Islam: Aesthetics of a Mystic Religion

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I dedicate this article to all those in the world who have been

innocent victims to the scourge of terrorism.

 

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Islam: Aesthetics of a Mystic Religion

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Islam is much more than a formal religion: it is an integral way

of life. In many ways it is a more determining factor in the

experience of its followers than any other world religion. The

Muslim ("One who submits") lives face to face with Allah at all

times, and will introduce no separation between his life and

religion, his politics and his faith. With its strong emphasis on

the brotherhood of men cooperating to fulfill the will of Allah,

Islam has become one of the most influential religions in the

world today.

 

Traditional Islamic art conveys the spirituality and

quintessential message of Islam through a timeless language which

precisely because of its timelessness as well as its direct

symbolism, is more effective and less problematic than most of

the theological explanations of Islam. A piece of traditional

calligraphy or an arabesque can speak much more eloquently of the

intelligence and nobility which characterize Islam than many an

apologetic work of Islamic modernists or so-called activists. It

is the serene, intelligible, structured and highly spiritual

character of Islamic art which more than any other element leads

to a correct understanding of the culture that is Islam.

 

Contrary to modern ideas, Islam does not consider art and beauty

as a luxury. It considers beauty to be a divine quality (one of

god's name being al-Jamil, the beautiful) and says that god loves

beauty. The Islamic aesthetic wishes beauty to be all pervasive

and hence the art that developed made sure that a Muslim

encountered the joy of beauty at all levels of his existence. He

experiences deep down in his heart the same sense of peace and

joy when sitting on a traditional carpet, viewing a piece of

calligraphy, or praying within the confines of one of the

masterpieces of Islamic architecture which dot the Islamic world

from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

 

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Here we will explore the spiritual dimensions of Islamic art

through the following elements:

 

a). Sacred Architecture of the Islamic Mosque

 

b). The Islamic Art of Writing

 

c). Aesthetic Principles and the Building of an Islamic Community

 

 

Sacred Architecture of the Islamic Mosque

 

The sacred architecture of Islam par excellence is the mosque

which is but a recreation of the harmony, order and peace

inherent in nature. While praying in a traditional mosque, the

Muslim in a sense returns to the bosom of nature, not externally

but through the inner nexus which relates the mosque to the

principles and rhythms of nature.

 

The word mosque derives from the Arabic masjid, which literally

means the place of prostration (sujud). This is the position in

Islamic ritual prayers (namaz), in which the forehead of the

worshipper touches the ground in the supreme act of submission

and surrender before God. Before the prostration however, at the

beginning of his prayer, he stands directly as the primordial

man, himself his own priest, facing god without an intermediary.

This is a unique and significant achievement in the development

of mystic thought, where man is viewed not as a fallen being but

as god's vicegerent on earth, aware of his theomorphic substance

and competent and 'perfect' enough to correspond directly with

god.

 

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It is not, however, only the space of the mosque within which the

faithful pray that is important. It is also the floor upon which

they prostrate themselves that is of crucial significance. But

before attempting to grasp the symbolic significance of the

floor, it is important to understand the position of man himself

in Islamic thought.

 

Man in Islam is considered the most perfect of god's creations.

It is the forehead of this most perfect of god's creations that

touches in prayer the floor of the prayer hall, thereby

sanctifying the floor of the mosque and returning this floor to

its inviolable purity as the original earth at the dawn of

creation. The first historical mosque is believed to have been

the house of Prophet Muhammad himself. The first 'official'

mosque was at Medina, which architecturally was a prototype of

the house of the Prophet, and in a sense was an extension of it.

The Prophet himself, it is believed, had first prayed before the

divine throne (al-'Arsh) before he prayed upon the ground

(farsh), thus sanctifying earth as the mirror and reflection of

heaven. It is this sanctification of the ground by the Prophet

that bestowed a new metaphysical meaning upon the ground and the

carpet covering it. The carpet, whether of simple white color or

full of geometric and arabesque designs and patterns, is a

reflection of heaven and enables one to experience the ground

upon which one sits as purifying, and to participate in the

sacred character of the ground.

 

As for the characteristic open space in mosques, its stillness

reflects the pacifying presence of the Divine Word, which echoes

through it. The rhythmic division of space by means of arches and

columns is the counterpart to the rhythms of cosmic existence

which punctuate the phases of the life of man. The space of the

sacred structures of Islam rests serenely and nobly in a

stillness which conforms to the inner nature of things

 

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Architecture is of course the art par excellence of ordering

space, and all sacred architecture achieves its basic goal of

placing man in the presence of the divine through the

sacralization of the space which it forms. In the case of Islamic

architecture this sacralization is achieved by means of

polarization of space through the presence of the Ka'ba which is

believed to be the center of the earth, and towards which all

Muslims turn in their daily prayers.

 

The Muslim world is spread out like a gigantic wheel with Mecca

as the hub, and with lines drawn from all the mosques in the

world forming the spokes. These lines converge on a city and

within that city on a point. The city is Mecca, and the point is

the Ka'ba at its center. Mecca, the birthplace of Prophet

Muhammad, is Islam's holy city and the goal of all pilgrimage.

The Ka'ba, a cube of stone, is the axis mundi of Islamic

cosmology. It is diagonally oriented, with its corners facing the

cardinal points of a compass. Metaphysically it is the center of

the world, because it is the primordial symbol of the

intersection between the vertical axis of the spirit and the

horizontal plane of phenomenal existence.

 

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During their pilgrimage to Ka'ba, pilgrims circumambulate it

seven times, and this gyration of the great crowd round the Ka'

ba, with its curious swirling, liquid movement, when seen from an

aerial perspective resembles nothing so much as an immense

whirlpool. This rite finds its echo in the circumambulation of

the sun, or likewise the tomb of a saint, so as to achieve the

maximum exposure to the invisible psychic fluid believed to

emanate from all such sacred places.

 

The sacred architecture of Islam is a crystallization of Islamic

spirituality and a key for the understanding of this

spirituality. The spaces it has created provide a haven in which

man can savor, by grace of this very spirituality, the peace and

harmony of not only uncorrupted nature but also paradise of which

such a nature is a reflection. This paradise man carries at the

depth and center of his being where the divine presence

reverberates.

 

 

The Islamic Art of Writing

 

Handwriting is jewelry fashioned by the hand from the pure gold

of intellect.

(Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi)

 

Calligraphy is believed to be the visual embodiment of the sacred

word. Islamic tradition states that Ali, the son-in-law of

Prophet Muhammad, was the first calligrapher. The origins of

Islamic calligraphy are traced all the way back to god, who is

believed to have written the celestial archetype of the Quran.

According to Qadi Ahmed, a sixteenth century author on the art of

calligraphy and painting, 'creation itself is the divine

calligraphy with which god covered the pages of changing time

with the black and white design of night becoming days and days

becoming night.'

 

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A chapter in the Quran is entitled 'The Pen' (surat al-qalam),

qalam meaning pen in Arabic. It opens with the letter nun. The

letter nun in Arabic resembles the inkpot.

 

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It is believed that god first created the Qalam, then the inkpot

or nun. Thus the chapter begins with nun and the Pen. According

to another Islamic text, the qalam symbolizes the tongue and nun

the mouth.

 

Islamic calligraphy reflects through the symbolism of its very

forms the intertwining between permanence and change that

characterize creation itself. Hence the horizontal movement of

the script, which is a rippling movement as in weaving,

corresponds to change, whereas the vertical movement represents

the permanent divine essence. Another point of view views the

vertical as the symbol of the unified principle, and the

horizontal, the multiplicity of manifestation.

 

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Another important element in the appraisal of Islamic calligraphy

is the concept of a tree. A tree is but a manifestation of a seed

's potential to derive sustenance from earth and water, and

produce one of the most beautiful sights in the world, namely

that of a flowering tree complete with branches and leaves.

