Olumakinde's Islamic Art Blog

The Primordial Muhammad .

In Chittick’s book, Divine Love, a Kashf, or divinely revealed truth says, “ Muhammad, the goal in the engendered things and the center-point of the circle of the newly arrived things is you yourself. ‘But for thee, I would not have created the engendered universe.’ Were it not for your rank and majesty, I would never have created the universe”(Chittick, 36).

This was in reference to the Qur’anic verse: And We have already sent messengers before you and assigned to them wives and descendants. And it was not for a messenger to come with a sign except by permission of Allah . For every term is a decree.”(13:38) (See http://quran.com/13/38)

This piece is meant to evoke the this cosmic significance of Muhammad as the origin of the spheres of existence, a primordial light, or Nur Muhammad, and the first and last of the Prophets(Infidel of Love, Asani, 133-34).  The light imagery here is to show that he is the source of illumination that was passed through the prophets, and reached it greatest manifest perfection in the historical figure who ended the line of prophets.

The circle, here, is meant to represent the sphere of being, all creation.  As can easily be seen, it is dotted with stars of light representing the other prophets periodically appearing to mark and maintain the course of the curve.  And yet this , and any circle cannot be a circle without its center: The light of Muhammad, without with, the circle would have no origin, and further, would be devoid of color.  This central coloring of red and orange is to show that the color and beauty of life too come from the primordial Prophet, who is truly the perfect man, and a sort of Platonic ideal to the rest of mankind.  The final touch is that the a portion of this “central,” inscribed Muhammed is projected onto the curve at the point where one of the stars shines brightest on the circle, providing both a beginning and an end to a sequence that otherwise would have no reference to beginning or end.  In this, Muhammad is the the primordial origin of the light of the prophets, as well as their first and last member.

Photo credit: http://lexchristianorum.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

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