THE QUR'ANIC VERSES AND THE HADITH, AS SOURCES

OF INSPIRATION IN ISLAMIC ART

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Dr.Emfll Esin ıcfl T O P H A N E S İ

Dwntrb. 0 0 0 6 9 no: • -x Tasnlf

n « QUR.

*

T

CONTENTS

PAGE

Contents: 5 Preface by: Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu 7 Inaugural speeches: 1 1

Speech of the Secretary General of OIC 13 Speech of the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey 17 Speech of the Director General of IRCICA 2 I

Introduction by: Prof. Ahmed Mohammed Issa 25 Working Sessions of the Symposium 35 Closing Speech 42 Recommendations and Resolutions 43 Istanbul Declaration on Islamic Art 45 Researches Presented in English or French: 49 - L'Architecture Chez l'Islam 51

by: Prof. Dr. Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi - The Development of Konya - Seldjuk Carpets 56

by: Prof. Dr. Oktay Aslanapa - Perennial Features of Islamic Art as Reflected in contemporary Moroccan Pottery and 60

Carpet Weaving

by: Dr. Jean - Louis Michon

- The Qur'anic Verses and the Hadith as Sources of Inspiration in Islamic Art 73 by: Dr. Emel Esin

- Inferiority and Exteriority in Turkish Architecture 84 by: Prof. Dr. Aptullah Kuran

- Common Principles in the Domestic Architecture of Islam: An Introduction to a Cur- 89 rent Research Project ' .. . by: Stefano Bianca and Sami Angawi

- An Essay on Form - determining Factors in Turkish - Islamic Architecture 101 by: Prof. Dr. Mehmet Olus Arik

- The Architecture of Islamic Jerusalem, Our Duties 105 by: Yousuf S. Natsheh

- L'Urbanisme dans le Monde Islamique Médiéval 112 by: Prof. Dr. Dominique sourdel

- The Basic Issue of islamic Architecture 117 by: Dr. Arch. Turgut Cansever

- The Culmination of the Islamic Double Dome Form in Hindustan 125 by: Dr. P.A. Andrews

- Reflexions sur les Eléménts Communs dans l'Art Musical Islamique 145 by: Mahmoud Guettât

- L'Influence Réciproque entre l'Islam et la Musique Turque 151 by: Ercümend Berker

- Les Signes du Tatouage: Expression Plastique dans les Arts Populaires 160 by: Dr. Mohammed Sijelmassi

- L'Art de la Monnaie Islamique 166 by: Dr. Ludvik Kalus

- International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural 171 Property / ICCROM

and Conservation of Islamic Cultural Property by: Prof. Dr. Cevat Erder

- Sur l'Esthétique de l'Art Musulman 128 by: Prof. Dr. Alexandre Papadopoulo

- 5 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

THE QUR'ANIC VERSES AND THE HADITH, AS SOURCES

OF INSPIRATION IN ISLAMIC ART Dr. Emel Esin

The present essay will comment two aspects of the proposed subject. The first section will be devoted to a summary of the principles, in the Qur'anic verses and the Hadith (reports on the Prophetic maxims and actions), related to art. The second section will discuss, in the light of literary sources and archaeology,111 a few elements of the pre - Islamic art of Central Arabia, the cradle of Islam, which survived, or were revived, after the initial period.

I. On the Qur'anic verses and the Hadith, related to art:

•

The Most distinctive feature of Islamic art is the ban of figures, in the sacred sphere. On the motivation of the ban, I beg to be allowed to quote a passage from a previous work,121 on the incompatibility of Islamic worship with imagery: « The confession of faith, in Islam, is the principle of the Uni­que God, an absolute and transcendant Ab­straction, Eternal, Ineffable, Creator of the universes ( the conceivable and the incon­ceivable)». «The absolute abstraction of the Divinity is expressed in the Qur'an (VI I1143 ), in the answer to the prayer of

