AAs you know, Muslims see God as perfect and therefore, it is,
impossible to have an image of him. In a mosque, there are no
pictures, statues or images. This is because, from the very
beginning, Islam has been against idolatry. Only Allah is to be
‘worshipped. To make an image would be shirk (association), the
terrible sin of regarding something as equal to Allah. There are
also no likenesses to Allah because Allah is beyond human
tation and too great to be portrayed by human hands.
To make an image of any living person or animal would also be
insulting Allah because Allah is the sole creator. Some Muslims
are stricter than others and they forbid all representations of the
human form including photography.
Th the Mosque, instead of pictures and statues, decorative patterns are used instead, The
patterns are geometric, abstract or taken from plant life but they are deliberately not
realistic. Often the patterns are decorative designs and made up of calligraphy with
declarations in Arabic, which are the very words of Allah from the Quran.
Islamic artis often vibrant and distinctive. Unlike Christian art, Islamic artis not
restricted to religious work, but includes all the artistic traditions in Muslim culture. Its
strong aesthetic appeal transcends time and space, as well as differences in language and
cculture. This is because of common features in al Islamic art, which give ita remarkable
coherence, regardless of the country or the time in which it was created. There are,
regional characteristics, and influences from other cultures are also
The essentials of Islamic art
Includes all Muslim art, not just explicitly religious art
Islamic art seeks to portray the meaning and essence of things, rather than just their physical form
Crafts and decorative arts are regarded as having full at status
Calligraphy is a major ar-form because writing has high status in Islam and writing is a significant decoration for
objects and buildings
‘Geometry and patterns are important
A.common feature of Islamic Artis the covering of surfaces covered with
geometric patterns. This use of geometry is thought to reflect the
Tanguage of the universe and help the believer to reflect on life and the
greatness of creation
So how is geometry seen to be spiritual?
4 Because circles have no end they are infinite - and so they
remind Muslims that Allah is infinite.
Complex geometric designs create the impression of unendi
repetition, and this also helps a person get an idea of the infinite
nature of Allah,
The repeating patterns also demonstrate that in the small you can
find the infinite... a single element of the pattern implies the
infinite total
The use of patterns is part of the way that Islamic art represents nature
and objects by their spiritual qualities, not their physical and material
qualities. The repeated geometric patterns often make use of plant
‘motifs, and these are called arabesques. Stylised arabic lettering is alsoIslamic Patterns
Islamic patterns help pupils to observe different shapes within the pattern such as triangles,
quadrilaterals, squares, kites and parallelograms. The noun tessellation comes from the
Latin, tessellare, to pave with tiles. In til
atterns, shapes that tessellate are used
extensively. Muslim artists also use symmetrical patterns extensively in their carving.
Many Islamic patterns represent the infinite, repeating themselves forever
Ask
CK.
this pattern, draw a square, four squares
ig and four squares wide.
Draw one vertical, one horizontal and two diagonal
lines.
Join the midpoints of these lines. Make sure you
keep the shapes symmetrical in all four axes.
4. Decide which lines you want to rub out to make
your pattern, Make Sure you still keep to the rules of
symmetry
If you would like to develop your skills, tessellate
your completed pattern to make a larger design
Creating Islamic Patterns
The original pattern has been tessellated to make an intric
design.
The gaps have formed new shapes so the original pattern
difficult to identify. Colour in the original pattern so that it
stands out
Can you make your own pattern and create a tessellation.
Why do Muslims decorate their mosques with
Ho are the geometric patterns seen to be spiritual?
calligraphy and geometric designs?