UNRAVELLING THE ESSENCE OF ISLAMIC ART: EXPLORING ILM AL-JAMAL, IHSAN, AND THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST POWER POLITICS

Javed, Huma

Research Article (Vol. 16(1)) 2024

UNRAVELLING THE ESSENCE OF ISLAMIC ART: EXPLORING ILM AL-JAMAL, IHSAN, AND THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST POWER POLITICS

ISSRA Papers

2 Cited by 58 References Full access PDF

Abstract

Islamic art has been extensively studied from various perspectives, including art, history, anthropology, and cultural studies. This artistic tradition encompasses diverse forms that is influenced by religion, culture, and historical frameworks. It is not limited to religious art or art created solely by and for Muslims. To better understand this complex tradition, a critical revaluation is required. This research aims to analyse the concepts of Ilm al-Jamâl (the knowledge of beauty) and Ihsan (excellence or perfection) within Islamic art. Ilm al-Jamâl reflects the belief that natural beauty reflects the divine beauty of God, while Ihsan represents spiritual excellence and the pursuit of moral and ethical perfection. It explores the interplay between these concepts and examines how political and power dynamics have impacted Islamic art theory. Employing qualitative research methods, including literature review and analysis, within an interpretive and constructivist theoretical context, the research aims to provide a comprehensive framework. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the study seeks to illuminate Islamic art, exposing its multifaceted nature as a reflection of religious, cultural, and political identities.

Keywords: Ihsan; Al-Jamaal; Art History; Constructivist Power Politics; Islamic Art Theory; Islamic Philosophy

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UNRAVELLING THE ESSENCE OF ISLAMIC ART: EXPLORING ILM AL-JAMAL, IHSAN, AND THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST POWER POLITICS