Moses, for a theophany: Thou canst never 131

see Me». The Hadith literature equally repeat the axiom of God's inaccessibility, through any sensorial faculties. Yet, in a Qur'anic verse ( I I I 186 ), God responds to the invocation of the believer, in what a ha­dith describes, as a direct spiritual confron­tation: « As one of you rises to prayer, when he turns to his Lord, then verily, his Lord is between him and his qibia ( the dir­ection of ritual prayer ) ». Other hadith further describe such a confrontation, as a divestment of all worldly images and ima­ginations, in a state resembling death.141 Thus, the martyr, who sacrificing his life, has renounced all worldly concern, meets God, in quest of spiritual vivification.'51 The Prophet, therefor, rejected all images ( tasawir) and emblems, even symbols l a -lam ), on objects connected with orison, or with death, a « recollections of the worl-d »161 and interceptions to the soul's endea­vour towards the Transcendant abstraction. Among objects connected with cult, were the furniture of rooms, used as oratories, the prayer - carpets, clothes and shrouds. Plain white was recommended for the lat-(1) See notes 21 , 3 6 , 6 5 infra.

P) E. Esin, «The Hidjra and its cultural consequences Cultures, vol. VII. V I I 1 4 (Unesco , 1980 ), dedicated to the 1400th anniversary of the Hegira, p.56, citing the Qur'anic verses, VIZ 102, XLH Z 11, LVIIZ 3 , LIX Z 11.

(3) Bukhari, Tadjrid 'us - sarih, Zabidi - Miras ed. Diyanet - isleri Bask, yayini, no 9 (Istandul, 1948 ), Salat, vol. D, p.291.

(4) Mehmed Arif, Binbir Hadith sherif - i Sherhi (Cairo, H. 1319 ), hadith 131. (5) Ibn Madja, Sunan (Cairo H. 1372 ), Bab 13, hadith 190. (6) Bukhari, Sahih ( Cairo, H. 1355 ) , Libas and Tasawir, vol. VII, pp. 5, 168. Id., Tadjrid, vol.11, pp. 260 - 64.

Nasa'i, Sunan (Cairo, H. 1348 ), Zinat, vol. VIII, pp. 138 - 192. « Recollections of the world : ibid., vol. VIII, p. 110; Bukhari, Sahih; vol. VII, p. 168.

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

t e r ) too. The garment, denoting vanity, which became a shroud, was said to, cling to its owner, on the day of Judgment.

The effigy or symbol of even an orthodox mediator, whether prophetic, saintly or angelic, equally became a material hin­drance, in the search of the Abstract. The dread of the fall of Muslims to iconism and to the cult of tombs, pursued the Prophet in life and until his death - bed, when he said: « O Lord, do not permit that my tomb be an idol! ».(8)

The ban on figures seems, however, not to have been extended beyond the sphere of sacred Islamic art.'9) This is deduced from reports, on furniture with figurative designs, in the houses of early Muslims, who claimed that figures which were stamped, or interwoven, were allowed. Aisha, the Prophet's wife, had a toy in the shape of a winged horse, which she kept under a cur­tain. When a wind revealed the moulded fi­gure, she stated that it represented Solo­mon's steed. The Prophet smiled, without answer.

Neither did the Prophet interfere with the figurative art connected with the reli­gions of the Book.'10) He had protectively covered, with his hand, the images of, Jesus and Mary, painted within the Kaba, when the idols were destroyed. Another painting showing Abraham and Isma'il, together with the ram, had been erased, only be­cause the patriarchs were shown consulting

auguries, an action considered sinful ii Islam. It may perhaps be said, as agreed b, most exegesists,0 0 that the ban on figure concerned the sacred sphere and the remin iscences of idolatry. Otherwise, here as else where the fundamental recommendation; of the Prophet'12) on moderation, even ir religion, and onjudging actions only by in­tentions, must have prevailed.

