Artistic traditions of the Muslim East: the logic of abstract beauty. Artistic culture of the Muslim East: the logic of abstract beauty

Asked: Good afternoon. Please illuminate the topic of fine art in Islamic culture. If possible, include Arabic calligraphy in your review. Thank you.

Here's how you can talk about it...

In the era of feudalism, peoples Arab countries made a major contribution to the development of world civilization. The medieval culture of Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Moorish Spain was an important progressive step in the development of mankind. In addition, the Arabs preserved (especially in the field of science) and passed on to subsequent generations many valuable achievements of antiquity. The culture of the peoples who inhabited the Arabian Peninsula has been known since ancient times. Ancient geographers called southern, agricultural, Arabia “happy.” Here, back in the first millennium BC, there were rich slave states.

In the 7th century. the Arabs conquered Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Iran. In 661, Muawiyah, the Arab governor in Syria, having seized power and laid the foundation for the Umayyad Caliphate, moved the capital to Damascus. At the end of the 7th and beginning of the 8th century. Huge territories were annexed to the caliphate, including the Iberian Peninsula and all of North Africa in the west, Transcaucasia and Central Asia to the borders of India in the east. The Arab Caliphate became a large early feudal state, although in some of its areas slavery and even primitive communal relations persisted for a long time. In 750, the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown, and power was seized by the Abbasids, who founded a new capital on the Tigris River - Baghdad. The rule of the caliphate caused the liberation struggle of the conquered peoples and the uprising of the exploited masses of the working people. In the 9th-10th centuries. the caliphate broke up into a number of virtually independent states; Central Asia, Transcaucasia, Egypt and the Maghreb came out from under his power.

Already in the middle of the 10th century. The Bunds, Iranians by origin, seized power in Baghdad. The caliphs remained only Muslim high priests, strengthening the power of the feudal rulers with their religious authority

In the 9th-13th centuries. Arab, Iranian and Central Asian cities - Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Cordoba, Bukhara, Isfahan, etc. - were the largest centers of learning, famous for their universities, schools, and libraries.

Pushkin Museum

Definite impact on development medieval art peoples who professed Islam were influenced by religion. The spread of Islam meant the establishment of monotheism - the belief in one God. The Muslim idea of ​​the world as a whole created by God was important for the formation of a characteristic medieval era aesthetic idea about a certain, albeit abstract, unity of the universe.

Islam, like all medieval religions, justified feudal exploitation and called for submission to the ruler of the state - the caliph. However, the views on the world, as well as the aesthetic attitude of the people of the medieval East to reality, cannot be reduced only to religious ideas. In the consciousness of a man of the Middle Ages and in his artistic views, religious-scholastic tendencies and a real idea of ​​the world were contradictorily combined. One of the greatest scientists and philosophers of the medieval East, Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna), recognized the divine origin of the universe and at the same time argued that scientific and philosophical knowledge exists independently of religious faith. Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ferdowsi, Navoi and many other outstanding thinkers of the medieval East, in whose works and poetic works the progressive features of the worldview of the era were especially clearly manifested, affirmed the power of human will and reason, the value and wealth of the real world, although, as As a rule, they did not openly speak out from an atheistic position.

Fine arts in Islam

For the fate of fine art in Arab countries, as in the countries of the Middle East, the iconoclastic tendency of Islam was important. Islam denied the possibility of depicting a deity. In the Koran, idols (probably images of ancient tribal gods) are called an obsession of Satan. Images of people were not allowed in religious buildings. The Koran and other theological books were decorated only with ornaments. But initially in Islam there was no prohibition on depicting living beings, formulated as a religious law. Only later, probably in the 9th and 10th centuries, was the iconoclastic tendency of Islam used to prohibit certain category images under pain of punishment the afterlife. History has shown that these restrictions, which left an imprint on the development of certain types of art, were not always observed and not everywhere. They had significance and were strictly carried out only during periods of particularly intensified religious reaction.

Islam has never allowed the possibility of an external resemblance between God and a person or other earthly creature, therefore fine art turned out to be excluded from the religious life of a Muslim, remaining the property mainly secular culture. Although the Koran did not prohibit the depiction of people and animals, some hadiths stated that Muhammad condemned such artists. By giving the image a real form, man thereby seemed to challenge God for his exclusive right to creativity, violating the main tenet of Islam “There is no God but Allah...”. Since the 9th century. similar statements appeared in theological works, but each time there was an interpreter who explained that the ban did not apply to images as such, but to their use as objects of worship.

If there are no images of a person (“surat”), then there is no plot, no portrait, no landscape painting(exceptions include book miniatures). There was and could not be anything like icon painting or temple sculpture in Muslim art.

However, there was secular art to which this unspoken ban did not apply. Luxury items were created, books were copied and decorated with wonderful, delicate miniatures. The art of miniatures flourished in Central Asia, as well as on the territory of the Mughal Empire.

Bahram Gur in the fight against the Dragon Shah-name. Shiraz, 1370. Hazine 1151, folio 206B

In subsequent times, the unspoken ban on painting and sculpture was not particularly strictly observed, but the few portraits and statues created as an exception could not have much influence on the development of art. In addition, such works, as a rule, were entrusted to Christian artists. These include works of art that later caliphs commissioned for themselves personally. Thus, Caliph Perfidy placed statues in his palace depicting himself, his wives and slaves playing musical instruments. Abdurrahman II erected a statue of her in honor of the beautiful Azarra at the entrance to Medina Azarra.

And yet, the main carrier of the idea of ​​Islam was not an image, but a word, artistically designed in the form of an inscription or symbol. The basis of Muslim artistic creativity is calligraphy and ornament (arabesque) - the art of depicting a word and the art of depicting a symbol, respectively.

Islam transformed geometry into an art form by constantly applying the principles of symmetry, proportionality and changes in scale to create amazing artistic effects. Apparently, every weaver was familiar with the basics of geometry on a plane (if this is not so, then an intuitive sense of mathematics is apparently inherent in the genotype of Muslims). The architects of Islam knew and applied spatial geometry very well. In addition to the most accurate mathematical calculations, each work of art of the Islamic world is distinguished by a subtle, refined taste. That is why even things that have a utilitarian meaning - for example, carpets or books - go beyond the scope of decorative arts or book graphics and become works of high art.

The sacred word of the Koran, inscribed on entrance portals and walls of buildings, written on bindings and pages of manuscripts, included in patterns on fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass or metal, woven into ornaments on fountains and tombstones, accompanied the Muslim all his life. This word contained a whole world of spiritual experiences for the believer and gave him genuine aesthetic pleasure. Calligraphy and ornament - decorative forms of embodying ideas about the endless diversity and beauty of the world created by Allah - have become the foundations of Muslim artistic creativity.

