Islamic Arts - Expressing the great Heritage and its Beauty

Islamic Arts - Expressing the great Heritage and its Beauty

As it is an imperative for every Muslim to abide by the al – Tawhid and the Shari’ah, the association of things and sensory images with God was meticulously avoided by Muslims in all of their autistics works. This collection celebrates the beauty of the positive verse and the romance of the Arabic language. Through the use of color, movement and text it illustrates a powerful representation of each word, visually expressing the great heritage and artistic traditions of this script.

This is a show that was designed for a photo presentation in the Pennsylvania State University. The photos are from Uzbekistan, Samarkand and Bukhara. All of them represent some of the master pieces of Islamic art. Different mosques, madrasahs and tombs.



Some ayats from the quran,with an amazing view


Never has any Muslim mosque contained an object associated with divinity. It will be either decorated with the verses from the Qur’an or with abstract arabesques in the forms of stylized stalk, leaf and flower, or geometrical figures which by its nature free from any divine nature. As being said by Ernst Diez, he defined Islamic art as ‘ the art of Islam or Islamic art is that art which expresses submission to Allah ’ Fine arts of the Islamic people are eclectic in nature. The Muslims, Arabs as well as non Arabs, inherited the artistic traditions of the ancient Middle East and they molded the prevalent art forms according to the principles of al –tawhid and the shari’ah, evolving their own styles and added their own original contributions to fine arts. An example is the Arabic calligraphy which is a sacred art because it transmits the Qur’an, the words of God.

A brief look at Islamic Architecture


Tour of Al-Aqsa Mosque



There are many master calligraphers like Ibn Muqlah, Ibn al – Bawwab and Yaqut al – Musta’simi transformed the letters of the Arabic alphabet into a fine art. The fine arts of the Islamic civilization were not produced by any single race or country but these were the achievements of diverse races of mankind professing and practising Islam in many countries at different periods of history but with the Islamic ideology as its basis.

TURKISH ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHER


Islamic Graphic Art



Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس) was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims, at various times in the period between 711 and 1492. It refers to the Umayyad Caliphate province (711-750), Emirate of Cordoba (c. 750-929) and Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031) and its "taifa" ("successor") kingdoms.

The Alhambra (Arabic: الحمراء ; literally "the red") is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, in southern Spain (known as Al-Andalus when the fortress was constructed), occupying a hilly terrace on the south-eastern border of the city of Granada. It was the residence of the Muslim kings of Granada and their court, but is currently a museum exhibiting exquisite Islamic architecture.

Related Video:
An Islamic History of Europe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh0wED...



This is the final group project for a course at Harmony School called Cultural Arts of the Middle East and India.



Basically, the Islamic architectures have their own dominant nature depicting the Islamic concept in them. The major use of qubbah (dome) in the building of mosques with arabesque decoration in the forms of geometric, vegetal and calligraphic ornaments have been used throughout the Muslim World. These domes, in the religious sense, symbolises the unity of the ummah from various races and places to the objective in worshipping to the One and Only God. The first mosque to be built with domes is the Qubhat al – Sakhra (The Dome of The Rock) in Jerusalem during the Umayyad era. Arches were also greatly introduced by the Muslim architects. Reflecting the need to climb up to a high place by the muazzin in the call of prayer (adhan), has led to the evolution of minarets in the Islamic architecture. The first minaret was constructed at the Central mosque in Basrah around 45 Hijrah. The idea of mimbar (pulpit) for the imam to give his sermons and mihrab which is a special place for the imam to lead the prayer with his followers, have given rise to their existence in the Islamic architecture. As we can see, Islamic civilization is very rich in its architectural heritage. Thus, there is no doubt that the Islamic ideology that influenced such great manifestations to its architecture is the principle of al – Tawhid and the Shari’ah.



Switch to "High" quality setting to better appreciate the photos of this video.

-Saudi Arabia (Mecca; 00:04)
-Spain (Alhambra Mosque; 00:07)
-Iraq (Samarra Mosque; 00:10)
-Burkina Faso (Bobo Mosque; 00:13)
-Turkey (Sultan Ahmed/Blue Mosque 00:15)
-Egypt (Muhammad Ali Mosque; 00:18)
-China (Great Mosque of Xian; 00:24)
-Iran (Lotfollah Mosque; 00:29)
-Dome inside a mosque in Bosnia (00:32)
-Ibn Sina (Aviccena, 00:45)
-Rumi (00:56)
-Saladin (00:59)
-Pope Benedict XVI and Mohammad Khatami (1:40)
-King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1:43)
-Muhammad Ali (boxer; 1:45)
-Indonesian mosque (1:56)
-Turkey (Selimiye Mosque; 2:02)
-Russia (2:04)
-Malaysia (Kristal Mosque; 2:07)
-Brunei (2:09)
-Pakistan (King Faisal Mosque; 2:12)
-United Arab Emirates (Zayed Mosque; 2:18)


ground level view of masjid e nabavi