Islam had abolished priesthood.'13) In Mecca, the Quraish, as descendants of Abraham, builder of the Kaba, had consti­tuted a caste of priestly citizens, the Hums, to which, by birth, the Prophet also be­longed."4) The excesses of Hums, who ad­ministered both the Kaba and the city, had led the Prophet to renounce to stand among them, during the pilgrimage ceremonies.'15) « The vanity of ancestry » ( hereditary aris­tocracy) was equally put to an end,'16) to­gether with its outward signs, such as the peculiar garment, with train, of the hums (the priestly caste ).'17)

In a society in which the non - privileged masses were reduced, as stated in the Qur'an (VI / 151 ), to bury alive their new­ly - born female offspring, any luxury seemed to be a sinful profligacy. Therefore, all were encouraged to wear the simplest fa­brics, also adopted by the Prophet.'18) The usual garments of Central Arabia'19) were the double - drapery, consisting of two seamless cloths. The lower ( r ida) was tied to the waist, while the upper ( izar ) was

(7) Bukhari, Tadjrid, vol. XII, p. 126. Nasa'i Sunan, Zinat, vol. VIII, P. 138. Shrouds: Tirmidhi, Sunan, Djana'iz, Bab 17; Bukhari, Sahih, Libas, vol. VII, Bab 5.

(8) Ibn Sad, A't - Tabaqat'ul - kubra (Beirut, H. 1380 ), vol. I, pp. 422 - 25. See also Bukhari, Sahih, vol. VII, P. 145.

(9) Nasa'i, vol. Vin, p. 192 (Zinat) . Abu Davud, Sunan (Cairo, H. 1371 ), vol. II, pp. 580 - 81 . (10) Al - Azraqi, Akhbar - u Madinat 'ul - Musharafla F. Wustenfeld edition ( Beirut, 1964 ), vol. I,PP. 110 - 1 1 4 . (11) Bukhari, Tadjrid, vol. VII, pp. 502 - 12. (12) Arif, hadlth 1 ,270 , 306. (13) Ibn Hanbal, Musnad (Cairo, H. 1313 ), vol. IV, P. 226. (14) Ibn Hisham, A's - Sira 'un - Nabawoyya (Cairo, H. 1350, vol, pp. 132, 137,211 - 15. (15) Op. cit, vol. I, pp. 1 4 0 - 4 2 . (16) Bukhari, TadjrH, vol. VII, pp. 140 - 4 1 . (17) (Bukhari, Sahih, Libas, vol. VII, pp. 1 4 0 - 4 1 . (18) Bukhari, Sahih, Libas, vol. VII, pp. 1 4 0 - 4 8 . (19) Ibn Sad, vol. I, pp. 458 - 59 (rida, Izar), P. 478 (nalain) . Bukhari, Sahih, libas, vol. VII, p. 153 (nala in) .

- 7 4 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

draped on the bust, with the end tied fron­twards. This attire seems represented on the Nike, depicted on a mural of Qarvat' ul -Faw, a city of the first to fifth centuries,

south of Mecca (p i . Ill 11 ).(20) The war­riors tied the izar on both shoulders, when it resembled a tunic/2 ') The sandals shown on a sculpture of Faw ( pi. Ill 12 ) ^ 2 2 ) , correspond to the description of the na'iain, with ankle and too-strap ( qibal) of the Prophe-t <23) Over these could be worn, in winter, the aba ( coat) of suf ( coarse wool). Men were enjoined to avoid presonal adorn­ment/24^ The category of luxury included cups and all objects in precious metals, je­welry (except a silver signet ring) and sil­ken fabrics. The regalia in gold of kings was equally blamed/25)

The construction of unnecessary costly edifices, such as castle and domes, in ma­sonry, were considered a liability to their owners, in the hereafter. The modest «dome» ( q u b b a ) , which the Prophet used, was the red leather tent, an emblem of the Mudar branch of Quraish, to which he be­longed, and under which he retired, in per­iods of hermitage. It had the form of the practical, « qubbat'ut-Turkiyya »(26), presuma­bly imported through Sasanian Persia,

where it was common. The Turkish tent, a pliable screen, was disposed cylindrically and covered with a parasol. Over it came covers of felt, or in Arabia, of leather.

The activities with artistic potentiality, of a visual character, approved in Islam/27) were the architecture of mosques, of chari­table hostelries, of fountains, of cities; the redaction of Qur'an manuscripts and the transmission of learning through books, both sacred and profane. Such Prophetic recommendations were to determine the major achievment of Islamic art. Perhaps for reasons of an iconism, as well as to en­able the modest congregations to build their own mosque, the Islamic temples were to be simple, with neither gilding, nor orna­mentation, mosques should not be musharraf ( here perhaps in the sense of crenelated, this feature being approved in the case of cities ( presumably city-walls ) .

