Islamic Art

Mediums Of Islamic Art

Islamic tilework of the Shrine of Hadhrat Masoumah, first built in the late 8th century. Islamic art throughout history has been mainly abstract and decorative, portraying geometric, floral, Arabesque, and calligraphic designs. Unlike the strong tradition of portraying the human figure in Christian art, Islamic art does not include depictions of human beings.

The lack of portraiture is due to the fact that early Islam forbade the painting of human beings, including the Prophet, as Muslims believe this tempts followers of the Prophet to idolatry. This prohibition against human beings or icons is called aniconism. Over the past two centuries, especially given increased contact with Western civilization, this prohibition has relaxed to the point where only the most orthodox Muslims oppose portraiture.

The patterns are similar to the Arabesque style, which also involves repeating geometric designs, but is not necessarily used to express ideals of order and nature.