Since in the Koran itself there is no clearly expressed prohibition of images of living things, it is proposed to look for the orthodox religious expression of the prohibition in the interpretations of the Koran, which flourished magnificently after the death of the prophet. Hadiths, which represent a kind of frame for the Koran. However, this point of view is incorrect, because it does not reveal not only the psychology of the origin of the prohibition of images in Muslim orthodoxy, but also does not explain the reasons for the negative attitude towards monumental painting among peoples raised by the Muslim religion, who were under its strong influence in the medieval era. Finally, banning images cult painting and representation in art are not the same thing. Hadiths prescribed to depict nature, landscapes, but not humans, not to depict God, saints, martyrs, for God was thought of as pure spirituality, purified from everything human and random. The idea of ​​Allah - this spiritual substance - is the end result of critical thinking.

How did it happen that the ban on images led to the cult of ornament, to the freezing of all representation for several centuries, until painting finally developed inner strength of its development, a new artistic language based on artistic traditions and did not win the right to independent existence (in particular, in the genre of book miniatures) in the late Middle Ages?
The negative attitude towards images, which later resulted in the persecution of figurativeness, was born along with the Koran, evolved, and became more specific with the development of Islamic orthodoxy. It represents logical consequence the entire philosophy of this religion - a specific understanding of God and the concept of man, which brought the polarization of the spiritual and material, heavenly and earthly to the extreme.

God, understood in Islam as pure spirituality, purified from any earthly elements, having no human, anthropomorphic features, could not be depicted. Islam offers a rationalistic way to comprehend God. By sharply contrasting the heavenly and the earthly, Islam, like any religion, metaphysically breaks their unity and exaggerates the meaning of the heavenly. The principle of interaction between the spiritual and the material, God and man is based on dependence. Excessively thorough purification of the spiritual is intended to highlight the insignificance and insignificance of the material. This contradiction, which is slowly growing in Islam, is resolved through the absolute dissolution of the individual in the deity. Islam, as a world religion, is all the more tenacious, adapted to existence, and all the more reactionary and dangerous because it fetters a person’s initiative and his creative potential.

The prohibition of the image of God and idolatry had the consequence of the prohibition of the image of man, for man in Islam does not represent any value outside the divine idea. Allowing the image of a person meant in Islam to compromise to some extent with the pagan understanding of God. The Koran, consistently pursuing the idea of ​​monotheism, ultimately came to prohibit images of all living things, because this was seen as imitation of the actions of Allah.

The alienation of fine art from the religiously charged “ideal” in Islam led to the ban on fine art in general. The categorical prohibition of art by Islam is a reflection of the conflict between the two forms public consciousness, a reflection of the contradiction between inner essence religion and art, for painting and sculpture are types of art where a mystical idea hardly finds the possibility of material embodiment.

The removal of the opposition between religious faith and art, that is, the artistic form of knowledge, occurs in Islam not through the use of art by religion, but through the rejection of fine art. And yet, despite the “taboo” imposed by the Muslim religion on the fine arts (painting, sculpture), despite the hostility openly shown by Islam towards images, the creative spirit of the people, their aesthetic consciousness, artistic vision of the world could not be completely and drown out without a trace.
The progressive tendency of social life, which feeds art, reveals the contradiction that develops between religious ideology and artistic development"Muslim" peoples. The remarkable wall paintings of the first two centuries of Islam (VII-VIII centuries), discovered in Penjikent, Varakhsha, Afrasib, stylistically shaped the art of book miniatures and influenced the development of folk forms of decorative and applied arts and the artistic industry in medieval Central Asia.

Miraj-name (Ascension of Muhammad).
From Sarai Albums.
Tabriz, early 14th century.
Hazine 2154, folio 107a

Bourgeois scholars, studying oriental fine art, say that it represents a deviation from religious norms. However, they did not strive to penetrate into the depths of this contradiction, to consider it as an objective pattern in art that did not arise out of nowhere, but had its roots in the artistic culture of previous eras. They do not see the organic connection of fine art with progressive medieval ideology, with the worldview of the great medieval Muslim thinkers, scientists, classical poets of the so-called Muslim Renaissance, as well as with the aesthetic theories of this time.

However, some of them are also worth opposite positions. Thus, at the VI Archaeological Congress of Arab Countries in 1957 in Baghdad, Muhammad Mustafa stated that portraits of people, as well as images of birds and animals, are found in Muslim works of art of all eras, starting from the emergence of Islam, and in all countries. Therefore, M. Mustafa concludes that muslim art is not religious and therefore there are no statues or paintings of religious subjects in the mosques.

However, the artists of medieval Central Asia, sometimes without going beyond the boundaries of medieval ideology, and often boldly stepping over them, created wonderful examples of painting, applied and decorative art. The main features of this art were determined not so much by religion as by the ideological and aesthetic tasks that were put forward by the progressive development of society in the era of feudalism.

Thus, Islam, on the one hand, taking under its auspices all forms of social consciousness, all areas of life, government, created a totalitarian closed system of medieval religious thinking, determined the specifics of psychology, especially the aesthetic element of public consciousness, and thereby created the alienation of the culture of the East from the West. This is connected with the specific perception of antiquity during the era of the Muslim Renaissance, when, due to religious restrictions, neither the ancient Greek epic nor ancient tragedies, nor antique plastic, as well as rejection artistic achievements the art of Christian medieval Byzantium, contempt for this art, which Islam generated among its believers. Here the peculiarities of the art of Muslim peoples affected both religious nature(architecture, manuscripts of sacred scriptures), and secular content (book miniatures), as well as the decorative and applied arts of the people, which determined the further paths of its development.

The internal development of art took place here in line with progressive social and aesthetic trends. Two trends in social development- socially relevant and folk-mythological - influenced the art of Muslim peoples of the Middle Ages. The conflict between the nature of art and Islam led to the prohibition of representation in painting, sculpture, and reached its culmination in Islamic culture. However, the development of art is explained not only by the influence of inhibitory religious ideology, but also occurs according to the internal laws of its development, determined by social necessity, in confrontation with the dominant religion, and sometimes in external compromise with Islam. The influence of progressive social and aesthetic trends restored decoratively accentuated visual trends in art - they determined, for example, the secular nature of book miniatures. These unique trends in representation in art, pushed aside by the conquests of the Arabs and the pose of religion, acquired new strength in Central Asia in the 15th-16th centuries.

And yet, “the wide dissemination of the art of ornament, which entered people’s lives in an extremely multifaceted way and is closely connected with folk artistic traditions, was one of the specific expressions of decorativeness characteristic of medieval artistic culture in general” and for “Muslim” peoples in particular.

This had a huge impact on visual trends in art, since “in the art of the peoples of the Near and Middle East in the era of feudalism, a special figurative system was developed, imbued with a decorative principle...”, which became the dominant one, determining the originality and uniqueness of the art of these peoples.

