Lecture 2 Definition of Islamic Art
Lecture 2
An Introduction to Islamic Art of the Malay World
VCL 155Islam
(lit. surrender, reconciliation, from the word salam, peace or
salvation).The religion revealed to the Prophet Muhammad between
610 and 632 C.E.It is the last of all the Divine revelations before
the end of the world.The name of the religion was instituted by the
Quran (Surah 5: ayah 5) during the farewell pilgrimage:
Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have
completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam for your
religion.ArtThe Concise Oxford Dictionary defines art as human
creative skill or its application.
Art is creative activityresulting in visual representation.
ArtArt is the production or expression of that which is
beautiful.
Art is visual or spatial communication.
Art
Art is some creation of man that appeals to his emotions and his
intellect by means of his senses.All inner feelings, aspirations
and spiritual states must be given some external manifestation in
order to be perceived through the senses by others. This
manifestation is art.Art is the aesthetic dimension of the life of
a society or civilization, and, in its larger meaning, co-extensive
with the culture of the society. It includes all the spiritual,
intellectual, emotional and personal facets of mans existence: his
religion, beliefs, faith, poetry, historiography, manners
traditions, ideals and ambitions.Art expresses the soul of a people
to a degree beyond the reach of other cultural aspects and
achievements of a society.
Islamic ArtThe imagination behind art is human, but the
afflatus, the original impulse, is divine.
Mans effort is almost without limit, and his skill is a thing of
wonder, yet no work of art inspired by man alone will ever be a
real work of art, and religion, that some otherworldly inspiration,
is essential to art. inspiration, is essential to art.The principle
of tradition in religion is the prime mover of the spirit of the
artist. All believers yearn to be drawn towards the transcendent;
the Divine spirit breathed into us at the moment of our creation is
the cause of this desire.Every soul is a part of the Divine Creator
and pines to be with Him again. Hence mans wish to live among forms
that echo the transcendent archetypes. Islamic art is no more than
a reflection in the world of matter of the spirit and even of the
form of the Quranic revelation.
The sacred art performs the same function as does the Revelation
itself by becoming means of causing repercussions in the human soul
in the direction of the Transcendent.Islamic art, regardless in
which century or continent it was produced, reveals a remarkable
consistency in content and form.the power of the aesthetic values
of Islam are such that, even without the consciousness and
pursuance of those value, the artist and the spectator alike have
been guided to an artistic unity.Islamic artist, whether
consciously or unconsciously, had his own criteria for the
beautiful and for the artistic expression of his world and God
view.
Why Islamic Art?This mean that Islam represents a total order
which involves all the planes of human existence, the body as well
as the soul, and which decides naturally the place which each art
occupies and the role it will play in the spiritual and physical
equilibrium of the Dar al Islam-literally the house of Islam. It is
by conforming to a certain hierarchy of values that arts are
integrated in Islam, and that they become Islamic art, whatever the
source of their diverse elements may be Islamic art is the fruit of
the marriage between technique (al-fann) and wisdom (al-hikma).In
is purest and most perfect form it is attribute of God who is
called al-hakim. One of the several dimensions of Gods hikma is
beauty, the paramount concern of art.
