Arts of the Islamic World

Dedicated to art throughout the history of the Islamic world, from pre-Islamic to contemporary art, and including works from Muslim diasporas.

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DSC03581 (by pselchis)

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Old Palestinian posters about Sabra and Shatila massacre .

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Mayuri

19th century, India

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

“Popular at nineteenth century Indian courts, this bowed lute borrows features of other Indian stringed instruments, such as the body shape of the sarangi and the frets and neck of the sitar. There are four melody strings and fifteen sympathetic strings that sound when the instrument is played to accompany popular religious song. The peacock is the vehicle of Sarasvatî, the goddess of music, and it appears in Indian poetry as a metaphor for courtship.”

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The Kufic inscription includes part of the ‘Throne Verse’ (Qur’an 2:255).

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Noorduck (Kareem Lotfy)

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Bursa Grand Mosque, Turkey

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WW II era British Propaganda Poster in Iran

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Dargah Mosque, India

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Jumeirah Mosque, Dubai

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View of the courtyard and minaret of the Great Mosque, Aleppo

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“Ton nom est sur mes lèvres, ton image est dans mes yeux, ton souvenir est dans mon coeur. A qui donc écrivais-je?” - Al Hallaj

Artist: Fouad EA

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Maqamat al-Hariri, Rural Scenes by al-Wasiti [Painting]

The image by 13th–century illustrator al-Wasiti is from the Maqamat (Assemblies), a collection of stories of a picaresque hero. The author, al-Hariri (1054-1122 CE), is an important figure in Arabic literary history. The illustrations belong to the Baghdad School of miniature illustration, and depict scenes of ordinary life. The scene illustrates aspects of a village life. Al-Wasiti used a composition technique in which multiple levels show different planes of the scene, allowing him to compress many aspects of village life into the small space of the painting. A date palm, the village mosque, and the individual brick or adobe houses line the village street. Al-Wasiti portrayed the intimacy of life in the village, with each door open to show the family dynamics and work being done. A girl stands in one doorway with a woman, probably her mother. A woman in another doorway appears to call to someone, while a husband and wife nearby converse or argue. Poultry roost on the roofs of houses, a woman spins thread, and people tend domestic animals, including sheep, goats and water buffalo, often the work of women and children.

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Goharshad Mosque

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Deir el-Gharbi village, where residents craft jugs made of Western Desert clay. National Geographic, December 1991

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A Queen’s Gift to Her People || The Pioneer

…the Golghar of Bhopal is undoubtedly a unique monumental structure. It was built by Sultan Shahjehan, Begum of Bhopal (1867-1901), when she was Nawab of Bhopal. This graceful ruler accomplished some memorable works and built what are still the best structures left in the city. Shahjehan Begum was recognised as ruler of Bhopal in 1844 at the age of six years. This was a major reason that made Shahajehan Begum an intellect as the responsibility came to her too early.

Begum Sahiba was a clever ruler and managing the kingdom with dedication was her priority. She made better facilities for education. During her rule, she started the construction of marvellous buildings which were made to perfection. The constructions were done in such a manner that the purpose was easily achieved.

Shahjehan Begum was very fond of construction having a mix of beauty and elegance. She possessed an unmatched sense of planning. Golghar was built to donate grain and essentials to the needy people during her regime. The needy should not feel ashamed or shy while accepting donation and so the people employed to conduct the work were blind. The Golghar is one such example which portrays the genius of proper planning and management.

The basic Golghar is a circular single story building. The structure has a ring shaped room. The structure has 32 doors, purposely made to accommodate more numbers of the needy. After entering the building, one can proceed to the inner compartment, also in the form of a ring. It has four doors through which the donation was accepted. The inner room also has four windows through which distribution took place. Thus the Golghar has 32 doors on its circumference and the inner circle has four doors and four windows. The deprived and poor were hence provided with 32 doors to access the administration. The donation was also sent out through 32 doors.

From the time it was ruled by the Bhopal Nawabs, the Bhopal region had been famous for four things - gutka, batwa (purse), chuneti (small box used to carry chuna) and rumal (stole).

When Prince of Wales was going to succeed his ancestors to the throne, Bhopal Nawab Shahjehan Begum Sahiba wished to gift him something unique. After going through the list of gifts put together by her officials, she was not satisfied. When she was taking a stroll in her garden, the nest of the weaver bird got her attention.

The weaver bird is a genius architect and makes a perfect nest. Before laying eggs it makes a nest for its offspring which is pouch shaped and protects the young from falling. The nest is made with fibre and dry grass, the pointed end of which is kept outside and the soft side angled towards the inner side so that the baby birds get a cushion.

Begum Shahjahan came up with a brilliant idea to gift a beautiful bird nest woven with gold and silver wires and beautiful fabric like kamkhaub and kaamdani to the Prince of Wales.

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Yeni Camii, Istanbul, Turkey

cavallotkd on Flickr.