That is why even works of fine art themselves are marked here with “a peculiar and bright decorative quality that meets the aesthetic needs of ... the time.” But at the same time, “under the rule of Islam, figurativeness in art was no less a heresy than rationalism in philosophy: it violated the norms established by religion...” and thereby showed the strength and indestructibility of the artistic culture of the peoples of the “Muslim” world.

CALLIGRAPHY

According to one hadith, Muhammad said: “Writing is half of knowledge.” In the medieval culture of the Muslim East and West, the degree of mastery of the “beauty of writing,” or calligraphy, became an indicator of a person’s intelligence, education and spiritual perfection. The origins of Arabic calligraphy lie in the subordination of the written word to the logic of a clear, measured, rhythmic recitation of the Koran.

Calligraphy sample. Sulsa handwriting. Iran. XVII century State Museums, Berlin.

The basics of calligraphy were taught in primary school and a religious school (madrassa). However, only a select few calligraphers (“khattats”), skilled in all the subtleties of Arabic handwriting and style, were true virtuosos. “The beauty of a person is in the beauty of his writing, and even better if it is written by a wise man” (a well-known Eastern aphorism).

It is also not surprising that writing styles have been canonized.

Early handwriting - ku'fi, which tended to rectilinear, geometric forms of letters, dominated in Muslim calligraphy until the 12th century. and was canonized as the handwriting used to write the titles of the suras of the Koran.

Name of Allah, Kufi handwriting (mosaic, Samarkand)

At the end of the VIII-IX centuries. The naskh handwriting (“correspondence”) stood out and gained popularity among book copyists. It later became one of the "six styles" of classical Arabic script, along with five other scripts. Mukha'kkak ("correct") was distinguished by the expressiveness of clear letters, and raikha'ni ("basil") was distinguished by sophistication, which was compared to the delicate aroma of blooming basil. In the solemn sulsa (“one third”), curvilinear and rectilinear elements were in proportion 1:3. Tauki' ("decree") was more neat, and rika' was the most cursive of all handwritings.

Sample of handwritten decorative letter “Sofa of Poetry” (pers.)

Andalusian Maghreb handwriting (2-volume Koran, Spain, XIII-XIV centuries)

3 lines - muhaqqaq, in cartouches - kufi. Ilkhanid Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri (1308, Baghdad)

Talik's handwriting

The six writing styles were based on the “statutory writing” system - khatt mansub, invented by the Baghdad calligrapher Ibn Muqla (886-940). This is a system of proportions that determines the relationship between the vertical and horizontal elements of letters, as well as letters in a word and line. Based on classical Arabic handwriting, Persian calligraphers developed new styles - talik and nasta'liq, which in turn gave birth to many decorative and exquisite handwriting. In Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey in the XV-XVII centuries. A special genre of calligraphy, kita, spread: a miniature painting, a sample of one or more handwritings.

The writing instrument was a kala'm - a reed pen, the method of sharpening which depended on the chosen style and traditions of the school. Author of a treatise from the 14th century. instructed: “The kalam is sharpened obliquely, and know that the tip of the kalam should correspond to the length of the phalanx of the thumb, but the Baghdad scribes sharpen it along the length of the nail...”. The materials for writing were papyrus, parchment and paper, the production of which was established in Samarkand (Central Asia) in the 60s. VIII century, and from the end of the X century. - and in some other cities of the Muslim world. The sheets were covered with starch paste and polished with a crystal egg, which made the paper dense and durable, and the letters and patterns printed with colored ink clear, bright and shiny.

In the 15th-17th centuries. spread throughout the Muslim world special kind art - whale - a miniature painting, which at the same time represents an example of one or several handwritings.

The architects of Islam knew and applied spatial geometry very well. In addition to the most accurate mathematical calculations, each work of art of the Islamic world is distinguished by a subtle, refined taste. That is why even things that have a utilitarian meaning - for example, carpets or books - go beyond the scope of decorative arts or book graphics and become works of high art.

Ornament (from Latin ornamentum - decoration) is a pattern built on rhythmic alternation and organized arrangement of elements. Depending on the nature of the motifs, the following types of ornaments are distinguished: geometric, floral, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic.

A geometric pattern consists of dots, lines (straight, broken, zigzag, intersecting mesh), and figures (circles, rhombuses, polyhedra, stars, crosses, spirals, etc.).

The floral ornament is made up of stylized leaves, flowers, fruits, branches, etc.

Zoomorphic ornamentation includes stylized images of real and/or fantastic animals (sometimes such an ornament is called “animal” style).

Anthropomorphic ornament uses male and female stylized figures or individual parts of the human body as motifs.

Not every pattern can be considered an ornament. A pattern that freely fills a plane is not such a pattern. Based on the nature of the composition, the following types of ornament can be distinguished: the ornament can be multi-colored (polychrome) or single-colored (monochrome), made on the surface of the object in a convex, relief or, conversely, recessed manner.

In the Islamic world the art of ornamentation was brought to highest degree perfection, which made it possible to distinguish it into a special type of art - arabesque.

Arabesque (Italian arabesco, French arabesque - “Arabic”) - European name complex oriental medieval ornament, consisting mainly of geometric, calligraphic and floral elements and created on the basis of precise mathematical calculations. The very idea of ​​an arabesque is consonant with the ideas of Islamic theologians about the “eternally continuing fabric of the Universe.”

Arabesque is based on the repetition and multiplication of one or several fragments of the pattern. The endless movement of patterns occurring in a given rhythm can be stopped or continued at any point without violating the integrity of the pattern. Such an ornament actually eliminates the background, because one pattern fits into another, covering the surface (Europeans called this “fear of emptiness”).

Arabesque can be placed on any surface configuration, flat or convex. There is no fundamental difference between compositions on the wall or on the carpet, on the binding of a manuscript or on ceramics.

Arabesques became widespread in Europe during the Renaissance. Later, European art more than once turned to this bizarre and intricate, very complex and exquisitely refined type of painting. Beautiful examples of arabesques were created by modernist artists (late 19th - early 20th centuries), especially Aubrey Beardsley.

Medieval Iranian miniatures

"Artistic culture of the Islamic East"

Lesson objectives:

To acquaint children with the masterpieces of Islamic architecture, with the work of the poet, scientist, philosopher Omar Khayyam, with the ancient form of Persian poetry - rubai;

Develop a love of beauty, instill aesthetic taste, and the ability to work with texts;

Foster love and respect for the cultural heritage of humanity.

Equipment:

multimedia projector,

multimedia presentation,

During the classes

1. Organizational moment.

Teacher's word: Assalamualaikum! Hello! It was no coincidence that I started our lesson with an oriental greeting.

The East has long captivated travelers with its original culture, wealth and some kind of mystery. Eastern beauty, oriental songs, dances, poems - all this amazed those who visited the eastern countries. Refinement in everything: in aromas, in clothes, in manners.

