Islamic Architecture

Introduction

Islamic civilization is one of the most prominent human civilizations in all fields. It is also one of the documented civilizations that Muslims have worked in order to preserve, record and document it. Since its first inception at the hands of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), Islamic civilization has been launched from a doctrinal point of view that is the basis around which it revolves and pours into it in all its dimensions, and Islamic art is part of that civilization, which is supposed to be following the same approach as it is going, and starting from the same premises as one of its results. The meditator of Islamic art notices that it is an art that differs significantly from many arts in terms of its general character, features, philosophy and even its final outcomes, and despite the fact that Islamic art is one of the most controversial arts, it has proven its heritage, which reflects a refined thought and content that came in its basis to refine souls and minds next to what it contains of utilitarian and aesthetic values that seek to improve taste and aesthetic sense.

Many authors have been interested in Islamic art and have been looking at two aspects, the first: it is concerned with the types and fields that this art includes such as architecture and decoration, and the second: it is concerned with the eras in which it originated, according to a certain historical sequence through which it is dealt with according to the chronological division of the eras in which it was found.

It is strange to ignore this history, that glorious past, and that wonderful Islamic civilization that lives in our minds, souls and consciences, and we do not preserve it or at least do not try to keep it from disappearing.

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Definition of architecture:

Some define it as the science of building construction and others says that it is the creation of buildings that are easy to use and meet the factors of beauty

The beginning and development of Islamic art:

The beginning of Islamic art was a traditional beginning that corresponds to the local environment surrounding it, as some analysts see the Quba Mosque in Medina as the first Islamic artistic monument that was built after the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) migrated to Medina and its construction was characterized by extreme simplicity.

Returning to the historical context of Islamic civilization, it can be said that Islamic art originated from the first year of the migration of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when the Prophet migrated from Mecca to Medina and resided on the outskirts of Medina and ordered the construction of the Quba Mosque on the eighth of Rabi I in the first year of the Hijra, corresponding to the twentieth of September 622 AD.

Muslims rejected the artistic styles that existed before their advent only those that were contrary to the Islamic faith, but they benefited from those styles and from the makers and craftsmen who had experience and professional performance. It was not until a few years later that Muslims were able to direct those arts and artistic styles according to their visions and perceptions, which made Islamic art take its own character, which distinguished it from all arts, and the Levant had the lead in the advanced emergence of Islamic art as the Umayyad’s made Damascus the capital of the Islamic State, and that centralization had a clear impact on the development of Islamic art in that region, which gave it an artistic impetus in almost all fields. However, Islamic architecture remains one of the most important evidence of the emergence of Islamic art represented by the Dome of the Rock, which was built during the reign of Abdul Malik bin Marwan in the early Umayyad era.

It was not long before the first stage, in which the first generation of the sons of the land of Islam practiced the continuity of traditional art, expired, and the Islamic arts moved to a second stage, which no longer had any relationship with their local traditional sources, and new features of these arts emerged and made them distinct and unified despite the difference of traditions in a growing area of the land where Islam spread from China to the Atlantic.

In the end, we conclude that the emergence of Islamic art was simple and traditional and its lists were based on what can be called the ancient Arab style in the field of architecture and some industries, and the beginning of Islamic art was the beginning of architecture represented in the construction of the Quba Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, and then in the field of Arabic calligraphy for the need of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the correspondence that was made between him and the rulers and leaders in what was later used to write the Qur'an, and after That Islamic art moved towards development when the capital of the Islamic State moved to the Levant, where it was the organized beginning of Islamic art, which took away from the arts of different civilizations many styles and techniques, while accomplishing it in a new special style that carries qualities and features that reflect the impact that Islam has generated in those achievements.

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Features of Islamic art:

Islamic art was characterized by a number of characteristics that accompanied it for a long time, and gave it a distinctive form that is easy to recognize, decoration with all its accuracy and craftsmanship was an important feature in Islamic art, whether architecturally such as mosques, palaces or was part of the fabric or painting on metal and engraving on wood, until decoration became an Islamic art in its own right, and the Muslim artist also employed that art to compensate for the absence of other arts until decoration became a way out of the energies of the Muslim artist, where geometric shapes prevailed. And botanical drawings on the forms of decoration instead of depicting humans and animals.

This art was known as Arabesque as Islamic art was characterized by the frequent use of writing in what was known as the art of Arabic calligraphy where Muslims employed the verses of the Qur'an in their mosques as part of the glorification of the Holy Quran as the constitution of Muslims and the source of their legislation, which made the Arabic alphabet turn into an art in itself where the Muslim artist mastered the beautification of Arabic letters that honored to carry the verses of the Holy Quran.

Thus, Islamic art has combined several elements that art rarely combines between them, it is an expressive art that has aesthetic and practical features at the same time, and on the other hand, it is an art that mixes with spirituality in terms of its connection with religion, which is its main source and source of distinction from other arts.

We conclude that: Islamic art has many features that distinguish it, some of which relate to the artistic aspects and some of which relate to the formative aspects, and those features came in an integrative form so that Islamic art became distinctive by its presence in it.

Art in Islam:

The relationship of Islamic art to the mosque is inseparable because it embraces these arts where architecture, its distinctive geometric shape, its calligraphy, its world and the decorations flowing through the walls and domes of the mosque that made the philosopher Roger Garaudy conclude that the driving factor of Islamic art is the mosque and its architecture, and then he said his wonderful saying: 'The arts in Islam lead to the mosque, and the mosque leads to prayer'. This means that Islamic art attracts man to Allah the Almighty, and goes in his worship to get rid of all slavery to others.

Therefore, the mosque in Islamic art represents the beginning and the end - as Dr. Imad al-Din Khalil said, and it is not surprising; it is the pillar of Islamic civilization, and its beating heart of faith and life, and this fact has been recognized by all those who are familiar with Islamic art where they have made the mosque the focal point around which their scientific research revolves.

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The duty of the Muslim artist:

Many Muslims have abandoned Islamic art, until its manifestations almost disappeared in front of the Western model, So the Muslim artist Must strongly return to authentic Islamic art, inspired by the philosophy of Islam, and derive from it the purpose of his work, and then embark on the battle of civilizational construction, absorbing the heritage of the former and the product of contemporaries comprehensively, to open new worlds through which to prove the greatness of Islam and the genius of the contemporary Muslim artist and his ability to keep pace with his time, with his excellence in his giving and originality in his creative production; to return with art To the rehab of Islam, satisfying the aesthetic and spiritual desires of the Muslim, and the founder of an authentic Islamic art that is in harmony with the needs of the times, conforms to common sense and fills the sense and conscience with the love of God.

The most important monuments of Islamic architecture:

Mosques are considered one of the most important and prominent evidence of Islamic architecture, as the basic form of the mosque is from the design by which Muslims built the Prophet's Mosque, which includes the nave, the prayer hall and the pulpit, and although it was basically a simple spontaneous form, it developed significantly later, especially in the field of adding aesthetic elements to it, and the following are examples of some Islamic mosques such as: Dome of the Rock Mosque, Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Kairouan Mosque, Mosque of Samarra. Also the construction of schools, markets and palaces such as Mashta Palace, Alhambra Palace and the construction of minarets, domes, niches and columns.

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