 

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Man is much the same as a tree. He has been put on earth like a

seed. But he can only grow into a tree by virtue of his own

efforts. Providence, however, has granted him innumerable sources

of nourishment and opportunities exist on earth to partake of

them. Keeping these conceptions in mind, it was but inevitable

that the unifying art of Islam eventually combined calligraphy

with stylized plant forms (arabesques). Many Islamic monuments

from Anatolia to Agra display this intertwining of calligraphy

and arabesque forms.

 

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In addition to arabesque forms, Islamic art also combines

geometric patterns with calligraphy. Here the calligraphy,

related directly to the divine word (believed to be the Quran),

is said to symbolize the unified principle of creation, while the

geometric element with its immutable patterns is said to

represent the masculine principle.

 

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In a similar vein, the arabesques, related to life and growth,

reveal the maternal aspect of creation. Seen in this light,

calligraphy can be contemplated as the principle from which the

other two elements of Islamic patterns, the geometric and the

arabesque (male and female respectively), originate, and into

which they became integrated as all cosmic dualities become

integrated into the ultimate unified Principle.

 

In a further development of metaphysical interpretation, each

letter is given a personality of its own, and ultimately linked

with Allah, or the supreme god. For example the first letter of

the Arabic alphabet, alif, by its verticality symbolizes a divine

majesty.

 

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This divinity is why all alphabet is believed to have originated

from the alif, and it is also the first letter of word Allah.

 

The second letter of the alphabet is ba. Its very horizontality

symbolizes the receptivity of the maternal and passive principles

as well as the dimension of beauty which complements majesty.

 

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The intersection of the two letters alif and ba constitutes the

point which is visualized as the supreme, non dual center from

which everything issues and to which everything returns.

 

The esoteric doctrines enveloping the nature of calligraphy,

combined with the beauty of its immediate presence, provide the

key for understanding its privileged position in the hierarchy of

Islamic art as well as its important role in Islamic spirituality

itself. For centuries Muslims have practiced calligraphy as a

means of disciplining the soul. In contrast to the general

pattern in various scripts of the world which move from left to

the right, Arabic script (the language of the Quran) moves from

right to left. Hereby a Muslim calligrapher believes that in

drawing a line from right to the left, man is moving from the

periphery to the heart which is also located in the left side of

the body, and that by concentrating upon writing words in

beautiful forms, man is bringing back the dispersed elements of

his soul to their center.

 

The heart and soul of a Muslim is constantly made aware of the

majesty, harmony, rhythm and flow of calligraphic forms, which

surround all spheres of his existence, unveiling their beauty

upon the pages of the Quran, on walls of mosques and other forms

of architecture, on carpets and curtains, and even upon objects

of daily use from dress to plates and bowls in which food is

taken.

 

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Aesthetic Principles and the Building of an Islamic Community

 

Islam is pre-eminently the religion of unity on all levels:

ontological, social, and political. The term used to describe

that unity is 'umma', which is not susceptible of translation by

a single word. Socially it denotes the Muslim community, while

politically the 'umma Muhammadiya' denotes 'Muhammad's nation', a

revolutionary concept whereby, for the first time in history, the

criterion of belief replaces the genetic accident of birth as the

criterion of nationality.

 

Islamic art is more than just a spectacle of domes and minarets,

dazzling illuminated manuscripts and exotic carpets; it is a true

expression of a rich culture that has unified countries as far

apart as Spain and Java, Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,

over some thousand years and more. Islamic art expresses the

religious beliefs, social and economic structure, political

motivation and visual sensibility of a pervasive and unified

tradition. Underlying the variations from century to century and

from region to region, a cohesive unity of aesthetic conception

testifies to the power and breadth of Islam.