Many call the East wise, some call it treacherous, many call it beautiful! Today we will try to look under the mysterious veil of Eastern culture.

The term “Arab culture” is sometimes extended to all those cultures that were created in the Middle Ages, both by the Arab peoples and the peoples of the Near and Middle East, North Africa and South-Western Europe, which were then under the rule or under the direct influence of the Arab Caliphate. General external sign All of these cultures had Arabic as their language. Arabs creatively adopted culture ancient world- Greco-Hellenic, Roman, Egyptian, Aramaic, Iranian, Indian and Chinese, having adopted it from conquered or neighboring peoples with the participation of their subordinate peoples - Syrians, Persians, Khorezmians (now Uzbeks and Turkmens), Tajiks, Azerbaijanis, Berbers, Spaniards (Andalusians) and others. The Arabs did important step in the development of human civilization.

Cradle Arabic culture there was Western, Central and Northern Arabia. The Arab culture was preceded by the culture of the population of South Arabia, who spoke the Sabaean language and had their own written language. Arab culture has undergone the influence of both this culture and the culture of the regions of Western Asia and Egypt, where some Arabs settled in ancient times, as well as the culture of the Aramaic population of the areas of modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. Somewhere in the 4th century, the Arabs had already created their own alphabetic letter, which was one of the varieties of Aramaic cursive writing. In the 7th century, an Arab theocratic state was formed in Arabia, which, through conquests until the middle of the 8th century, grew into a large feudal empire - the Arab Caliphate (see Baghdad Caliphate), which included Iran, Afghanistan, part of the Middle East (except for the countries of the Arab East). Asia, Transcaucasia and North-West India, North African countries and a significant part of the Iberian Peninsula (Andalusia). Arab feudal lords implanted Islam and the Arabic language in the conquered countries. Some of the countries they conquered were Arabized, others retained their cultural and linguistic independence, but the Arabic language in these countries was used in science, like Latin in medieval Europe. The centers of Arab culture at different times were Damascus, Baghdad, Cordoba (see Cordoba Caliphate), Cairo and other cities. In the 9th-10th centuries, characterized by scientists as the “era of the Muslim Renaissance,” the leading centers of culture were Bukhara and Khorezm.

After the collapse of the caliphate (VIII-X centuries) - this artificial conglomerate of peoples with different levels of development, held mainly by the military force of the Arab conquerors - the development of Arab culture in the newly formed Arab states and the culture of liberated non-Arab peoples continued under the influence of the growth of production and exchange. The decline of Arab culture began in the 16th century after the conquest of most Arab countries by the Turks. In the 19th-20th centuries, the brake on the development of the culture of the Arab peoples was European civilization [source not specified 633 days], which conquered and turned the countries of the Arab East into its colonies.

2. Work on an electronic presentation.

1st slide – the topic of the lesson is announced:

"Artistic culture of the Islamic East"

But before we talk about cultural achievements, let's remember the religion that dominated the East.

3. Checking homework.

Task No. 1. Blitz - survey.

name the youngest religion in the world (Islam)

when did she appear? (In the 7th century AD)

where did Islam originate? (On the Arabian Peninsula)

Is Islam a belief in one God or polytheism? (In Allah, 1 god)

main centers of Islam? (Mecca and Medina)

holy book of muslims (koran)

name the five pillars of Islam (confession of faith; hajj; prayer five times a day; zakat (charity, sadaqah); fasting).

Muslim holy day (Friday)

Task No. 2. Correct errors in the text (underline identified errors)

Islam as a religion appeared in the 3rd millennium BC. It originated in Mesopotamia and spread throughout the world. The founder of Islam was Sindhartha Gautama. During his meditations, he saw a vision of Allah, who spoke prophecies. Subsequently, these prophecies were compiled into the holy book of Muslims, the Talmud. The main Muslim centers are Athens and Rome, where Muslims gather once a year. Gautama was called a prophet. All Muslims must keep the 10 commandments. (Write them in the blank lines).

On Sunday, a holy day for all Muslims, believers must pray and fast.

4. New topic.

The teacher’s word: “West is West, East is East, they will never meet…”. These words spoken by R. Kipling, fortunately, did not turn out to be prophetic. Eastern culture did not develop in isolation from the culture of European countries. Having absorbed many of its features, it at the same time had a significant impact on the general character of the culture of the peoples of Europe. According to the Great silk road, which passed through many states in ancient times, for two millennia not only the exchange of goods took place, but also the interpenetration of the cultures of the peoples of the East and West. For a long time Eastern culture remained under seven seals. It began to be studied relatively recently, in the 19th century. And now we will take a step towards understanding the mysterious and unique Eastern, Islamic culture.

Work on electronic presentation.

Reading and analysis of rubaiyat.

Teacher: The Rubai of Omar Khayyam are a striking phenomenon in the culture of the Muslim East. They amaze with their wisdom and desire for harmony, which Great master knew how to see the world. Much in the work of the great genius has not yet been fully understood and appreciated; his personality remains a mystery. This lesson is just a glimpse into the world of one of the titans of an amazing era. I wish you to open “the doors to the Universe, whose name is Omar Khayyam.”

Lesson summary.

Arabic architecture

The remains of monumental vaulted structures in Haurani (Syria) date back to the 2nd-5th centuries. On early monuments Arab architecture was influenced by Hellenistic-Roman, Byzantine and Sasanian traditions, for example, the palace of the 4th-8th centuries in Mshatti (Jordan), the Dome of the Rock mosque (691) in Jerusalem (Palestine). IN VII-X centuries a unique type of columnar mosque is created with a rectangular courtyard in the center, surrounded by multi-nave halls and galleries with slender arcades. This type includes the Great Mosque in Damascus (705), the Amr Mosque in Cairo (642). Since the 11th-12th centuries, ornamentation covering buildings outside and inside has become of great importance in Arab architecture; Stylized plant, stalactite, epigraphic and letter patterns are widely used. Since the 13th century, domes have spread as a means of covering buildings and important element architectural composition. On the Iberian Peninsula in the 13th-14th centuries, magnificent architectural structures of the Moorish style were created, in which Arabic forms and decor were combined with individual Western European architectural motifs. Outstanding monuments of this style are the Alhambra Castle in Granada (XIII-XIV centuries) and the Alcazar Palace in Seville (XIV century). After the conquest of the Arab states by the Turks, Arab architecture was influenced by Byzantine and Turkish art. For example, the Muhammad Ali Mosque in Cairo.

Islam (Arabic: إسلام‎ - monotheistic world religion.

The Koran is the holy book of Muslims

Koran

Mecca. Kaaba

Kaaba

The strict laws of Islam have banned many forms of art, giving preference only to those that glorify

Architecture

The main architectural elements of the mosque:

Jalal

minaret

Al-Malwiya minaret in Samarra

Minarets of Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul

Sifat

Mihrab, Ivan

Mosque of the Rock - Qubbat al-Sakhra. Jerusalem.