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References 58

Madden, Edward H. "Some Characteristics of Islamic Art." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 33, no. 4 (1975): 423–430. https://doi.org/10.2307/429655.
Tabba, Yasser. The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival. University of Washington Press, 2002. 224. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcwnpqv.
Shalem, Avinoa. "What do we mean when we say Islamic Art? An urgent plea for a critical re-writing of the history of the arts of the Islam." Journal of Art Historiography 6 (2012).
Grabar, Oleg. "Reflections on the Study of Islamic Art." Muqarnas 1 (1983): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523068.
Madden, Edward H. "Some Characteristics of Islamic Art." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 33, no. 4 (1975): 423–430. https://doi.org/10.2307/429655.
Al Ghazali, Muhammad. "Reflections on Islamic View of Art and Literature." Islamic Studies 35, no. 4 (1996): 425–434. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20836965.
Al-Attas, Muhammad Naguib (Syed.). Islam and Secularism. Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, 1978. https://books.google.com.pk/books/about/Islam_and_Secularism.html?id=mVAtAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y.
Aga-Oglu, Mehmet. "Remarks on the Character of Islamic Art." The Art Bulletin 36, no. 3 (1954): 175–202. https://doi.org/10.2307/3047561.
Ali, Wijdan. "The Status of Islamic Art in the Twentieth Century." Muqarnas 9 (1992): 186–188. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523143.
Kartanegara, Mulyadhi. Essentials of Islamic Epistemology: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Foundation of Knowledge. Bandar Seri Begawan: University Brunei Darussalam Press, 2014, 178.
El-Amin, Mohammed Nuri. "The Role of International Communism in the Muslim World and in Egypt and the Sudan." British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 23, no. 1 (1996): 29–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/195818.
Shaw, Wendy M. K. What Is 'Islamic' Art? Between Religion and Perception. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. doi:10.1017/9781108622967.
Bloom, Jonathan M., and Sheila S. Blair, eds. Islamic Art: Past, Present, Future, The Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.
Feener, R. Michael. "Muslim Cultures and Pre-Islamic Pasts: Changing Perceptions of 'Heritage'." In: Rico, T. (eds) The Making of Islamic Heritage. Heritage Studies in the Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4071-9_3.
Shalem, A. "What do we mean when we say Islamic Art? An Urgent Plea for a Critical Re-writing of the History of the Arts of the Islam." Journal of Art Historiography 6 (2012).
Grabar, Oleg. "Editorial." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 43 (2003): 5–11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20167586.
Shalem, A. "What do we mean when we say Islamic Art? An Urgent Plea for a Critical Re-writing of the History of the Arts of the Islam." Journal of Art Historiography 6 (2012).
Mozatti, Luca. Islamic Art (Reprint Edition). New York: Prestel Publishing, 2010.
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Philosophy From its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy. State University of New York Press, Albany, 2006.
ibid
Alami, Mohammed Hamdouni, ed. Art and Architecture in the Islamic Tradition: Aesthetics, Politics and Desire in Early Islam. London: I.B.Tauris, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9780755694471.
Marks, Laura. "Infinity and Accident: Strategies of Enfoldment in Islamic Art and Computer Art." MIT Press 39, no. 1 (2006): 37–43.
Junod, Benoît, Georges Khalil, Stefan Weber, and Gerhard Wolf. "The Concept of Islamic Art: Inherited Discourses and New Approaches" (2012).
George, Alain. "The Qur’an, Calligraphy and the Early Civilization of Islam." In A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, edited by F. Finbarr Barry and N. Gulru, Vol. 1, Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.
Abdul Haq, Muhammad. "The Perspective of At-Tawḥīd." Islamic Studies 22, no. 3 (1983): 1–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20847235.
Lenssen, Anneka. "‘Muslims to Take Over Institute for Contemporary Art’: The 1976 World of Islam Festival." Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 42, no. 1/2 (2008): 40–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23063541.
Ibid
Babaie, Sussan. "Voices of Authority: Locating the 'Modern' in 'Islamic' Arts." Getty Research Journal (2011): 133–149. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23005392.
Oleg Grabar, The Dome of the Rock (Belknap Press, 2006)
Bloom, Jonathan M., and Sheila S. Blair, eds. Islamic Art: Past, Present, Future, The Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.
Lisa Golombek and Maria Subtelny, Timurid Art and Culture: Iran and Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century (Brill, 1992).
Richard Ettinghausen, Islamic Art and Archaeology (Routledge, 1984).
Oleg Grabar, The Formation of Islamic Art (Yale University Press, 1987).
Gharipour, Mohammad, and İrvin Cemil Schick, eds. Calligraphy and Architecture in the Muslim World. Edinburgh University Press, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctvxcrjh7.
El-Torky, Assem A. "Political Symbolism in Mohammad Ali’s Mosque: Embodying Political Ideology in Architecture." Alexandria Engineering Journal 57, no. 4 (2018): 3873-3880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.11.002.
Abdullahi, Yahya, and Mohamed Rashid Bin Embi. "Evolution of Islamic Geometric Patterns." Frontiers of Architectural Research 2, no. 2 (2013): 243-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2013.03.002.
Michell, George, and Ernst J. Grube. Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning with a Complete Survey of Key Monuments and 758 Illustrations, 112 in Colour. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.
ibid
Linda Komaroff, “Review of The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800, by S. S. Blair & J. M. Bloom”, Studies in the Decorative Arts 3, no. 1 (1995): 82–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40662560.
ibid
Moaddel, Mansoor. "The Study of Islamic Culture and Politics: An Overview and Assessment." Annual Review of Sociology 28 (2002): 359–386. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3069246.
Shaw, Wendy M. K. What is "Islamic" Art? Between Religion and Perception. Cambridge University Press, 2019.
Moaddel, Mansoor. "The Study of Islamic Culture and Politics: An Overview and Assessment." Annual Review of Sociology 28 (2002): 359–386. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3069246.
Matthew, Ashley J. "Rethinking the Secular – Introduction." Horizons 35, no. 2 (Fall 2008): 327–329. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S036096690000551X.
Skinner, Alex. Secularization and the World Religions, edited by Hans Joas and Klaus Wiegandt. 1st ed. Liverpool University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj9xt.
Rizi, Kishwar. The Transnational Mosque: Architecture and Historical Memory in the Contemporary Middle East. Chapel Hill, NC, 2015; online edn, North Carolina Scholarship Online, 19 May 2016. https://doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621166.001.0001.
Enoch, David. "Can There Be a Global, Interesting, Coherent Constructivism about Practical Reason?" Philosophical Explorations 12, no. 3 (2011): 319-339.
Skinner, Alex. Secularization and the World Religions, edited by Hans Joas and Klaus Wiegandt. 1st ed. Liverpool University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj9xt.
Enoch, David. "Can There Be a Global, Interesting, Coherent Constructivism about Practical Reason?" Philosophical Explorations 12, no. 3 (2011): 319-339.
Nelson, Robert. "The Map of Art History." The Art Bulletin 79, no. 1 (1997): 28-40.
Campanini, Massimo. "Science and Epistemology in Medieval Islam." Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 4 (2015): 20-28.
White, Jenny. Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks. Princeton University Press, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1r2f65.
Shaw, Wendy. "Possessors and Possessed: Museums, Archaeology, and the Visualization of History in the Late Ottoman Empire." University of California Press; First Edition (June 12, 2003).
Bloom, Jonathan M., and Sheila S. Blair. The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250–1800. The Yale University Press Pelican History of Art Series, 1996.
Karner, Christian, and Alan Aldridge. "Theorizing Religion in a Globalizing World." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 18 (December 2004): 5–32.
Hashim, R., & Rossidy, I. "Islamization of Knowledge: A Comparative Analysis of the Conceptions of Al-Attas and Al-Faruqi." Intellectual Discourse 8, no. 11 (2000): 19-44.
Rusydiyah, Evi Fatimatur. "Character Education Through the Constructivist Design of Islamic Education Subject." Department of Islamic Studies (Indonesia) 21, no. 3 (2014): 227-238.
Huda, M., Yusuf, J. B., Azmi Jasmi, K., & Nasir Zakaria, G. "Al-Zarnūjī’s Concept of Knowledge ('Ilm)." SAGE Open 6, no. 3 (2016): https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016666885.

