Of Art and Literature

The concept of the conflict between East and West has been presented to us many of the texts. The Saint’s Lamp, the Children of the Alley, Iqbal’s poetry, Ambiguous Adventures all deal with the popular notion that Islam is considered at odds with the West, or is incompatible with the ideals of the West. As we saw in the Saint’s Lamp as well as in the other texts, the one way to bridge this vacuum of misconception is through gaining knowledge. This also disproves the idea that Islam opposes the pursuit of science. In my piece, I have used the White House is used as a symbol that represents the West and the mosque is symbolic of Islam. The bridge has a symbol of ‘enlightenment’, not knowledge, and that distinction is very important to me. Enlightenment signifies a learning of sorts. On the West’s side, learning about Islam and dispelling the negative notions about it is contingent on the success of this bridging. On the side of Islam, a pursuit of knowledge should be a priority and learning the real essence of Islam that is absolutely compatible with progress and science.