It is apparent, both from literary sources and from archaeology, that the austere principles applied to art, by the Hadith liter­ature, were in contrast, indeed in reaction to the scene of life, in pre-Islamic Arabia. An eclectic polytheism, with local and im­ported effigies of deities, reigned in the pen-

(20) A.R. All - Ansary, Qaryat'ul - faw (University of Riyadh, 1982 ), vol. pp. 136 - 37. (21) Bukhari, Sahih, libas, vol. VII, pp. 140. (22) Ansary,p. 112, figs. 1 and 4. (23) See note 18 supra. (24) Nasa'i, Zinat, vol. VIII, pp. 138, Bukhari Sahih, bab 12, 25 - 27, 43. (25) Ibn Sad, vol, I, P. 466. (26) Abu Davud, vol. II, pp. 649 - 50. Qubbat'ut - Turkiyyaa: Prof. Hamidullah had most kindly collected passages

on the mention of the Turkish domed tent ( q u b b a ) in the Hadith literature and elsewhere and this list was published in E. Esin, « Qubbat'ut - .urkiyya », Atti del Ter o congresso di studi Arab! i Isalmici (Napol i , 1967 ), 282 - 83. It includes the mention of turkish tents, from Ctesiphon. The tent in red leather of the issue of Mudar. F. Wustenfeld, Geschichte der stadt Mekka (Beirut, 1964 ), vol. IV. p. 20. The Turks were known to the Arabs, in the Prophet's age; as shown by several studies, related on the hadith on Turks. An unduly critucal review of some European works, on this subject, nevertheless provides a biblio­graphy: A. Zayonkovskiy, « Stareyshie arabskie xadisi» / Turkax, «Turkologitcheskiy Sbornik (Moscow, 1966) , 1 9 4 - 2 0 4 . A notable feature, in this connection, in the excavations of Faw, was the discovery of some small, portable, flat water - jugs, with two handles (attached to the waist, or saddle ), considered by specialists as characteristic or northern Eurasian nomadic Huns and turks ( M . I. Artamonov, « Sarkel - Belaua Veja » Material 1 issledo-vaniya po arxeologii SSSR, no 62, Moscow, 1958, p. 45 ): Ansary, p. 141, figs. 1 - 2. They were perhaps in the wake of caravans from Central Asia.

(27) Arif, hadith 253 and index, « Ilm , Ulama »' (28) Ibid., hadith 13, 102. See also the hadith on the injunction of the Archangel Gabriel, against gilding and orna­

mentation, reported by Nur'ud - Din Samhudi (after Ghazali) , Wafa 'ul - Wafa ( Cairo, 1955 ), vol. I.p. 336.

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

insula. The aspects of the religions dervid from Abraham's monotheism, to which Is­lam felt affiliated, had, according to some Qur'anic verses and hadith, suffered from de­viations. Islam, in the sense of salvation (through monotheism ) and purifications ( tazkia ) , preached by the succession of pro­phets, had to be revived by the last of the line, Muhammad. This was the significa­tion attributed to the ascension (Miradj ) of the Prophet, from the rock ( S a k h r a ) in the ruins of the temple of Jerusalem'29 '. Islam saw God's temples, in the holy places of Ju­daism and Christianity, when they con­formed to pristine principles. The Prophet emulated the simplicity of the tabernacle of Moses'30 ', but condemned the rich and fi­gurative decoration of the churches and synagogurs of his age'31 ', ( the thought per­haps of Judaic temples, such as dura-Europos )' '. He had said, « The faith of all Prophets was the same »'33'. II- The Central-Arabian heritage of Islamic art.

The remnants found near Djadda;'34 ' at Faw,'35 ' south of Mecca and the tribal cir-cumvallations and castles ( the utum and the qasr ) , near Madina,'36 ' illustrate that on the eve of Islam, Central Arabia had already achieved a homogeneous local style. The artistic expression was based on Arab precedents and some outside influences, which could denote the impact of various religions. This complex, yet unified tradi­tion bequeathed some of its elements, to Is­lam, in particular to early Arab Islamic art.

