Islam was proclaimed by Mohammed, a Prophet of God and founder of Islam. He lived from 570-632 in Arabia. It was a time of political inequities and social injustice. Just prior to this time, two competing empires ruled the settled lands of the Middle East: the Roman- Byzantine Empire in the west and the Sasanian Empire of Iran in the east. The Byzantines had a culture that blended Greek learning, Roman administration, and Greek Orthodox Christianity. In the early seventh century, its territory stretched from Italy across southern Europe to its capital city of Constantinople, and the Middle Eastern provinces included Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, as well as parts of Iraq and Anatolia. The Sasanian Empire of Iran, with its capital city of Ctesiphon on the Tigris River, vied with the Byzantium for control of the territories between Iraq and Egypt.1
In less than a century after the death of Mohammed in 632, the Arab Empire, united under the rule of the Caliph, stretched from Spain to India. In the two hundred years before Islam, Arabia had been becoming important as a trade route between the Middle Eastern empires and Yemen. Mohammed was a merchant, living among pastoral Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula in the early seventh century. Most of the Arabs were nomads; these nomads raised their camels, sheep, or goats on a harsh land of scarce resources. 2
“There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet.”
This was the faith that inspired the Arabs as they rode out from the borders of Arabia to conquer the world. Their faith was the driving force as they spread north into Syria in 633, capturing the rich cities of Syria; they defeated both the Byzantine Empire to their west and the Empire of Persia (Sasanian) in the east. They invaded Egypt and from there made their way across the northern part of Africa. By 642 the Arabs in the east defeated the Persian Armies and pressed ever further over the plains of central Asia. By 712, the Arab armies had reached the border of India and the lower valley of the Indus River. Meanwhile, from North Africa, a raiding party crossed the channel to the Mediterranean at what is now Gibraltar, into Spain. The raid was successful and the raiders remained in Spain, overcoming the Visigoths, then in control of Spain.3
As the Arabs expanded their empire, the Arabic language, the language of the Qur’ an, traveled with the conquerors and became the common language of the empire. It was a language well suited to poetry and story-telling that the Arabs were historically adept at. Because of their nomadic existence, the Arabs had traveled lightly and songs and stories could readily be carried with them. Therefore, these stories and poems, handed down in the oral tradition, were the early artistic tradition of the people of the Middle East.4
With their conquests, the nomadic Arabs encountered the wonders of craftsmanship and art in the new territories that had been unknown in their desert existence. The nomads of the desert suddenly had become rulers of cities. They saw Greek and Roman temples, palaces in Persia and great Byzantine churches sparkling with gold mosaics. They found jewelry, metalwork, and glassware, painted pottery, carved ivories and cloths of intricately designed silks.5 Now that they were settling in towns, they could utilize these beautiful and luxurious objects in their homes and the splendid mosques they endeavored to build for the worship of Allah. Beginning with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Persia, countries with long traditions of art, the conquered craftsmen’s arts were blended together under the rule of the Arabs to form what we recognize today as Muslim, or Islamic art. Examples of this would include decorated manuscripts, geometric designs, miniature paintings, carpets, textiles, ceramics, and metal work.6
The Islamic culture remained until the 18th century a major culture touching nearly every other center of civilization and life in Asia, Europe, and Africa. As the ideas or techniques of other cultures were made available to the Islamic culture, some of these techniques were adapted. The development of ceramics was inspired by Chinese techniques. Inlaid bronzes characteristic of 12th and 13th Arabs were first seen in lands farther to the east, suggesting east to west land trade was responsible for the spread of a way of decorating metalwork. 7 Chinese themes were adapted into Persian painting, as seen in the miniatures which were from the present Iran and have become associated with Islamic art. The technique of using intricate mosaic patterns to cover walls and other surfaces was first encountered in the Byzantine art of Constantinople. Although techniques were adopted, uniquely Islamic characteristics predominated.
Tenets of Islam
Because the Islamic religion was so instrumental in shaping the art of the Arab culture of the Middle East, it is important to include a brief summary of the basic tenets of the Muslim religion. These fundamental beliefs have remained unchanged.
The Qur’an was (and is) the sacred book of revelations Mohammed had received from Allah, or God. It had first been written in Arabic and it was an important part of the Muslim faith to continue the use of Arabic in scripture, not to translate it into other languages. Muslims, or believers in Islam, derive their religious beliefs from the Qur’an and the conduct of the Prophet, Mohammed. This is called the Sunna and the narratives thus written are called the Hadith. Within the Qur’an and the Hadith are all the rules from which the ethical conduct of one’s personal life as well as a blueprint for the ethical, theological, and legal code.8
The Muslim religion is built on Five Pillars of Faith:
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The First Pillar is the Shahada, or profession of faith, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet.”
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The Second Pillar is the Salar, or daily worship. Muslims are instructed to pray five times a day and to worship together on Friday.
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The Third Pillar is Zakat, an obligation to be charitable and to contribute to the general welfare of the community.
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The Fourth Pillar is to fast during the month of Ramadan, a holy time of spiritual renewal.
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The Fifth Pillar is the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, which all Muslims must try to make if they can afford it.
A Tradition of Support for the Arts
Arab patrons of the arts ranged from the amirs of Granada to the caliphs of Baghdad. The palace was a center for craftsmen of all kinds, from makers of weapons and leatherworkers to embroiderers and jewelers. It was traditional for the sultans themselves to be skilled in crafts. Some were fine calligraphers. When Baghdad was conquered in 1258 by the Mongols, the center of Arab culture shifted to Egypt where amirs and sultans of the Mamluk dynasty were enthusiastic patrons of art and architecture. After the 13th century, the cultural focus was from Iran.9 Turkish-speaking Muslims had begun settling Anatolia after l071 but with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Turks dominated the eastern Mediterranean. Rulers from the 13th century to the 20th supported the arts, producing some of the greatest calligraphers. Iranian culture was influential and Persian was the language of the arts, but painters illustrated Ottoman epics, histories, and geographies. Portraiture flourished.10