 

Whether in the great courtyard of the Delhi mosque or the

Qarawiyyin in Fez, one feels oneself within the same artistic and

spiritual universe despite all the local variations in material,

structural techniques, and the like. The creation of this

artistic universe with its particular genius, distinct

characteristics, and formal homogeneity underlying distinctions

of a cultural, geographical or temporal nature requires a cause,

for no effect of such immense dimensions can be considered as

simply a result of chance or the agglomeration of accidental

historical factors.

 

Community is a delicate but durable bond that grows among people

who discover that their core identities intersect with those of

others. People find community and support, for example, in groups

of individuals who cope with similar problems, who send their

children to the same school, or who teach in the same department

at a university. Shared experience, ethnic background, social

purpose, citizenship, religious faith, and various combinations

of these are among the more obvious bases for human community.

The formation thus of such a community, unified by an adherence

to common spiritual percepts and ideals, is the higher aim of

Islamic aesthetics. Islamic art was the means whereby the spirit

of Islam penetrated into all types and modes of activity, into

all the moments of man's life reminding him wherever he was of

his Islamic identity. A whole civilization and culture deeply

impregnated by the spiritual values of Islam surrounds the

Muslim, and aids him in living Islamically.

 

Some principles of Islamic Aesthetics that strengthen the

development of a communal unity are:

 

1). Islamic 'Hidden Architecture' and the Principle of Wholeness

 

One of the most striking features of all Islamic architectural

monuments is their focus on the enclosed space, on the inside as

opposed to the outside, the façade or exterior articulation of a

building.

 

This disregard for the outside appearance of a structure is often

developed to an extreme whereby even a monumental structure, such

as congregational mosque, is completely hidden by being totally

surrounded by secondary adjacent buildings (for instance a

bazaar). This 'hiding' of major monuments goes hand in hand with

a total lack of exterior indications of the shape, size, function

or meaning of a building. Even if a structure has a visible

façade or a portal, these features tell us little, if anything,

about the building that lies behind it. In other words, rarely

does a façade give any indication of the inner organization or

purpose of the building in question, and it is rare that an

Islamic building can be understood, or even its principal

features identified, by its exterior.

 

To give but one example: a dome looms over the mass of a

building, it is generally visible from afar but sinks into the

maze of small cupolas and roofs of surrounding structures as we

approach.

 

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The dome may indicate a mosque, a palace, a school or a

tomb. It may be the principal feature of a structure designed

around it; alternatively, it may be only a minor element in a

vast structure that surrounds the domed area; it may also be only

one of several domes hidden, or half hidden, by other

structures - parapets or inner portal frames. Instead of defining

a specific kind of architecture, or a special building with a

particular function, the dome appears to be a general symbol,

signifying power, the royal city, the focal point of assembly; it

can therefore serve both religious and secular purposes.

 

At all times and in all regions of the Muslim world we can find

'hidden architecture' - that is, architecture that truly exists,

not when seen as monument or symbol visible to all and from all

sides, but only when entered, penetrated and experienced from

within.

 

This indistinguishibility between buildings serving different

functions is an important effort in furthering the development of

a community. By making the various architecture serving the cause

of religion, domesticity, education, funerary etc.,

indistinguishable, or by making the religious and secular

inseparable, the Muslim aesthete was but driving at the unity of

these two principles. The final aim of all Islamic aesthetic is

thus to create a unified wholeness. The mosque in a traditional

Islamic city is not only the center of religious activity but of

all community life, embracing the cultural, social and political

as well as, to a certain extent, economic activities. It is

therefore related organically to the bazaar or center of economic

life, the palace or seat of political power, schools where

intellectual activity takes place etc. Private homes are always

nearby and in the same way that work, leisure, prayer and care of

the family are integrated and not totally separate in the

traditional Islamic pattern of life, the architectural spaces

related to these activities are also intertwined. Even within the

home, a single room is often used for several functions including

eating, sleeping, socializing and praying, while prayers can take

place in shops in the bazaar, transactions in the mosque, and

teaching in both the mosque and home.