Among the ancient Arab traditio he counted the form of the Kaba, ! Iously reconstituted on the same f tions, throughout the ages, as an ii roofless cubic edifice,'37' in stone. Tl tripetal urban settlement around i been the achievement of the priestl) Qusayy, fifth ancestpr of the Propl Qusayy had spent his youth in Na The tribal settlements, the utums as v the qasrs ( castles ) of Madina, were al cumvallations'39 ', which however have had cells, along the inner periph the walls, as seen in the market of F (pi . 1/1 ), a construction in limeston mudbricks.

The first mosques, elevated by the phet. near (Quba ) and in Madina'4", roofless circumvallations, in jocal stone and bricks, like the utums. The zu shaded pergola, consisting of six date trunks, supporting a roof of tre branches, was added as a necessity, ir hot sun of the Hidjaz. The Prophet wi that, in its utter simplicity, it should re: ble the bower-rabernacle of Moses, war ing in the desert. The Arabic word us the habith was rish. Inreference to the pn ious existence of the then small Mu community, in a hostile Arabia, the phet also likened his bower to the Ark, meant as the cradle ( a r i s h ) in which the] fant Moses had been confided to Pr| dence, on the waves of the Nile. The both as the cradle of Moses and the c containing, in Islamic exegesis the br

(29) Tabari, Djami 'ul - bayan fi tafsir 'H - Qur'an (Cario, H. 1323 ), vol. XV, pp. 9, 16 - 34. (30) See note 41 infra. (31) Arif, hadith 102. (32) see note 51 infra. (33) Arif, hadith 277. (34) see note 64 infra. (35) See note 20 supra. (36) Abd 'ul - Quddus Ansari, Athar 'ul - Madinat' il - Munawwara ( Madina, H. 1393 ), pp. 65 - 77. (37) Azraqi, vol. I, 15 - 70, 114 ( a wooden roof was first built, in the years of the Prophet's youth ). (38) Ibn Hisham, vol. I, pp. 135 - 36. (39) See note 30 supra. (40) Ansary, p. 34. (41) Samhudi, vol. I, pp. 244 - 54, 275 - 76, 322 - 83, Zulla: ibid., pp. 333 , 336. Six columns: Bukhari, Tadjrid,

II, p. 366.

- 7 6 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

' lets of the Mosaic law*42*, is called Ta­ut ( the casket) in the Qur'an ( 1/284; x/39). The zui laof the Prophet of Islam

was to be the prototype of the peristyle, in 'er open courtyard mosques. As a type of early Islamic construction,

resembling the Madina castles and the mar-ket-circumvallations of Faw (pl.I/1 ), one may cite the Omayyad castle of Mshatta*43*.

The market circumvallation of Faw, was fortified with quadrangular towers. Such stood also, beside some aristocratic tombs (pi. 1/2 )*44*. The towers evoke the « elevat­ed dome » (qubbat 'ul musharafta), blamed in Madina, by the Prophet*45*, they bring also to mind the short quadrangular towers, added as minarets to the circumvallation of the Prophets Mosque in Madina, by the Omayyad governor Omar b. Abd'ul-Aziz, between H. 85-90/704-717(46) .

Previous studies*47* on the arched mihrab of Arabia have shown that it was described, in pre-Islamic Arabic literature, in the aspect o f a palace or temple apse. In poem by the Christian Arab poet Adi b. Zaid, who died in 604, an ivory statue is men­tioned in the mihrab*48*. Although perhaps used for Christian churches also, The Qur'an as well as Tabarl's exegesis*4 '*, connect the mihrab, primarily with Judaic temples. The Qur'an (111/39. XIX/11) mentions the mihrab, as altar, in the case of Zacharias, the father of Johan the Baptist, as the birth of John was announced to him, by the angel, at the al­tar, in the sequence of Luke's narrative (5-25 ). Mary, the virgin, cousin of Elisa­beth, wife of Zacharias, is also described be­