[1] Madden, Edward H. "Some Characteristics of Islamic Art." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 33, no. 4 (1975): 423–430. https://doi.org/10.2307/429655.

[2] Tabba, Yasser. The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival. University of Washington Press, 2002. 224. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcwnpqv.

[3] Shalem, Avinoa. "What do we mean when we say Islamic Art? An urgent plea for a critical re-writing of the history of the arts of the Islam." Journal of Art Historiography 6 (2012).

[4] Grabar, Oleg. "Reflections on the Study of Islamic Art." Muqarnas 1 (1983): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523068.

[5] Madden, Edward H. "Some Characteristics of Islamic Art." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 33, no. 4 (1975): 423–430. https://doi.org/10.2307/429655.

[6] Al Ghazali, Muhammad. "Reflections on Islamic View of Art and Literature." Islamic Studies 35, no. 4 (1996): 425–434. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20836965.

[7] Al-Attas, Muhammad Naguib (Syed.). Islam and Secularism. Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, 1978. https://books.google.com.pk/books/about/Islam_and_Secularism.html?id=mVAtAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y.

[8] Aga-Oglu, Mehmet. "Remarks on the Character of Islamic Art." The Art Bulletin 36, no. 3 (1954): 175–202. https://doi.org/10.2307/3047561.

[9] Ali, Wijdan. "The Status of Islamic Art in the Twentieth Century." Muqarnas 9 (1992): 186–188. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523143.

[10] Kartanegara, Mulyadhi. Essentials of Islamic Epistemology: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Foundation of Knowledge. Bandar Seri Begawan: University Brunei Darussalam Press, 2014, 178.

[11] El-Amin, Mohammed Nuri. "The Role of International Communism in the Muslim World and in Egypt and the Sudan." British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 23, no. 1 (1996): 29–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/195818.

[12] Shaw, Wendy M. K. What Is 'Islamic' Art? Between Religion and Perception. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. doi:10.1017/9781108622967.

[13] Bloom, Jonathan M., and Sheila S. Blair, eds. Islamic Art: Past, Present, Future, The Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.

[14] Feener, R. Michael. "Muslim Cultures and Pre-Islamic Pasts: Changing Perceptions of 'Heritage'." In: Rico, T. (eds) The Making of Islamic Heritage. Heritage Studies in the Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4071-9_3.

[15] Shalem, A. "What do we mean when we say Islamic Art? An Urgent Plea for a Critical Re-writing of the History of the Arts of the Islam." Journal of Art Historiography 6 (2012).

[16] Grabar, Oleg. "Editorial." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 43 (2003): 5–11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20167586.

[17] Shalem, A. "What do we mean when we say Islamic Art? An Urgent Plea for a Critical Re-writing of the History of the Arts of the Islam." Journal of Art Historiography 6 (2012).

[18] Mozatti, Luca. Islamic Art (Reprint Edition). New York: Prestel Publishing, 2010.

[19] Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Philosophy From its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy. State University of New York Press, Albany, 2006.

[20] ibid

[21] Alami, Mohammed Hamdouni, ed. Art and Architecture in the Islamic Tradition: Aesthetics, Politics and Desire in Early Islam. London: I.B.Tauris, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9780755694471.

[22] Marks, Laura. "Infinity and Accident: Strategies of Enfoldment in Islamic Art and Computer Art." MIT Press 39, no. 1 (2006): 37–43.

[23] Junod, Benoît, Georges Khalil, Stefan Weber, and Gerhard Wolf. "The Concept of Islamic Art: Inherited Discourses and New Approaches" (2012).

[24] George, Alain. "The Qur’an, Calligraphy and the Early Civilization of Islam." In A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, edited by F. Finbarr Barry and N. Gulru, Vol. 1, Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.

[25] Abdul Haq, Muhammad. "The Perspective of At-Tawḥīd." Islamic Studies 22, no. 3 (1983): 1–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20847235.

[26] Lenssen, Anneka. "‘Muslims to Take Over Institute for Contemporary Art’: The 1976 World of Islam Festival." Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 42, no. 1/2 (2008): 40–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23063541.

[27] Ibid

[28] Babaie, Sussan. "Voices of Authority: Locating the 'Modern' in 'Islamic' Arts." Getty Research Journal (2011): 133–149. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23005392.