 

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When one looks at the traditional Islamic city, one observes that

this unity and inter-relatedness are reflected directly in the

architecture. At the center there is always a mosque or tomb of a

saint with the city growing in an organic manner around it.

Moreover, the city seems to be covered by a single roof emanating

from the sacred center. In a profound sense therefore, the sacred

architecture of Islam casts its light and influences the

formation of an Islamic city, bestowing upon it the character of

reflecting sacred presence. In the same way that the floor of the

mosque, sacralized by the Prophet himself, stretches into the

floor of every home, every roof of the city emanates from and is

an extension of the roof of the sacred structure at its heart.

The space of the whole city is enveloped by the periodic chanting

from the minarets of the mosque, calling for a collective prayer,

and the regular voicing of Quranic verses from the mosque itself;

are all extremely effective and strategical towards building of a

deep-rooted Islamic community bound fundamentally at the core.

 

2). Concept of Unity and Islamic Decorative Arts

 

The role of decoration is central to any analysis of Islamic art.

It is one of the unifying factors that, for thirteen centuries,

have linked together buildings and objects across the enormous

geographic span that makes up the Islamic world.

 

There is never any one type of decoration for one type of

building or object; on the contrary, there are decorative

principles which are pan-Islamic and applicable to all types of

buildings and objects at all times (whence comes the intimate

relationship in Islam between all the applied arts and

architecture). Islamic art must therefore be considered in its

entirety because each building and each object embodies identical

principles. Though objects and buildings differ in quality of

execution and style, the same ideas, forms and designs constantly

recur. These patterns clearly demonstrate the fascination of

Islamic artists with the visual principles of repetition,

symmetry, and continuous generation of pattern. Thus the objects

and their decoration seem to reflect only a fleeting impression,

being but a portion of a design which seems capable of extending

itself beyond the form it decorates and by implication beyond the

world of reality. And if a definite spatial limit is reached,

such as a terminal wall in a piece of architecture, which stops

the progress of anyone moving through the building, it will be

decorated with patterns that repeat themselves, leading on

visually beyond the given limit of the wall surface. This is

symbolic of an endless, infinite extension beyond ordinary,

mundane reality into a higher invisible realm.

 

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It is also significant that these infinitely extensible designs

are themselves made up of individual, self-replicating units. In

the Islamic context these have been interpreted as visual

demonstrations of the singleness of god and his presence

everywhere. They represent 'unity in multiplicity' and

'multiplicity in unity'.

 

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The elements of Islamic decoration are mostly limited to

calligraphy, geometry and foliation, and their manipulation

results in a rich and sumptuous effect. An interesting example is

found at the base of Friday Mosque in Herat, Afghanistan. It is

covered with areas of pattern, as a wall or floor would be

covered with hangings or carpets. Each area has its own logic,

and there is a larger logic that relates them all together.

 

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The same logic, the same principles, apply to any medium -

textiles, ceramics, woodwork, metalwork, books - and on any

scale. In the image, without the figure of the man it would be

hard to tell the whether the subject of the photograph was very

large or very small. Flexibility of scale is matched by the

interchangeability of the designs, which can contract or expand

to fill different areas, indicating the all-pervasiveness of the

one, unified divine principle.

 

Sometimes, in the case of floors, the decoration actually

reproduce carpets. The tomb of I'timad ad Dawla in Agra, for

example, has an inlaid marble floor that exactly reproduces the

designs of Mughal carpets. In a similar manner, prayer carpets

reproduce, in two dimensions and on a small scale, the sense of

the sacred space of the mosque as well as its cosmic orientation

towards Mecca. Carpets and mosques alike are places of

prostration. This unifying decorative streak thus extends over

the whole realm of Islamic art.

 

Interpreted at a practical level, by confronting the Muslim with

similar, parallel, and identifiable images permeating every level

of his existence, a definite cohesive feeling of community is

slowly but convincingly and continuously imbibed into his heart,

which goes a long way in serving the higher spiritual purpose.

