ESL Blogs

Despite the bashing that the religion of Islam receives nowadays relative to the ongoing violence in the middle east and in other conflict areas, it is but timely to remind everyone that the conduct of a person in the name of his religion should not be blamed to the religion itself but to the person who have interpreted the teachings of his religion in the wrong way.

This blog would like to share the following important contributions of Islamic art to the world:

1. The Dome of the Rock, located at East Jerusalem of occupied Palestine built on 692. It is believed to be the first great work of Islamic architecture. It was built on a rock from which the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) made his miraculous journey to heaven as described in Chapter 17 of the Glorious Qur’an;

2. The Malwiya Minaret located at Samarra, Iraq built in the mid-ninth century. This 50 meter (160’) helicoidal tower of sun dried and baked brick was probably modelled on ancient ziggurats. It symbolizes the power of Islam at the zenith of the Baghdad based Abbasid caliphate;

3. The Mughira Pyxis of Cordoba, Spain built on 968. This small, exquisite box, carved from a cylindrical section of an elephant tusk, is the most beautiful of the handful of known Islamic ivory carvings. It is now on display at the Louvre museum at Paris, France;

4. The Minbar of the Kutubiyyah Mosque located at Marrakesh, Morocco and was built on 1137. It is a wooden pulpit, nearly four meters (13’) tall, was carved in Cordoba by the descendants of the workmen who carved out the Mughira Pyxis. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of wood and bones are carved and fitted together;

5. The Mihrab from the Maydan Mosque located at Kashan, Iran which was built on 1226. A mihrab is a niche in a wall of a mosque indicating the direction of the Ka’bah in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The mihrab was composed of glazed ceramic slabs fitted into a complex, harmonious ensemble of calligraphy and arabesques, this is the peak of the difficult luster techniques of overglaze decoration perfected by Persian ceramists. The mihrab is now on display at the Islamic museum of Berlin.;

6. The Baptistere of Saint-Louis built last 1300 at Cairo, Egypt. This hammered bronze basin, inlaid in silver and gold, is decorated on both the interior and the exterior with marvelous figured scenes showing hunters, servants and warriors. It was believed to have been used first to catch water after hand-washing before prayers, it was later used as a baptismal font by the French Court. It is now on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France;

7. The Qur’an Manuscript of Ahmed Al-Suhrawardi which was made last 1307 at Baghdad, Iraq. This is believed to have been the first display of the Calligrapher’s art. The paper is polished to an impeccable smoothness, allowing the pen to glide effortlessly across a pearly surface. The colophon is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City;

8. The Carpets of Ardebil which were made in Iran on 1539-40. These two enormous carpets were worked in 10 colors of silk and wool. Each has more than 25 million knots, making them one of the most splendid examples of the weaver’s art;

9. The Selimiye Mosque made in 1574 at Edirne, Turkey. The breathtaking interior of the mosque is the masterpiece of the Ottoman architect Sinan, who created a huge and uninterrupted space under a towering dome;

10. The Taj Mahal located at Agra, India which was built on 1647. It is considered the biggest mausoleum in the world made by the ruler of India Shah Jahan for his lovely wife Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to her child. The Taj Mahal has always been considered as an example of high caliber of Islamic architecture.

sources:  The Junior Islamic Encyclopedia

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