side the mihrab ( Qur'an, 111/37 ) (This verse is often seen on Ottoman Mihrabs) . The mih-rabs of Solomon and David are equally named in the Qur'an (XXXIV/12 and XXXVIII/21 ). The Jewish doctor Kab'ul-Ahbar b. Mani performed a prayer at the « mihrab of David » , the remains of the al­tar, in the year H. 15/636, on the occasion of the visit of the Caliph Omar to the Roick (Sakhra) , site of the Prophet's ascension (Miradj), in the ruins of the Jerusalem temple*50*. An image of the Judaic mihrab is seen at the Syrian synagogue of Dura-Europos, dating from the third century (pl.IV/1 )*51*. The niche, between a pair of columns, included a depiction of the casket for the Scroll of the law, that on citron and of palm-branches and of a candelabrum. The niche was usually curtained.

In addition tO the mihrab, the Qur'an ( XX-IV/34-35 ) also mentions, in the verse called Ayat'un-Nur, a mishkat, in terms which may be so translated, in accordiance with early exegesis*52*.

« God is the Luminescence of the hea­vens and of the earth. A parabole of his lu­minescence is the mishkat, in which is a lamp. A lamp within a glass; a glass shining like a resplendet ( or pearly), star. Lit from an olive tree, neither eastern, nor western, the oil where of giveth light, even though fire toucheth it not. A luminescence above luminescence ».

The next verse begins with these words: «In houses which God has permitted to

be exalted, so that His name be re­membered in them.. »

(42) Tabari, Djami ul - bayan, vol. II, pp. 381 - 88. (43) E. Diez, Die Kunst der Isbmischen Volker ( Berlin, 1915) , pp. 3 0 - 3 3 , Fig. 23. (44) Ansary, p. 35, fig. 5. (45) See note 26 supra. (46) Samhudi, vol. II, pp. 525 - 27. MI\ 1 S a u v a * e t ' La Mosquée Omayyade de Medine ( Paris, 1946), pp. 145 - 49. (48) Tabari, Djami 'ul - bayan, vol. II, pp. 165 - 66. (49) Ibid.

m l H * 1 * * " ' T A R I K H " m M l w a ' 1 " u m a m * L e t o n , 1879 - 81 ), vol. I. p. 2408. (51) H.F. Pearson, A Guide to the synagogue of Doura - Europos ( Damascus, 1939 ). (52) Tabari, DJami-ul - bayan, vol. XVIII, pp. 105 - 1 1 3 . - 7 7 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Most of the earliest commentators, in­cluding contemporaries of the revelation, which, had occurred in answer to the query of the Jews, on the Qur'anic symbolism of luminosity, as divine guidance, have ex­plained the word mishkat, as a recess, in which lamps were placed in temples'53 ' , possibly a niche, or vessel. The symbolism of the lamp and of the «luminescence above luminescence», distinct from the fiery light perceivable by the senses, was in­terpreted by by the hadith, in which the be­liever's heart is compared to a torch ( s i radj ) , enclosed within a vessel (gh i la f ) , but illu­mined by faith'54'. The unworldly olive-tree, neither eastern, nor western, recalls the Qur'anic ( XIV/24-25 ) metaphor of the « Good word », as a tree, bearing its fruit even in adverse conditions.

The Prophet's Mosque'55 ' had, in view of the conclusions drawn by contemporary commentators on the mishkat, a niche for a lamp, although no mihrab. The Prophet, ho­wever, took his position towards his Qibla, the mizab ( spou t ) of the Kaba, indicated to him by Gabriel, with some landmarks. The obscurity of the multiplereports, on this subject, permitted nevertheless to Samhudi, of the multiple reports, on this subject, per­mitted nevertheless to Samhudi, to arrive to the following conclusion: the Prophet, standing very close to the Qibla wall and facing its centre. Took as landmark a short tree ( ud ) or wooden pillar ( a m u d ) , proba­bly a pedestal, at thereverse of which was the casket ( sanduq) , where the inscriptions with the Quranic verses (mushaf ) were en­closed. This « tree », or « wood » was later inserted in the first Omayyad mihrab of the

Madina Mosque. In his earlier years, the Prophet had preached, while leaning on one of the palm-trunks of the zuiia. When, with age, he began to feel fatigue, the minbar was constructed, as a pedestal, with three steps (on which later sat, in humility, the orthodox caliphs). The minbar stood on the right side, facing the Qibla. It was reported that, when the Prophet ceased to lean on the palm-trunk, the abandoned tree was heard to utter a complaint'56 ' .