Also significant here is that Islamic decorative motifs are all

characterized by a soothing and calming harmony. Constantly 'in

touch' with these images, the 'comfort level' of a Muslim is

greatly conditioned by them, nay even habituated to them.

 

Technically the term for this 'Oneness' is tawhid. Though

opinions on how best to interpret the essential Islamic message

of visual arts varies widely, from an almost denial of any

symbolic content to a penchant for discerning symbols in the

slightest curlicue and variation in color, theories at both ends

of the spectrum purport to derive their theological aesthetic

from this same principle, namely, tawhid - a belief in God's

uncompromised unity and transcendence.

 

The best known expression of this Divine Unity is

'La-ilaha-ill-Allah', (Quran 112:1). . It is made up of four

words:

 

La = No

 

Ilaha = that which is worshipped

 

Illa = except

 

Allah = God

 

Literally translated, it states 'There is no god but God'. By

Oneness of Allah we understand that he is the only Eternal Being,

Pure and Simple. The Quran also draws our attention to nature,

its laws and phenomena - the gathering of clouds, the fall of

rain, the growth of plants, the existence of animal and human

life, the movements of the stars, the rise and fall of nations,

the change of seasons, life, death, historical events and

mythical wonders. In all these, the same law is believed to

prevail. In all apparent diversity there is a unity of purpose

and therefore the unity of the originator. It thus expresses a

concept which annihilates all multiplicity, all separate

entities. It is to see, in a sense, the common denominator in all

the multiplicities of forms, to see the 'unity in multiplicity'

of flower, tree and bird; to see that all circles have a center,

regardless of size. The realization of this concept annihilates

multiplicity so that unity subsists.

 

The unity of Islamic art is related not only to the unity of the

cosmos and beyond that to the unity of the Divine Principle

itself, but also to the unity of the life of the individual and

the community. By refusing to distinguish between the sacred and

the profane, by integrating religion into all facets of life and

life itself into the rhythms of rites and patterns determined by

religion, Islam reflects a wholeness which is abundantly

reflected in its aesthetic ideals.

 

Conclusion

 

Islamic art was the means whereby the spirit of Islam penetrated

into all types and modes of activity, into all the moments of a

man's life, reminding him wherever he was of the divine presence.

Art was, and continues to be, a most precious support for the

Islamic ideals of life and living.

 

Islam, throughout its history and within the depth and breadth of

all its authentic manifestations, from architecture to the art of

dress, has emphasized beauty and been inseparable from it.

 

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Have those who claim to speak in the name of Islam today created

any form of beauty? Can the qualities of serenity, peace, harmony

and equilibrium which characterize both the Islamic religion and

the artistic and cultural manifestations of Islam be seen in what

these present day groups create and produce? The criterion of art

remains a powerful one in deciding the real nature of the forces

involved in these groups. Nothing authentically Islamic can be

devoid of the inner qualities discussed earlier, qualities which

have emerged from spirituality and have manifested themselves

over the ages in many different climes in the various traditional

arts of Islam from pottery to architecture to the fine art of

writing.

 

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References and Further Reading:

 

Bakhtiar, Laleh. Sufi (Expressions of the Mystic Quest): London,

1997.

 

Blair, Sheila, and Jonathan Bloom. Islamic Arts: London, 1997.

 

Hanifi, Manzoor Ahmed. A Survey of Muslim Institutions and

Culture: Delhi, 1988.

 

Hughes, Thomas Patrick. Dictionary of Islam: New Delhi, 1999.

 

Khan, Maulana Wahiduddin. The Garden of Paradise: New Delhi,

1998.

 

Masud Khaidar, and Andrei Sakharov. Afghanistan Today, Kabul,

1981.

 

Michell, George. Architecture of the Islamic World: London 1995.

 

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Art and Spirituality: Oxford, 1990.

 

Renard, John. Seven Doors to Islam: New Delhi, 1998.

 

Williams, John Alden (ed.) Islam: London, 1961.

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Nitin G.