Qubbat al-Sakhra Mosque in Jerusalem The mosque is covered by a huge golden dome. Its diameter is 20 m, height is 34 m. Dome

Suleymaniye Mosque (Suleiman the Magnificent). Istanbul.

Umayyad Great Mosque in Damascus

Moorish art

Cathedral Mosque in Cordoba

alhambra

Alhambra

Lion's courtyard

Taj Mahal

Tomb of Gur-Emir in Samarkand

Features of fine arts

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Presentation - Artistic culture of the Muslim East: the logic of abstract beauty (2 parts)

Text of this presentation

Art culture Islamic East: THE LOGIC OF ABSTRACT BEAUTY part 1.
Amur region, Bureya district
PREPARED BY TEACHER MHC MOBU Novobureyskaya Secondary School No. 3, Rogudeeva Liliya Anatolyena compiled on the basis of the program by Rapatskaya L.A. “World artistic culture: course programs. 10-11 grades – M.: Vlados, 2010. 2015

Arab Caliphate
After the Koran was written, the spread of Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula occurred extremely quickly and by the 30s of the 7th century led to the creation of a single feudal-theocratic Arab state - the Arab Caliphate. The Prophet Muhammad and his followers, the “four righteous caliphs,” concentrated all religious and secular power in their hands and created a theocratic power of unprecedented proportions.

TEACHINGS ABOUT ALLAH
Prophet Muhammad (570-632) is the founder of a new religion. Islam is humility, submission, Muslim faith in the god Allah. Muslims are those who have surrendered themselves to Allah. Quran - reading aloud - recording the revelations Muhammad received from God. Sunnah - a collection of stories about the life of Muhammad Arabic - the language of international communication Sharia - rules of conduct for Muslims Hajj - Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca Kaaba - the main shrine of the Muslim world Polytheism - polytheism, paganism Monotheism - monotheism Caliph - head of the Muslim state Emir - ruler of a certain area of ​​the caliphate. Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Southern Spain

Five pillars of Islam
confession of faith; hajj; five times prayer; zakat (alms, sadaqah); fast

Arabic architecture
Mosques - Minarets - Madrasahs - Mausoleum Palaces Covered markets

The earliest creation of Muslim architecture was the mosque, where believers gathered for prayer. Initially, it was a square courtyard or hall surrounded by galleries on pillars or columns. The beam ceilings of the galleries are located on pointed or horseshoe-shaped arches supported by small columns. On one of the walls there is an altar niche (mihrab), facing towards Mecca - holy city Muslims The main facade of the entire structure from the street side was decorated with an iwan, i.e. arched portal of large scale. In addition, it was complemented by minarets - slender towers, from the top platform of which the priest (muezzin) called believers to prayer five times a day. A madrasah is a spiritual, educational institution that differs from a mosque in that the courtyard gallery is divided into small rooms - hujras, in which seminarians live.

Qubbad al-Sakhra Mosque. Jerusalem

Mosque
Kul Sharif

Bandar Seri Bhagavan
These buildings embody a sense of peace, balance with nature, unity with eternity.

Jumeirah Mosque: Famous UAE Mosque
Of great importance for the formation of the artistic image of the mosque was the space itself, which was not filled with man-made objects.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi
These “divine voids” symbolized the presence of the spiritual principle in the temple premises. Colored tiles sparkling with pure colors on the walls of the mosque gave it an exquisite colorfulness.

Islam Khoja Minaret
Towers from which believers were called to prayer

Minaret
Al Malwiya Minaret

Madrasah

Alhambra Palace

Amazing sophistication appearance and the artistic perfection of its interiors, the emir’s residence resembles the scenery of magical oriental fairy tales.

Its main buildings (XIV century) are grouped around open courtyards - Myrtle and Lion. The buildings are dominated by the mighty ancient tower of Comares, where the throne of the Caliph was located.

Niche with ornament.
Myrtle courtyard of the Comares palace

Arabic architecture

Masterpieces of Islamic Architecture
Taj Mahal

Bibi - Hanim

Masterpieces of Islamic Architecture
The Kaaba is the main shrine of the Muslim world

QUESTIONS AND TASKS
Describe the monuments of Moorish art that you remember. Compose a report about the poetry of Rudaki, Ferdowsi, Hayam, Saadi, Hafiz and Nizami. Tell us about the highly developed decorative and applied arts of the Muslim East. Has this tradition survived today? Why was book miniature valued in the artistic culture of the Muslim East? What are canonical settings, serving as landmarks of Islamic architecture? Tell us about mosques and minarets. Why did ornament develop so deeply in Islamic art? What was he expressing?

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BASHKORTOSTAN

ARAB-MUSLIM CULTURE

Performed:

Checked:

UFA-2009

Introduction

1. The emergence of Islam

2. Koran. Main directions in Islam

3. Islam as the foundation of Arab-Muslim culture. Muslim faith

4. Philosophy of the Arab-Muslim East

5. Caliphate. Collapse of the caliphate

6. Islamic literature. Artistic culture of the East

7. New revival of the culture of the Arab-Muslim East

Conclusion

References

Introduction

Arab-Muslim culture, as a unity of diversity, has its own potentials and flaws, constitutes a cultural identity, occupying an appropriate place in global civilization. Arab-Muslim culture- a culture defined in its characteristic features in the 7th – 13th centuries. and which received its initial development in the Middle East in the vast, diverse peoples of the Arab Caliphate and united by theocratic statehood, the Muslim religion and the Arabic language, the main language of science, philosophy and literature. The term “Arab culture” itself has a collective and not a literal character, because already during the Abbasid dynasty (750 – 1055) not only Arabs, but other subjects of the Caliphate participated in its creation: Iranians, Greeks, Turks, Jews, Spaniards, etc. .d., and then there was a deep interaction between Arab culture itself and the cultural pre-Islamic traditions of other peoples. In particular, this was manifested in the fact that among the “Eastern Iranians” (Tajiks) and “Western Iranians” (Persians) in favorable conditions the formation of the Eastern Iranian state of the Samanids (887 - 999), independent from the Arab Caliphate, with its capital in Bukhara, Persian-Tajik literature in the Farsi language was formed, within which by the 12th century. the classical tradition of oriental poetry and prose will be created.

The study of Arab-Muslim culture as an integral sociocultural phenomenon with its entire structure, core and periphery is always a pressing research task that arouses the keen interest of both domestic and Western historians, political scientists, sociologists, cultural experts, and philosophers.

