Transcript Islamic Art - Montgomery Township School District

Islamic Art
Islam and Muslims
• Islam means “submission” to the will of
God.
• Muslims are those who submit to the will
of God
• Believe in same God as Jews and
Christians but believe that Jews and
Christians have misunderstandings about
God
Key Beliefs
• “There is one God (Arabic – Allah means
God) and His prophet is Muhammad.”
• This is called the profession of faith. It is
recited every day and is the way someone
becomes a Muslim.
• Avoid worshipping anything else
• Live a life of purity and obedience to Allah
Father Abraham
• Abraham and Hagar, his wife Sarah’s
concubine, had a son Ishmael
• In the Bible, after Sarah and Abraham had
Isaac, Sarah pressured Abraham to send
away Hagar and Ishmael
• Muslims believe that Ishmael not Isaac
was the one chosen by God. Jews and
Christians believe it was Isaac.
• Jews, Christians, and Muslims share a
common patriarch in Abraham
John Singer
Sargent’s
“Bedouins”
Kaaba
The Prophet Muhammad (570-632)
• Orphan in Mecca; looked after by uncle
• Street smarts and business smarts (becomes
financial advisor to older woman Khadija when
he’s 25); they had a daughter - Fatima
• Interested in religion; liked to go and meditate in
the desert and mountains
• Began having visions in a cave at age 40; visited
by Angel Gabriel, who told him about God
• Would have many visions which would become
the Quran
Islamic Art
• Calligraphy – “beautiful writing” – writing
Arabic words of Quran; goal to make the
words as pleasing to the eye as possible
• Arabesques – intertwining lines, vine-like,
to make floral, geometric patterns; eyes
follow to consider the omnipotence and
infinite qualities of God
• Art is abstract so that Muslims could avoid
idolatry (making images of people or
animals that can be worshipped)
Islamic Art continued
• No images of Allah
• Images of the Prophet Muhammad must
have his face covered
• No images of people or animals in holy
buildings (avoiding idolatry)
• Images in books for narrative purpose
allowed (still no images of Allah and rules
for depiction of the Prophet)
Kufic
• Type of calligraphy that developed in Kufa,
Arabia
• Earliest type of calligraphy in which the
Quran/Koran was written (7th – 9th
centuries C.E.)
• “When calligraphy was employed in the
service of Islam for writing Koran, it
entirely got changed and gradually placed
in the path of perfection…art and
elegance.”
Prayer Five Times a Day
• A MUEZZIN (Islamic crier) climbs a minaret of a
local mosque five times per day to call out the
times to pray
• Early in the morning when dawn has become
bright but before sunrise
• Noon or early afternoon
• Late afternoon
• Directly after sunset
• Night between darkness and dawn usually about
two hours after the sunset prayers
Other Islamic Rules
• SHARIA – the entirety of Islamic law; some
Islamic societies actually have this as their main
laws; deals with marriages, relations with nonMuslims, punishment of criminals
• A Muslim should marry another Muslim
• No stealing, telling the truth
• Avoiding the “four deadly sins”
– No fornication/adultery (no sexual activity outside
before or outside of marriage; thoughts also count)
– No eating pork
– No gambling
– No drinking alcohol/using drugs
Jihad
• Holy war to protect the UMMA or
community of Islam
• Designed to defend Islam and allow its
social practice NOT to force individual
conversions, which is forbidden by
doctrine
• Only an absolute pacifist Muslim would not
believe in self-defense of some kind
• Some Muslims believe jihad is a symbol
for spiritual struggle not actually physical
conflict
Last Judgment and Afterlife
• Belief in heaven and hell for eternity like
Christians
• Believing in one God and that His Prophet is
Muhammad and then living a holy life are the
ways to secure a path to heaven
• Chances to be forgiven and repent like
Christianity
• Last Judgment – appear before God and read
about all your actions in life and God decides
whether you make it into heaven or go to hell
• Heaven – verdant, flowing with water, nice
weather, peaceful (for men – 40 virgins for their
enjoyment)
• Hell – hot, burning fires, no water, torment by
Satan and demons
Islamic Holy Literature
• Quran – visions of the Prophet
Muhammad
• Hadith – sayings of the Prophet; things
which the Prophet did and said, which
were believed to be divinely inspired
• Quran and Hadith establish orthodox
teaching and practice in Islam
Islamic Religious Leaders
• Imam – trained Muslim teacher and
preacher; in Shi’a Islam, a supernaturally
endowed supreme teacher and leader of
Islam who is a hereditary successor to the
Prophet
• Ayatollah – in Shi’ite Islam, a legal and
religious teacher regarded as possessing
great learning and righteousness
Islamic Holidays
• Islamic calendar different from Western calendar
• Muharram (1st day of Muharram) – Islamic New
Year, begins in the first day of Muharram; began
in the year that Muhammad left Mecca for
Medina (the Hegira)
• Mawlid al-Nabi (12th day of Nabi I) – birth of the
Prophet
• Ramadan
• Eid al-Fitr (last day of Ramadan) breaking the
fast, big celebration
• Eid al-Adha (10 Dhu’l-Hijjah) – when Abraham
was going to sacrifice a Ishmael; also last day of
the Hajj – people sacrifice a ram and give meat
to poor
Kissing the
black stone
Mihrab – Decorative niche in the center of the qibla
wall in a mosque; it helps direct believers toward
Mecca.
