Islamic Art

Islamic Art plays a vital role in the way of life called Islam. Islam, extending from the Africa to Asia creates a unique scope of artistic concepts.
This diversity, however, is contained within a somewhat, restrictedframework of techniques. Here I use the term 'restricted' veryloosely, as each individual technique can be applied in such a way asto achieve an almost infinite number of transformations, for any givenart form. I will be discussing this in more detail during the courseof this essay.
Before moving on to discuss the huge variety we find in Islamic Artand the factors which unite this huge concept, I think it is importantto clarify what this concept of 'Islamic Art' is.
The term Islamic generally refers to purely religious expressions,such as calligraphy.
Is it art created by Muslims? Or alternatively, is it art created bypeople residing in countries where the dominant religion is Islam? Orshould it be confined to the literal meaning of the word 'Islamic'? The word 'Islamic' means, 'of Islam'. It is an expression used todescribe the object in question, as being something which complieswith the beliefs and values of the religion, Islam. I will be usingthe latter description, to describe the term 'Islamic Art'. As aresult, all figural works of art will not be included in this study. The reason for this being evident in the following saying of theProphet Muhammad in which he condemned artists who try to'ape' the creation of God: in their afterlife they will be ordered togive life to their works and will suffer from their incapacity to doso.
Muslim artists transformed everyday objects into artisticmasterpieces.
Islamic Art is therefore, inexhaustibly diverse, with an almostinfinite number of art forms.
Variety is plentiful as it is, but if we break down each art form andanalyze the multiplicity we find within the realms of that particularartistic expression, we find the world of Islamic Art expanding evenfurther. As I mentioned earlier, certain restrictions are present,creating a framework within which Islamic Art is applied. Theelements used to achieve this include, arabesque, calligraphy andgeometry. This may seem like a limited number of styles to work with,reducing the diversity which can be achieved, however, thisrestriction, far from impoverishing the expression of Islamic artists,resulted in the raising of abstract design into an art form, not onlyof enormous wealth.
Looking at the fascinating field of calligraphy, we find that manydifferent scripts have evolved in various regions of the Muslim world,over a vast expanse of time. These scripts range from Kufic,Naskhi, Thuluth and Diwani. It is clear from this that thisparticular element of Islamic Art is almost inexhaustible, given thevarious types of Arabic script and the extension of the Islamicculture.
Geometrically, each pattern being generated by a unique and complexsystem of numbers. The unique nature of the patterns producedimplies the plurality present. No two patterns are the same,therefore, gaining a diverse attribute. One can delve deeper into thespirituality connected with Islamic Art by allowing oneself tocontemplate a geometric pattern and allow the gaze to become soft andnot attempt to fix it, the patterns endlessly mutate into differentgeometrical arrangements.
The vastness we begin to encounter within Islamic Art becomes quiteunimaginable, extending as far as one allows it to extend. Onegeometric Expression, such as the ceiling of the Comates Hall inAlhambra, is quite different to another, such as the detail foundon the minbar in the Arslanbane Mosque in Ankara.
Haven explored the extent to which this diversity reaches, it isimportant to try and understand the reasons behind this occurrence.
Both contributing factors are mentioned here; space and time. Thevarious styles evolved over long periods of time, with each generationadding to the diversity in the environment. With the Islamiccivilization gradually expanding to cover a large area of land,enveloping many cultures, a series of local styles were added toIslamic Art.