Heather Broad

Ashleigh Lacey

Holly Spangler

11/19/09

 

The Rise of Islam and Islamic Literature

 

ART AND ARCHITECTURE:

            Islamic art and architecture features curving and interlaced lines, brilliant colors, and abstract figural representations.  Living objects are prohibited from being portrayed for a fear of committing idolatry in the Islamic culture, though not many follow this rule. The Islamic culture also features brilliant ceramics, metalworking, and rock-crystal carving.

            One important work of architecture is the Dome of the Rock, founded in Jerusalem in 691, on the site of the Jewish Second Temple.  The Dome of the Rock features scrolling vines, painted jewels, flowers, and crowns in dazzling blues, greens, and gold.  Also important is the eighth - century palace Khirbat al-Mafjar, which features stucco decoration, carved stone reliefs, and figural fresco paintings. 

            The Great Mosque of Samarra is a fabulous example of the Iraqi hypostyle, taken from the Egyptian hypostyle, where a number of pillars in the center of the temple support a flat roof.  The Great Mosque is also revered for its vast size and spectacular minarts, which are slender towers with balconies from which the Mosque leader calls the people to pray five times a day. 

            Calligraphy became a very important art form in the realm of Islam for it was considered the representation of the strength and will of God.  Kufic and Nastaliq are two of the most common forms of calligraphy.  Kufic is often used for copying the Qur’an in gold ink.  Bookbinding, calligraphy, papermaking, and illustration all became highly respected and widespread throughout Islam. 

 

ROLE OF WOMEN:

            The Qur’an explicitly states that men and women are equal in the eyes of God, and tells them both to dress themselves modestly.  Yet cultural traditions dictate that the woman cover herself completely save for the eyes.  In some respects, the more covered you were, the higher class you were, and poorer females dressed less modestly.  The hijab refers to the modest dress of a Muslim woman, though more commonly refers to the headscarf.  A burga is a loose-fitting robe that is worn by conservative Muslim women, along with a veil that hides her whole face except for the eyes. 

            Some important females however, still had much political influence.  Aisha, the favored wife of Muhammad, had great political clout and even participated in the Battle of Camel.  Razia was a female Muslim ruler of India in the 13th century.  Rabia, a freed slave turned scholar, was a pioneer disciple of the Sufism branch of Islam.  She never married because she did not want earthly distractions to impede her  love for God.  Khadija was the first wife of Muhammad and the first convert to Islam.  She was a shrewd business woman who hired Muhammad and then proposed marriage to him herself later, even though she was his senior by many years. 

 

THE GOVERNMENT OF ISLAM:

            After the prophet Muhammad’s death, his followers tried to continue the welfare state which he had established.  Such a state or community is referred to as a caliphate, led by a caliph.  The two major denominations of Islam: the Sunni and the Shia, differ on opinion about the proper role of the caliph in the Islamic state.  The Sunni caliphates use the caliph to act as the head of state, while the Shia believe the caliph should only be concerned with being the Mosque prayer leader.

 

RELIGION AND SOCIAL CLASS:

Islam is the second largest religion in the world, and steadily growing. If it continues to grow at the rate it is currently, it will become the largest world religion, even over Christianity, which is currently the largest. There are between .7 and 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide, 1.1 to 7 million of whom live in the U.S. About 21% of all people in the world follow Islam. There is a quote from one of the Hadiths which states Muhammad is the messenger of Islam, and the only god is Allah. Islam is a peaceful religion, where everyone is seen as equal, because of this, there is no social class recognized. Any disparity between people is purely from personal beliefs, and not a part of the Muslim religion.

MAJOR LITERARY FORMS AND GENRES:

            There are a few major literary forms in Islam, they are the following: The first is the qasida which started in Arabic literary history and can have from 20 to 100 verses  with a single rhyme throughout the piece. This usually starts as a love ode to catch the reader’s attention, then tells of a group or a poet’s journey, and ends as a tribute to a poet, his patron, or his tribe. This is used as an instrument of praise to Allah, eulogies of Muhammad, or praise or sadness for a saint. The second type is a ghazel, which is a love lyric from five to twelve verses, which originated from the opening of the qasida. The third type is the qitah, which is used for satire, joking, riddles, or codes. The fourth type is the Masnavi, which is originally from Persia and became popular because of it’s ability to use thousands of verses to tell as story. Another is the Roba’i which also have Persian roots, it uses quatrains (four line verse). The majamah is the typical form to express the spirit with the use of rhyme. It is complicated and uses lofty language to tell a simple story, and is usually very difficult to understand. It only became less complicated in the 19th century, when the verses were translated into the European languages.

EDUCATION:

Education was important in the Islamic Empire.  A testament to this is how the word for knowledge (‘ilm) frequently appears in the Koran.  The knowledge that was most important deemed most important to know was held in the Koran.  For this reason, people needed to be able to read and memorize the Koran and therefore were taught literacy.  Male children began their strict education at age four.

 PRIMARY ENEMIES:

Enemies of the Islamic empire were the Mongol Chinghis Khans from Asia.  In 1219, the Mongols began an invasion of the Islamic empire, but it was not until 1253 that the Mongols attempted to establish themselves in the cities they had overtaken.  However, the longest standing enemy of the Islamic nation is found within its own borders.  A civil war erupted among the followers of Muhammad after his death in 632 concerning who should become the new leader of the empire.  The shi’ites believed that someone from Muhammad’s bloodline should be the new leader while the sunnis believed that it should be someone from the prophet’s clan.  This dispute still rages today.   

 

SCRIBES/WRITERS:

Writers in the Islamic empire were respected, but did not have much creative freedom.  Writing fiction was deemed as “lying” and went against the teachings of the Koran.  Instead, writers used poetry and prose to perpetuate the moral teachings of the Koran.  However, some writer did deviate from the restrictions on writing.  Works such as The Thousand and One Nights which provide entertainment instead of religious teachings would not have been recognized as proper literature.  Scribes were also employed by the empire to write official documents for the government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Clinton, Jerome Wright. “The Rise of Islam and Islamic Literature.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 2002. 1419-1423. Print.

“Fedayee.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009. Web.  15 Nov. 2009.

"Global Connections, Roles of Women". PBS. 15 Nov. 2009 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/women/index.html

“Islamic arts.” Encyclopaedia Brittanica.  2009.  Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.  15 Nov. 2009  http://www.brittannica.com/EBchecked/topic/295642/Islamic-arts.

“Islamic art and architecture.” The Columbia Encylopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 15 Nov. 2009 http://www.encyclopedia.com.

Murphy, Dan. “Islam’s Sunni-Shiite split.” The Christian Science Monitor. 17 Jan. 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2009.

Religion: Three Religions. One god. PBS, 2002. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
globalconnections/mideast/themes/religion/index.html>.

Robinson, B. A.  “Islam: The second largest world religion… and growing.” Religious Tolerance.  Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (n.p.), 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2009.

Stewart-Robinson, J. “The Tezkere Genre in Islam.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 23.1 (1964): 57-65. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov. 2009.

http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/islamlit.htm

"The Teachings of the Holy Quran". The Quranic Teachings. 15 Nov. 2009 <http://www.quranicteachings.co.uk/islamic-government.htm>.