1. The emergence of Islam

Before the first Muslims appeared in Arabia, there were already adherents of monotheistic religions. The earliest of them was Judaism, which was professed by Jewish emigrants from the Roman Empire who inhabited the cities of Yemen and the oases of Hijaz. In Yemen at the beginning of the 6th century. it was even declared the state religion, but, like Christianity, which spread to Arabia somewhat later, Judaism was not accepted by the Arabs as the dominant religion. And yet in Arabia there were spontaneous monotheists, similar to the ancient prophets of Palestine, the Hanifs. They did not fully accept either Judaism or Christianity, although they were influenced by them. Their sermons contained calls for asceticism, the renunciation of idolatry, the recognition of one God, with whom the pre-Islamic Allah was sometimes identified, and prophecies about the end of the world and the Last Judgment. The Hanifs were close to the ideas of Islam, but they were unclear about the extent to which their ideas were consistent with ancient customs. The question of the novelty of a religion is of fundamental importance only for those who profess it, and for a scientist-researcher this issue can only be resolved in connection with the influence that it has on peoples.

2. Koran. Main directions in Islam

A distinctive feature of the rich Arab-Muslim culture was that its organic basis was the Koran and philosophy, which received comprehensive development here earlier than in Western Europe. Islam has become one of the world religions, contributing to the creation of a community of peoples and culture across the vast territory of the Caliphate. The emergence and spread of Islam was accompanied by the appearance of the Koran, the holy book of sermons of the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570 - 632), and the study of the text of the Koran became the basis of education, religious and ethical education, ritual and Everyday life every Muslim.

The main feature of the Islamic worldview was the idea of ​​​​the inseparability of religious and secular, sacred and earthly principles, and Islam did not strive, unlike Christianity, to develop such special institutions as the church or Ecumenical Councils, designed to officially approve dogmas and guide the lives of people along with the state. The Koran had a comprehensive general cultural significance: it contributed to the formation and dissemination of the Arabic language, writing, various genres of literature and theology, influenced the development of philosophy, episodes from the Koran became the basis for plots and images of Persian and Turkic literature classical era. The Koran was a factor in Western-Eastern cultural interaction, examples of which are the “West-Eastern Divan” (1819) German writer era of Enlightenment by I.V Goethe, as well as “Imitation of the Koran” (1824) by A.S. Pushkin, the pen of the 19th century Russian religious philosopher Vl. Solovyov’s essay “Mohammed, His Life and Religious Teaching” (1896).

Islamic religiosity contained certain provisions that could have different philosophical meanings and interpretations. Thus, in Islam there appeared separate directions: in the 2nd half. VII century – Shiism, in the 2nd half. VIII century - Ismailism, in the 10th century. - Sunnism. A special place among them was occupied by the one that arose at the end of the 8th century. Sufism, which gave rise to extensive philosophical and artistic literature and had a significant influence on the entire spiritual culture of the Muslim East right up to modern times. Sufism(or Islamic mysticism), defined in the most general outline as a mystical-ascetic movement in Islam, it appears to be a subcultural component of Arab-Muslim culture. The Sufi component reflects a significant part of the moral and aesthetic system of Muslim civilization. Public, moral ideals Sufism is directly related to social justice, universal equality and brotherhood of people, rejection of evil, conscientiousness, affirmation of goodness, love, etc.

For many Muslim peoples, Sufism is an integral part of their spiritual cultures, reflecting the internal esoteric state of the believer. Sufism is involved in the development cultural values pre-Islamic civilizations, largely adopted by Islam. Philosophical, ethical and aesthetic problems borrowed by Muslim thinkers from ancient culture were processed through the prism of the intellectual searches of Sufism, which formed a common Muslim mental culture. On this basis G.E. von Grünebaum argues that Muslim civilization, culturally and socially, is one of the branches of the “development of the ancient and Hellenistic heritage,” and he considers Byzantium to be the main branch of this development. Thus, Sufism is an integral part of Arab-Muslim culture.

Muslims are at least the inhabitants of two cultural spheres. The first of them allows them to realize that they belong to a nation or a local ethnic group, and the second serves as a source of religious and spiritual identity. The ethnocultural context and Islam are closely interconnected and have gone through a long stage of coexistence and acculturation in their development.

3. Islam as the foundation of Arab-Muslim culture

Islam as a total regulatory system forms the foundation of Arab-Muslim culture. The fundamental principles of this religion form a new cultural and historical type, giving it a universal character. Having acquired a wide scope, this type of culture embraces many peoples of the world with their diverse ethnocultural systems, determining their behavior and way of life. Based on Islamic doctrinal provisions and socio-philosophical concepts, local and regional ethnocultures absorbed the features of universalism and acquired a holistic vision of the world.

In Islam itself today there are two paradigms associated with reformism and determining its development. The first paradigm orients Islam toward returning to its roots, its original spiritual and cultural state. This reformist trend is called Salafism and its supporters are opponents of Western trends on the social and spiritual state of Muslim society. The second reform paradigm is associated with modernization tendencies in Islam. Unlike the Salafis, Islamic modernizers, as supporters of the revival of Islam and its sociocultural flourishing, recognize the need for active contacts with Western civilization, justifying the importance of borrowing scientific and technological achievements and the formation of a modern Muslim society built on rational foundations.

Islam, which arose in pre-Islamic Arabian culture, interacting with foreign cultural traditions, expanded the boundaries of its cultural field. Using a specific example of the spread of Arab-Muslim culture in the North Caucasus, the features of the refraction of the universal values ​​of Islam are revealed. As the core of the regional Arab-Muslim culture in the North Caucasus, a sacralized part of the ethnic culture took shape, more rooted than basic principles Islam. This feature of the relationship between the core and the periphery in Arab-Muslim culture draws attention to the studies of F. Yu. Albakova, G. G. Gamzatov, R. A. Hunahu, V. V. Chernous, A. Yu. Shadzhe and others.

Of particular value in Arab-Muslim culture are such works as “Raikhan haqaik wa bustan ad-dakaiq” (“Basil of truths and the garden of subtleties”), “Adabul-Marziya”, “Asar”, “Tarjamat maqalati... Kunta-sheikh” ( “Speeches and Sayings of Sheikh Kunta-Haji”) and “Halasatul Adab” (“Sufi Ethics”), “Treasury of Blessed Knowledge”, which belonged to Sufi thinkers North Caucasus: Faraj ad-Darbandi, Jamal-Eddin Kazikumukhsky, Muhammad Yaragsky, Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev, Khasan Kakhibsky, Said Cherkeysky. These locals cultural monuments, being religious and philosophical works, reveal the mystical and spiritual and moral aspects of Sufi culture, which has spread in the North Caucasus region.

