died upon the field of battle fighting for the Islamic faith." --Gardner's Art Through the Ages (1926) by Helen Gardner |
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Islamic art encompasses the arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people (not necessarily Muslim) who lived within the territory that was inhabited by culturally Islamic populations. It includes fields as varied as architecture, calligraphy, painting, and ceramics, among others.
Typically, though not entirely, Islamic art has focused on the depiction of patterns and Arabic calligraphy, rather than on figures, because it is feared by many Muslims that the depiction of the human form is idolatry and thereby a sin against Allah, forbidden in the Qur'an.
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