[29] Oleg Grabar, The Dome of the Rock (Belknap Press, 2006)

[30] Bloom, Jonathan M., and Sheila S. Blair, eds. Islamic Art: Past, Present, Future, The Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.

[31] Lisa Golombek and Maria Subtelny, Timurid Art and Culture: Iran and Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century (Brill, 1992).

[32] Richard Ettinghausen, Islamic Art and Archaeology (Routledge, 1984).

[33] Oleg Grabar, The Formation of Islamic Art (Yale University Press, 1987).

[34] Gharipour, Mohammad, and İrvin Cemil Schick, eds. Calligraphy and Architecture in the Muslim World. Edinburgh University Press, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctvxcrjh7.

[35] El-Torky, Assem A. "Political Symbolism in Mohammad Ali’s Mosque: Embodying Political Ideology in Architecture." Alexandria Engineering Journal 57, no. 4 (2018): 3873-3880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.11.002.

[36] Abdullahi, Yahya, and Mohamed Rashid Bin Embi. "Evolution of Islamic Geometric Patterns." Frontiers of Architectural Research 2, no. 2 (2013): 243-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2013.03.002.

[37] Michell, George, and Ernst J. Grube. Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning with a Complete Survey of Key Monuments and 758 Illustrations, 112 in Colour. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.

[38] ibid

[39] Linda Komaroff, “Review of The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800, by S. S. Blair & J. M. Bloom”, Studies in the Decorative Arts 3, no. 1 (1995): 82–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40662560.

[40] ibid

[41] Moaddel, Mansoor. "The Study of Islamic Culture and Politics: An Overview and Assessment." Annual Review of Sociology 28 (2002): 359–386. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3069246.

[42] Shaw, Wendy M. K. What is "Islamic" Art? Between Religion and Perception. Cambridge University Press, 2019.

[43] Moaddel, Mansoor. "The Study of Islamic Culture and Politics: An Overview and Assessment." Annual Review of Sociology 28 (2002): 359–386. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3069246.

[44] Matthew, Ashley J. "Rethinking the Secular – Introduction." Horizons 35, no. 2 (Fall 2008): 327–329. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S036096690000551X.

[45] Skinner, Alex. Secularization and the World Religions, edited by Hans Joas and Klaus Wiegandt. 1st ed. Liverpool University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj9xt.

[46] Rizi, Kishwar. The Transnational Mosque: Architecture and Historical Memory in the Contemporary Middle East. Chapel Hill, NC, 2015; online edn, North Carolina Scholarship Online, 19 May 2016. https://doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621166.001.0001.

[47] Enoch, David. "Can There Be a Global, Interesting, Coherent Constructivism about Practical Reason?" Philosophical Explorations 12, no. 3 (2011): 319-339.

[48] Skinner, Alex. Secularization and the World Religions, edited by Hans Joas and Klaus Wiegandt. 1st ed. Liverpool University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj9xt.

[49] Enoch, David. "Can There Be a Global, Interesting, Coherent Constructivism about Practical Reason?" Philosophical Explorations 12, no. 3 (2011): 319-339.

[50] Nelson, Robert. "The Map of Art History." The Art Bulletin 79, no. 1 (1997): 28-40.

[51] Campanini, Massimo. "Science and Epistemology in Medieval Islam." Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 4 (2015): 20-28.

[52] White, Jenny. Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks. Princeton University Press, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1r2f65.

[53] Shaw, Wendy. "Possessors and Possessed: Museums, Archaeology, and the Visualization of History in the Late Ottoman Empire." University of California Press; First Edition (June 12, 2003).

[54] Bloom, Jonathan M., and Sheila S. Blair. The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250–1800. The Yale University Press Pelican History of Art Series, 1996.

[55] Karner, Christian, and Alan Aldridge. "Theorizing Religion in a Globalizing World." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 18 (December 2004): 5–32.

[56] Hashim, R., & Rossidy, I. "Islamization of Knowledge: A Comparative Analysis of the Conceptions of Al-Attas and Al-Faruqi." Intellectual Discourse 8, no. 11 (2000): 19-44.

[57] Rusydiyah, Evi Fatimatur. "Character Education Through the Constructivist Design of Islamic Education Subject." Department of Islamic Studies (Indonesia) 21, no. 3 (2014): 227-238.

[58] Huda, M., Yusuf, J. B., Azmi Jasmi, K., & Nasir Zakaria, G. "Al-Zarnūjī’s Concept of Knowledge ('Ilm)." SAGE Open 6, no. 3 (2016): https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016666885.

UNRAVELLING THE ESSENCE OF ISLAMIC ART: EXPLORING ILM AL-JAMAL, IHSAN, AND THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST POWER POLITICS

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References 58