4. Philosophy of the Arab-Muslim East

The most important phenomenon and factor of spiritual life, its highest expression in Arab-Muslim culture, was philosophy, which developed in an atmosphere of deep respect for book wisdom and knowledge. The philosophy of the Arab-Muslim East arose on the basis of intensive translation activities, one of the famous centers of which was Baghdad, where during the time of Caliph al-Mamun (818-833) the “House of Wisdom” was created, a rich library containing thousands of handwritten books in Greek, Arabic, Persian, Syriac and other languages. By the end of the 9th century. Most of the main philosophical and scientific works of antiquity, and in particular, Aristotle and Plato, were known in the Arabic-speaking world. This led to the fact that it was through Arabic East there was a penetration of ancient heritage into Western Europe, which, starting from the 12th century, became systematic. The leading figures of the Arab philosophical school were Al-Farabi (870-950), Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), Ibn Sina (980-1037), Ibn Rushd (1126-1198). Arab-Muslim philosophical thought was based on the idea of ​​cosmism, the universal dependence of all earthly affairs and phenomena on processes occurring in the celestial spheres. One of the dominant ones was the idea of ​​the exodus of the Many from the One, the return of the Many into the One and the presence of the One in the Multiple. All these principles were also applied in life individual person, the study of his soul and body. It is not for nothing that the term “philosophy” united almost the entire complex of knowledge about man, social processes and the structure of the universe.

When considering the issues of cultivating good character in Arab-Muslim culture, much attention was paid to the definition of vicious and beautiful character traits. The foundation of this tradition was laid in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Al-Ghazali, Ibn Adi, al-Amiri, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Abi-r-Rabi, al-Muqaffa developed and reworked the ancient heritage in their own way.

Virtue, in accordance with the teachings of medieval thinkers, was presented as a commendable mean between two blameworthy vices. Thus, courage, which is a virtue, when in excess turned into recklessness, and when in short supply it became cowardice. Philosophers give examples of such virtues, sandwiched on both sides by vices: generosity - as opposed to extremes - greed and wastefulness, modesty - arrogance and self-abasement, chastity - intemperance and impotence, intelligence - stupidity and sophisticated vicious cunning, etc. Each of the philosophers identified his own list of basic human virtues. Al-Ghazali, for example, considered wisdom, courage, temperance and justice to be the main things. And Ibn al-Muqaffa puts the following words into the mouth of the hero, who has reached the state of “a calm soul”: “I have five properties that are useful everywhere, brighten up loneliness in a foreign land, make the impossible accessible, help to acquire friends and wealth. The first of these properties is peacefulness and goodwill, the second is politeness and good manners, the third is straightforwardness and gullibility, the fourth is nobility of character and the fifth is honesty in all actions.” Philosophers of the Middle Ages believed that morals could be corrected and improved in two main ways: education and training. The first - education - means endowing a person with ethical virtues and practical skills based on knowledge. This is achieved, in turn, in two ways. Firstly, through training. For example, if a person often experiences greed and reluctance to share his goods, then in order to eliminate this vice he needs to give alms more often and in this way cultivate generosity. Al-Ghazali advises a person, and especially a ruler, if he is too angry, to forgive the offender more often. Such training was supposed to achieve the properties of a soul striving for perfection.

In Arab philosophy, faith in the transformative power of enlightenment spread, and respect for experimental knowledge and human reason developed. All this was embodied in the great achievements of mathematics, medicine, astronomy, geography, aesthetics, ethics, literature, music and testified to the encyclopedic nature of Arab-Muslim scientific and philosophical thought. In the field of mathematics, the most important achievements that influenced Western science were the development of the positional number system (“Arabic numbers”) and algebra (Mohammed al-Khorezmi, 9th century), and the formulation of the foundations of trigonometry. Along with this, in the field of physics, works on optics were of great importance, and in geography, a method for determining longitude was introduced (al-Biruni, 973-1048). The development of astronomy was associated with the work of observatories, which, in particular, led to the reform of the calendar (Omar Khayyam). Great successes were achieved in medicine, which was one of the main activities of philosophers: various instruments and medicinal herbs were used in practical medicine, and interest in the anatomy of humans and animals developed. The pinnacle of the development of medicine was the activity of Ibn Sina, known in Europe as Avicenna and received there the title of “Prince of Physicians.” The intellectual culture of the Arab-Muslim East was characterized by a passion for chess, which became a characteristic sign of Indian cultural influences.

5. Caliphate. Collapse of the caliphate

It should be noted that the emergence of Islam at the beginning of the 7th century. marked the beginning of a long and eventful history of the Arab Caliphate. State formations that arose, disintegrated and experienced restoration included numerous ethnic groups in their orbit, including those who had a rich cultural tradition. In the civilization that arose on the basis of Islam, a system of moral principles also developed. Among the non-Arabs, the most significant contribution to the development of Muslim civilization belongs to the Persians; the memory of this was preserved in Arabic, where one word (ajam) denotes both Persians and non-Arabs in general. In the process of development of culture, including ethics, in the territory of the Arab Caliphate, thinkers who did not profess Islam played a significant role. The ancient heritage was also of considerable importance.

As indicated, the diverse development of the culture of the East was associated with the existence of an empire - the Arab Caliphate (VII - XIII centuries), the main city of which was Baghdad, founded in the 8th century. And it had the official name “City of Prosperity”. The political culture of this state was expressed in the primacy of the principle of statehood based on the power of the caliph. The caliph was considered the successor of the Prophet Muhammad and combined the emir, the holder of the highest temporal authority, and the imam, who had the highest spiritual authority. The caliph ruled on the basis of a special agreement with the community. Thus, the basis of political life became the principle of syncretism, that is, the merging of socio-political, secular and religious life with the ideal of the spiritual community of people. The city became the center of Arab-Muslim social and political culture. Cities were fortresses, centers of state power, production, trade, science, art, education and upbringing; only in cities were cathedral mosques built and there were objects of ritual worship, which served as the basis for considering Islam an “urban religion.” Such outstanding cultural centers in different periods were Damascus, Basra, Baghdad, Mecca, Medina, Bukhara, Cairo, and Granada. In this regard, in the philosophical culture of the Arab-Muslim East, the ideal of the city as a single social world, based on the similarity and unity of the human body and the cosmos of universal life, developed. From this point of view, the city is an ordered architectural space and a strict, fair social structure, where cooperation of people is ensured in all spheres of activity and spiritual harmony of citizens is achieved on the basis of a common desire for virtue, mastery of book wisdom, sciences, arts and crafts, which is what it should be constitute true human happiness. The development of this complex of socio-humanistic and ethical problems by Arab-Muslim philosophy became its original contribution to world spiritual culture.

However, the foundations of the immense state were shaken by successive uprisings, in which Muslims of various persuasions participated - Sunnis, Shiites, Kharijites, as well as the non-Muslim population. The revolt in Kharasan in 747, led by the former slave Abu Muslim, resulted in a civil war that engulfed Iran and Iraq. The rebels defeated the Umayyad troops, and as a result the Abbasids, descendants of Abbas, Muhammad's uncle, came to power. Having established themselves on the throne, they dealt with the rebels. Abu Muslim was executed.

