Islam in Color

Medium: Colored Pencils

For my third art representation, I wanted to focus on aspects of the Ta’ziyeh, which is the ritual play popular in Iran that reenacts the martyrdom of Hussein. The play acts not only as a means of bringing together the community to mourn the death of Hussein but also as an act of remembrance of God, a Dhikr of sorts. However, the production of the play naturally overtime also lent itself to a degree commercialization, as noted in the reading by Chelkowski.  In the excerpt we read for section, Chelkowski notes that the Ta’ziyeh “became a commercial enterprise, centered not in the cities which at that time were given to imitating Western art forms, but rather in the rural areas” (Chelkowski 9). Though not explicitly discussed in this context by Chelkowski, one aspect of the Ta’ziyeh that seemed very prone to commercialization was the designing of costumes for the plays. Based on this, I decided to (attempt to) draw a fashion line of clothing relevant to the Ta’ziyeh based on the descriptions given by Chelkowski.  I used colored pencils  for my drawings because I wanted to use bright, bold and definitive colors to hopefully express, through the clothing of the Ta’ziyeh, the level of passion and emotion that is central to the play.  I used the description of the costumes given on pages 9 and 10 of the Chelkowski reading as the basis for my drawings. As Chelkowski notes, characters that are “good” wear costumes that have green and white. In contrast, characters that are “bad” are dressed in red clothing to symbolize their evil.  Gabriel is represented by the carrying of an umbrella to represent that he came down from heaven.  As protagonists, Hussein, Gabriel, and the mourning audience costumes are all in green and white to represent their goodness. In contrast, I colored the army’s costumes red to symbolize the evil of their actions.  I also made the costumes for the mourners and the army to look similar as to represent the fact that in many ta’ziyeh plays, the armymen and the mourners are roles both played by the audience.

Medium: Oral Recitation

As we have discussed throughout the semester, the aesthetic experiences of Islam are incredibly significant to spiritual practice and can be seen everywhere in the Muslim communities. This Spring Break, I happened to be traveling to the heart of Islam’s origins, Saudi Arabia. Spending time in both Makkah and Madinah, I got to experience the prevalence of Islamic expression all around me. From decals on cars to small signs and symbols in the windows of every shop, influences of Islam and its history in these cities was everywhere.  In weeks 2 and 3, we learned about two different aesthetic aspects of God’s word: sacred design through calligraphy and sacred sound through oral recitation.  For this piece, I decided to integrate the two. In the Masjid An-Nabawi in Madinah, which is also the resting place of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), calligraphy is seen all over the mosque. From lamps that have the shahada inscribed onto them to ornate ceiling designs that highlight verses from the Quran, the role of calligraphy is clear.  Some of the most beautiful calligraphy I got to see in the mosque was surrounding the Prophet’s grave. There is also lots of calligraphy across the entire Mihrab. Because photography is not allowed in the mosque, and the mihrab is essentially inaccessible to women, I found a photo of the Mihrab to use for the purposes of this project. I decided to pair the calligraphy on the Mihrab with my own attempts at practicing oral recitation, recording recitations of the verses and prayers inscribed along the archway of the Mihrab.

Here is a photo of the Mihrab itself, with the archway circled in red:

Because of my Muslim background and my experience as a student of the Arabic language, I was able to read with Tartil without significant difficulty. However, engaging with Tajwid was much trickier for me. I read through this site to learn some of the rules of tajwid to use while reciting and listened to a few different recitations of the verses on the archway before attempting my own recitation.

The melding of visual and auditory experiences of the Quran allow for a holistic experience of faith. In fact, Muslims are able to experience this union at the mosque during each of the five prayers. While the recitation during the prayers does not necessarily mimic what is written on the surrounding walls, the atmosphere created by the calligraphy and other forms of religious art undoubtedly contribute to the sacred experience of praying within the Masjid An-Nabawi.

Photo source:

https://holyhijaz.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/rightof-arch.png

Medium: digital photography

In class, we learned about the omni-presence of Allah and the sacredness of His name. Professor Asani even mentioned spectacles of people coming to visit farms where the word “Allah” appeared on an animal”s fur or within the shape of their hooves.  The reverence for Allah in the Islamic tradition is clear and the relationship between Allah and his followers seems to permeate every aspect of life. Renard, in Seven Doors to Islam best stated, “Muslims believe that God has, since the beginning of time, actively communicated with and through all of creation in a variety of ways. Foremost, God communicates in the very act of creating, by suffusing the universe with divine signs” (Renard 2).

As someone who loves photography, I chose to use past photographs, as well as snapshots I took over the first few months of this semester as inspiration for this week’s work. I wanted to examine the idea of seeing God everywhere, and in everything. I decided to look through past photos to see if, with this new lens of viewing in mind, I could see “Allah” written in any of the surroundings I captured. I also went on a few walks and tried to see similar signs of the word “Allah”. The photos I have included here are some of my favorite iterations of finding “Allah”. I especially chose photos where I was able to see the name of God in natural settings because it reminded me of the connections between nature and God that we discussed in class. We talked about how nature is full of signs of God, and in some ways, are seen as daily examples of God’s miraculousness. I also found that these photos and ideas connected very largely to many of the 99 names of Allah, but based on the quote above, I most profoundly felt these photos and “seeing” God in nature connected with his name Al-Khaliq, which means The Creator.

In my three images, I found the word “Allah” masked in images of smoke, leaves, and rocks. As God is the Creator of everything, it is an incredible concept to be able to see his name in his own creations, almost like a divine signature of sorts. By engaging in this “Where’s Waldo”-esque search for the name “Allah” in my photographs and in nature, I was able to experience first-hand the Islamic concept of God’s omnipresence and understand the divinity of even simple, often overlooked aspects of creation.

Here are the three photographs, without the word “Allah” marked. See if you can spot the name of God yourself, or if can find a different one than I did!

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I edited the three photos to mark where I saw the name “Allah” in each. Here is what I found: