Abstract:
In Islam, God’s wondrous creativity is reflected in the unity of de sign in the widest diversity and beauty of the cosmos. For some Muslims, Islamic art expresses this natural beauty as well as the miracles of God’s creation related in the Qur’an and the prophetic traditions (aḥādīth). This article focuses on Hassan al-Turabi’s perceptions of the arts and the aura of conservative prohibition and cautious permission that surrounds them. For him, the Islamic attitude toward the arts and aesthetics is determined by monothe ism (tawḥīd), which entails one’s absolute belief in God’s oneness and the abjuration of anything that might compete with it or with His omnipotence. God has created in beauty a dualistic nature: guidance (belief and faith) and temptation (seduction and aberra tion) for humanity.
Machine summary:
For some Muslims, Islamic art expresses this natural beauty as well as the miracles of God’s creation related in the Qur’an and the prophetic traditions (aḥādīth).
Keywords: Arabia, tribalism, Arabic poetry, idols, beauty, paint ing, pictorial and figurative arts, calligraphy, sculpture, architec ture, music, singing, dance Introduction In his History of the Arabs, Philip K.
Islamic art, whether architecture, painting, or sculpture, expresses both this natural beauty and the miracles of God’s creation: That which is on Earth We have made but as a glittering show for it, in order that We may test them – as to which of them are best in conduct.
He continues, “The creation of beauty may accompany the most significant objective of religion, belief in God as One. A believer can express his [or her] intentions and psychological states or conditions through (artistic) forms that transform theoretical values into a living, realistic, beau tiful and effective example.
This hostile attitude on the part of Islam to pictorial art has given to the whole history of its propaganda, and to the organization of its devout life, a complexion fundamentally different from that of either Buddhism or Christianity, both of which have made use of paintings in order to attract fresh converts or to instruct and edify the faithful.
Arnold, Painting in Islam: The Study of Pictorial Art in the Muslim Culture (London: Dover Publications, 1965), 52.