The Abbasids moved the capital to Iraq, where the city of Baghdad was founded in 762. The Baghdad period is known in history for the fabulous luxury of the caliphs. The “Golden Age” of Arab culture is called the reign of Harun al-Rashid (763 or 766-809), a contemporary of Charlemagne. The court of the famous caliph was the center of oriental luxury (the tales of “A Thousand and One Nights”), poetry and learning, the income of his treasury was immeasurable, and the empire extended from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Indus. The power of Harun al-Rashid was unlimited; he was often accompanied by an executioner, who, with one nod from the caliph, carried out his duties. But the caliphate was already doomed. This is the general pattern of development of culture, which, like a pendulum, moves from rise to fall, and from fall to rise. Let us remember Solomon, the last king of a united Israel, who led a fabulous lifestyle, but thereby pushed the state towards collapse. The successor of Harun al-Rashid recruited mainly Turks into his guard, who gradually reduced the caliph to the position of a puppet. A similar situation arose in medieval Japan, far from Arabia, where, starting from the 12th century. power in the country passed to the former warriors, from whom a layer of small-scale nobility - the samurai - was formed. And in Rus' the Varangians came to power, called upon by the Slavs to defend their cities from the raids of nomads. By the beginning of the 10th century. Only Arab Iraq and Western Iran remained in the hands of the Abbasids. In 945, these areas were captured by the Iranian Buyid dynasty, and the caliph was left with only spiritual power over all Muslims. The last Abbasid caliph was killed by the Mongols during the capture of Baghdad in 1258.

6. Islamic literature. Art culture

Due to the restrictions that Islam imposed on the fine arts, the development of Arab-Muslim and Arabic-language artistic culture was associated with architecture, ornamental painting, book illustration, calligraphy, music, but especially high level literature has reached. However, truly the pinnacle of Arab-Muslim verbal art became poetry, which acquired the character of the originality of the classical tradition in world literature and spiritual culture. The main genres of Arabic and Persian-Tajik poetry were qasidas - small poems of canonized form and varied content, rubai - quatrains, which became examples of philosophical lyrics associated with Sufism, and lyrical poetry was characterized by ghazals - small poems consisting of several couplets. In the literature of the Arab-Muslim East, poetic epic poems and prose epic based on eastern, mainly Indian folklore traditions. On the basis of urban culture, the genre of maqama, a picaresque short story, is formed. Arab-Muslim scientific, philosophical prose and classical poetry made their outstanding contribution to the formation of Western European spiritual and artistic culture of the Middle Ages.

In Islam, there is a ban on the depiction of people and animals, so that the faithful do not have the temptation to worship the works of human hands - idols. Therefore, fine art in Arab-Muslim artistic culture has not received widespread development. Prose alternates with poetry.

The art of music in Arab-Muslim culture developed mainly in the form of singing. In search of religious and cult identity, emphasizing its difference, in particular, from Christianity, Islam did not allow instrumental music into the sphere of cult. Already the Prophet himself established - azen - a call to prayer, filled with harmonious human voice. Later, he bequeathed to “decorate the reading of the Koran with a euphonious voice,” which marked the beginning of the art of tajweed - melodic recitation of the Koran.

The Muslim religious tradition also developed other types of sacred music. During Ramadan (the month of fasting), special melodies were sung at night - fazzaizist, and on the occasion of the Prophet's birthday (mavled) - hymns and chants telling about his birth and life. Music accompanied celebrations dedicated to famous saints.

7. New revival of the culture of the Arab-Muslim East

Further historical destinies peoples and states inhabiting the vast territory of the Near and Middle East, Central Asia, were associated with wars, conquests, the collapse of empires, and the turbulent processes of breaking the traditional way of life under pressure Western civilization, steadily carrying out the colonization of the eastern regions. From the point of view of cultural development, this era is usually called “postclassical”, in particular, a time of “spiritual sterility” (H. Gibran). Under these conditions, the presence of an original basis - a historical and cultural community, a single Arab-Muslim tradition - turned out to be important. The beginning of the processes of a new revival of the culture of the Arab-Muslim East is usually attributed to the 2nd half. XIX-XX centuries This period was characterized by increasingly consistent and deepening interactions between Western and eastern types civilizations, which manifested itself in the social, economic, political and ideological fields and contributed to the progressive development of secular culture. Since the end of the 19th century. Against the backdrop of the growing opposition of the peoples of the East to the colonial policies of Western powers, a period of enlightenment began, associated with the desire to join the highest spiritual achievements of Western civilization. The ideology of enlightenment took into account the ideas of the need for Muslim reformation. Enlightenment and religious-reformed ideals found their expression in philosophical writings and literature. Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), an outstanding Indian poet, thinker, and religious reformer, made a great contribution to the spiritual culture and literature of Iranian-speaking peoples. Having enormous authority as a spiritual mentor and poet among the Muslim intelligentsia, Iqbal transformed traditional Sufism into a philosophy that affirmed the ideas of human improvement and peacemaking for the sake of all people. Evidence of the revival of Arab culture was the work of H. Gibran (1833-1931), a writer, philosopher, and artist who emigrated from Syria to the USA. An outstanding representative of literary and philosophical Arab romanticism, Gibran asserted the ideal of a person who combines familiarity with spiritual heritage Arab-Muslim tradition with comprehension of the surrounding world and self-knowledge in the spirit of Sufism. Based on the conclusion “self-knowledge is the mother of all knowledge,” Gibran called for spiritual dialogue with the great representatives of Western and Russian culture (W. Shakespeare, Voltaire, Cervantes, O. Balzac, L.N. Tolstoy). In 1977, the 1st World Conference on Muslim Education was held in Mecca, which pointed out the need in the conditions of the 20th century. further development of Islamic culture, education of youth through the development of spiritual wealth and the achievement of world civilization. In the 70s of the XX century. The idea of ​​a challenge from the West to the Islamic world is taking root, which, in particular, was substantiated by S.Kh. Nasr, author of books on the history of Muslim philosophy, former rector of the University of Tehran. He argued that against the backdrop of atheism, nihilism and psychoanalysis prevailing in the West, the Islamic world should turn to the values ​​of Sufism and the Koran, which should become a source of consideration of current sociological, historical and humanitarian problems.

Conclusion

It is known that the French writer and thinker R. Guenon, born in 1886, who came from a Catholic family, converted to Islam in 1912, and in 1930 left Europe forever and went to Cairo. He knew both European and Arab-Muslim cultures well and could objectively judge their mutual influence. R. Guenon expressed his opinion about the influence of Islamic civilization on European civilization in a short article with the same title, in which he points out the indisputable facts of this influence in the history of both cultures.

European philosophy and culture in general were strongly influenced by the work of Arab thinkers, artists, and poets. All this speaks to the need to study the rich heritage of Arab-Muslim culture, the significance of which in today’s world goes far beyond the borders of the “Islamic world.”

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