Thus, the Qur'an casket, the niche and lamp, the plam-tree cikynbs, a wooden pedestal and perhaps the star to which the Qur'anic verse Ayat 'un-Nur compared the brilliancy of the lamp in the niche, were from the start, within the cycle of symbo­lism, either of the mosque, or of the Qibla. A palm-tree and a starry pattern seen to have been represented on an Omayyad per­iod mihrab'5 7 ' and grill (pis. IV, 2, 3 ) . A coin'58 ' of the same age shows an arch, with the anaza, or harba (p i . IV/4), the lance which the Prophet used as indication of the Qibla, when travelling'59', the word harba's similarity of root, to mihrab, has sometimes been thought to indicate a connection. Prayer had been called by the Prophet, a greater djihad (strife) than war, as it was conducted against the evil inclinations of one's own soul.

When in H. 85-90/704-17, the Omayyads rebuilt the Mosque of the pro­phet, to resemble, remarked an early Muslim, a profusely ornamented church, the first mihrab was also introduced'60 '. The «tree », or wooden Pedestal, which had for­merly indicated the Qibla, had been insert­ed, together with other relics, within the

(53) (54) (55) (56) (57)

(58) (59) (60)

Ibid., vol. XVIII, pp. 107, 111. Ibn Hanbal, vol. Ill, p. 17. Samhudi, vol. pp. 366 - 80. Ibn Hanbal, vol. Ill, p. 254; vol. VI, pp. 4, 60. Ibn Madja Salat, vol. I, pp. 163, 204, 333. Samhudi, vol. I, pp. 388 - 91 . G. C. Miles, «Mihrab and Anazah», Archaeologiva Orientalia in me...r. E. Herzfeld ( N . Y . , 1958) , pi. XXVIII, fig. 9 (miharab of Djami 'ul - Khassaki, Baghdad, dated ca A.H.145 / 7 6 2 ) ; fig. 12 (marble grill, Great Mosque, Damascus). Ibid., pi. XXVIII, fig. 8. J. Peders, « Masdjid » Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden, 1936 ); p. 338. Samhudi, vol. I. p p . 37g . 79.

- 7 8 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

mihrab The Omayyad mihrab was wooden and in the form of an arched gate, bearing the Qur'anic inscriptions of the Ayat'ul-Kursi ( 11/255 ) and the verse on the change of the Qibla ( 11/143 ) from Jeru­salem, to the Kaba. Its unorthodox gilded decoration, painted with lapis-lazuli, as well as its silken curtain, greatly disturbed the congregation, distracting their concen­tration from prayer. Several niches, with lamps, symetrically surrounded the mihrab.

After some centuries, the symbols of the Ayat'un-Nur, together with the inscription of the Qur'anic verse ( XXIVZ34 ) were to be united on a mihrab. In Khorasan ( pi. V.) , to be ultimately propagated in several Isla­mic lands*6": Turkey (both in mihrabs) and prayer-carpets), Persia and Egypt. The me­mory of the date-palm column of the Pro­phet's Mosque, which had complained, when the Prophet ceased to lean on it*62', was revived, by Jalaluddin Rumi who com­pared its tall, cylindric shape to the minar­ets of the central Asian and Turco-Iranian areas*63'. Indeed, the palm tree decor may be seen on the Seljuqid period Sarban min­aret of Isfahan.

