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University of Texas Press
Music and Musicians in Islamic ArtAuthor(s): Walter DennySource:
Asian Music,
Vol. 17, No. 1 (Autumn - Winter, 1985), pp. 37-68Published by: University of Texas PressStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/833740
Accessed: 08/04/2009 12:29
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MUSICANDMUSICIANSINISLAMICART
by
WalterDennyIn the conventional WesternapproachtoIslamicsociety,musichas formed a focusforthemakers ofimagesofthe exoticEast,andforthose whosoughtseriouslytolearnabout the East.Inbothcases,the visualarts oftheWesthave since the sixteenthcenturyincludedmusicalimageryas anessentialaspectofthedepictionof Islamiccivilization,and at timesdepictionsof Islamic musicinWesternarthave offeredimportant insightsinto the roleofmusicin the various strata ofIslamicsociety.Musichasbeendepictedas apartoftheexoticandoftenheavilyeroticatmosphereofthestereotypicalIslamicharem;it has been shown asapartofIslamic folkceremonialandroyalritual;WesternartistshavedepictedthemusicalinstrumentsofIslamic landswithcarefulattention,justastravelers oftenattemptedtogivesomeideaof thepoetryand melodies of Islamic musicintheirtravelaccounts.1The wealth ofinformationonaspectsofIslamicmusiccontainedincertain works of Western artshouldcomeas nosurprise;Westernpaintingsare afterallthemajorform of documentationfor thehistoryofcertaingroupsofearlyIslamiccarpets,andmanyoftheearlyWesternhistoriesofIslamiclands werewrittenlargelyfromWesterntravel anddiplomaticaccounts.Butthe focus ofthisessayis not the documentationofmusic andmusiciansinIslam asperceived throughthevisionof Westernartists,however that visionmayhaveeitherclarifiedor distorted thesubjectunder itsscrutiny.Rather,thispaperwill concentrate onquestionsaboutthe roles of music and musiciansinIslamiccultureandsociety,as those roles are documentedintheart ofIslamicpeoplesthemselves. The use ofIslamicart asdocumentation forIslamic social andculturalhistorymayinvolvethe samebasicmethodologythatoneemploysindealingwith similarquestionsintheWesterntradition,but the basicrelationshipsbetween artandsociety,andtheparametersbywhich wemaymeasurethedocumentaryeffectiveness of thevisualartsinIslamichistory,are of courseuniqueto the Islamictradition,and shouldinspireintheprudentscholar asenseofcaution andhumility.2Thisessaywill nottreattherather unusualpositionoffiguralartintheIslamictheologicalandlegaltradition(asubjectwhich has beencompetentlyandcreativelytreatedelsewhere)3,norwill37
 
it discusstheparallelsituationofIslamicmusicinIslamicjurisprudence,thesubjectofDr.Ibsen al-Faruqi'spaperin thisvolume.Rather,theapproachtakenherehasbeentouse visualdata--worksofartthemselves--asthebasicbodyofevidence.For thepurposesof thisstudythe authorassembledphotographsofapproximatelyfive hundredworksof Islamic artinwhichmusicalideasorimageswerepresent,and thenattemptedfromthissampletodefine several basiccategoriesofimages,and to askthe mostimportant questionsraisedbythedata.Therelationshipofthevisual artstomusicinIslamcoversawiderangeofcategoriesin both media.JustasIslamicjurisprudencehasalways assignedto theartofcalligraphythehighestplacein the statusof thearts,duetoits connectionwiththe Wordof GodasexpressedintheQur'an,sothe musicalreadingofthe Wordof Godoccupiesasimilarhigh positionin theworldofIslamicmusic.Forthemusical exerciseof theadhan,Islamicarchitectsrespondedwith manar(minarets)inmanydifferentarchitecturalforms,so thatthefaithfulmightbecalledtoprayerfrom an architecturalsettingofappropriatebeautyandappropriatesymbolicconnotationsofpowerandvisualprominence(seeJuynboll1960:187-88andGrabar1973:119-20).InthekaleidoscopicworldofIslamicmysticism,thevariousexponentsoftasawwuf notonlyemployedtheimageryof musicinmysticalpoetryasanevocationof thedivineBeing,butemployedmusicitselfinvarioussufirituals,of which the dances ofthemawlawior"whirlingdervishes"areonlythe best known.Musicseemstohavebeen an essentialaccoutrementofIslamiccourtsfromtheveryearliesttimes,combiningtheloveofluxuryinheritedfrompre-Islamicand non-Islamiccultureswiththe evocationofimagesofparadiseonearth,a themethatpermeatesthe Islamickinglyambience.Islamicart,asit wasconcernedwiththe service ofreligiousinstitutionsbothorthodox and heterodox andwiththeserviceof theroyalcourt,aboundsinimagesofmusicfrom theeighthcenturyonward.Wereotherevidencenotavailable,itwouldstill bepossibleto inferfrom the evidenceof thevisualartsalonethatthereexistedinIslamicsocietyfrom itsformationonwardaspecializedand well-definedoccupationalrole,thatof the court musician.Amongtheearliestexamplesof Islamicfiguralart are thoseforming38
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