Islamic Art or Muslim Art? on the Originality of Islamic Art

Abstract

The great world religions express their truths not only by the words of the sacred books, but also by the creation of arts with forms adequate to the truths of the religions. Islamic art as the art of the last great divine revelation did similarly put into form the innermost realities of Islam itself. Following its formative period, Islamic art did also influence particular aspects of art in both East and West. Some Western authors, however, have raised doubts about the originality of Islamic art by, for example, pointing to some outward elements discerned in its body, true or alleged, and thus have denied its very nexus with Islam as its source of inspiration. In the writings of these authors one finds such titles as «Muslim Art», «Art of the Islamic Countries», and the like, rather than the generally accepted «Islamic Art». By a brief review of these arguments, the present article in its limited scope tries to respond to them and shed some light upon the originality of Islamic art in its diverse manifestations