After Muhammad…
• The Prophet Muhammad did not designate a
successor by the time of his death in 632.
• A committee selected his good friend, a devout
Muslim named Abu-Bakr.
• He took the title CALIPH, which is from the
Arabic khalifa meaning “successor” or
“representative.” Abu-Bakr was “Khalifa Rasul
Allah” or successor to the messenger of God.
• Caliph would be the leader of the UMMA, the
Islamic community.
The Four Righteous Caliphs
• Abu-Bakr (632-634)
– Friend and father-in-law of Muhammad; continued
expansionist policy
• Umar/Omar (634-644)
– Appointed by Abu-Bakr on his deathbed
– Father-in-law of Muhammad
– Assassinated
• Uthman (644-656)
–
–
–
–
Appointed by committee
Married to one of the Prophet’s daughters
Compiled the first official Quran (burned all the others)
Assassinated
• Ali (656-661)
– Succeeded Uthman after his assassination
– Son-in-law of Prophet
– Assassinated
What does it mean to be Shiite?
• Origins of word: Shi’at Ali – “Followers of
Ali; sometimes you will see it or hear it as
Shi’a and other times Shi’ite; they are the
same
• National Public Radio (NPR): Partisans of
Ali
What does this map show you
about the distribution of Sunni and
Shia Muslims?
What countries have the largest
Shiite concentrations?
What does it mean to be Sunni?
• It means you follow the “practices or
habits” of the Prophet.
• It means that you do not believe that the
rightful leaders of Islam have to be related
to the Prophet.
• It means that you believe that any qualified
leader, who has a close relationship with
God and detailed knowledge of Quran,
who is selected by the elders (respected,
well-known for piety) is an appropriate
leader.
Key Figures for Shia Muslims
• Ali – cousin of the Prophet Muhammad;
his son-in-law; father of the Prophets only
grand-sons; Fourth Caliph
• Hasan and Husayn – Ali’s sons; both
killed in battles;
• Husayn killed in a battle in which his army
numbered only 72 versus the 1,000 man
army of Yazid I, the son of Mu’awiya and
second Umayyad caliph.
• Husayn was beheaded and his head laid
before Yazid back in Damascus, Syria.
Arabia
Palestine
Syria
Persia
Egypt
Anatolia/Turkey
North Africa
Spain
Balkan Peninsula
(Europe)
Islamic Rule
• For the most part, tolerant rulers
• Allowed local rulers to oversee territories
but appointed governors over them
• Stationed soldiers in garrison towns living
separately so they wouldn’t be influenced
by the ways of the locals (fornication,
gambling, drinking)
• People allowed to practice original
religions but paid JIZYA (special tax) or
could convert
Dome of the Rock
Exterior Wall
Taj Mahal
Symmetry in
the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal Crypt
TAJ MAHAL:
QUEEN
MUMTAZ MAHAL'S
CASKET
WHAT COULD
HAVE BEEN:
TWO
TAJ MAHALS
F
B
D
E
A
Minbar – Pulpit in a mosque from which an imam
can read Quran passages and give a message
Great Mosque of Cordoba
Great Mosque in Cordoba, Spain
• Largest mosque in the Western world (including
US)
• Umayyad dynasty was conquered by the
Abbasid dynasty for control of the Islamic world
• Cordoba had become a significant Islamic
trading post in the late 7th century.
• A survivor of the massacre of the Umayyads
made it across N. Africa and into Spain and
established his power in Cordoba.
• Cordoba became a cosmopolitan center of
trade, learning, and the arts (Spanish Jews and
Christians could practice their religions and also
spoke Arabic as the everyday language)
This
niche is
also
called a
______
What is this black stone found in?
What is
this
man
making
?