In what concerns sculpture, the tradition of monolithic idols of the Hidjaz was start­ed, according to a hadith, when the sons of Ismail were driven away from the Kaba, to the deserts of Arabia Petra, where they be­gun to worship rocks*64'. Such effigies were found in excavations, notably near Djed-

da<65' and at Faw*66'. The coins of Faw equally display a similar figure*67'. How­ever, at Faw, together with obviously im­ported sculpture*68', of the variety present­ed to temples by pilgrims*69', some heads of local statues, in lime stone and alabaster, were in a more evolved technique (pi . II )(70). One (pi . II/l ) recalls, in aesthetic norms, the female figures, painted and sculpted in Omayyad castles, such as Qu-sair Amra and Khirbat al-Mafdjar, the other (pi . II/2 ), ancient Yemenite figures.

The murals of Faw (pi . III/l ) ( 7 , ) illus­trate the style of pre-Islamic Central Ara­bian painting, indicating the affiliation to Oriental Hellenistic schools. Some paint­ings had also been added, within the Kaba, in sequel of the reconstruction, which took place in the years of the Prophet's youth*72'. These were probably the work of local painters, as they presented Arabian features. The Virgin Mary was represented as an Arab woman. Abraham, together with Isma'il and the sacrificial Lamb, were shown consulting auguries, in a pagan Arab manner. There were also depictions of an­gles and of trees. The hadith repeatedly men­tion painters*73' including local ones (one from Madina). One of these artists com­plained, to the early traditionalist Ibn Ab­bas, that he had lost his livelihood, through the defence of figurative work. He was ad­vised to paint trees and other inanimate ob­jects. As in the case of sculpture, the exis-

(61) E. Esin, Mecca the Blessed, Madina the Radiant (London - U.S.A., 1963 and 1974. Available also in other languages), 211 - 1 2 , note 7. A detailed study on such mihrabs, see id. « The Ayat 'un-Nur» Communica­tions to the Second Qur'an Congress ( Delhi, 1982 ), in print. Our pi. V is the mihrab from Nishapur, dated ca in the Vth Century A. H., Tehran Museum, no 3284.

(62) See note 56 supra. (63) Djalaluddin Rumi, Mathnavi, lithogr. ed. Ala 'ud - Dawla ( Bombay, H. 1299 ), vol. I, pp. 55 - 56. (64) Ibn Hisham, vol. I, p. 178. Azraqi, vol. p. 71. 65) R. Blachere, Dans les pas de Mahomet ( Paris, 1956 ), pis. 24, 35.

(66) Ansary, pp. 118 - 19. (67) Ibid., pp. 8 4 - 8 5 (68) Ibid., p. 104. (69) Azraqi, vol. I, p . 75. (70) Ansary, pp. 113 (fig. 10 ), 120 ( fig. 1 ). (71) Ansary, pp. 1 3 6 . 37 (72) See not 10 supra. (73) Bukhari, Tadjrld, vol. VI, pp. 502 - 12, 612, 661 (the complaint of the painter) The painter of Madina: Tir-

midhi, Libas, Bab 18. - 7 9 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

tence of a pictorial tradition, in Central Arabia, explains some features of Omayyad painting, and its aesthetic concepts.

The austerity of the initial Islamic max­ims on art was partly forgotten by the Omayyad. Who as deduced from a Qusair Amra mural showing the caliph, attended by the Roman Caesar, the Sasanian Kisra and the Turkish Khaqan'son*74* sought to

surpass, in glory, these monarchs. The Omayyad thus naturally revived also the regalia of pre-Islamic Arabian hierarchs. Not with standing, this and other more fla­grant cases of heterodoxy, such as the start ofligurative religious painting, in the Mon­gol period^75*, the Prophetic injunctions were nevertheless to prevail, bestowing to Islamic art, its distinctive aspect.

Plate I

1 - See note 40

2 - See note 44

(75 E E i A H . ' s t o r y o f p r e _ I s l a m ' c wid early Islande Turklsh culture ( Istanbul, 1980 ), p. 168. • sin, « Le Développement hétérodoxe de la peinture figurative religieuse turque - islamique », V Congrès

nternational d'arabisants et d'islamisants, Correspondance d'Orient, on 11 ( Bruxelles, 1970 ).

- 8 0 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Plate I I

Fig. 1 ( See note 70 )

Fig. 2 ( See note 70 )

- 8 1 -

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Plate IV

- 8 3

Tek-Esin Vakfı

Tek-Esin Vakfı