How Does the Art and Architecture in the Dome of the Rock Reflect Islamic Beliefs and Values?
ISLAMIC HISTORY
The Dome of the Rock: Symbol of Islamic Empire
Muslim religion, politics, and culture in Jerusalem
O ne of the wonders of world compages is the Dome of the Stone, congenital on the site of the Temple of Solomon and the 2nd Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. First constructed in 691–92 AD, then rebuilt in 1022–23 AD after the original dome complanate, the Dome has historically had swell importance to Islamic civilization.
The Dome'due south meaning and significance at the fourth dimension of its structure was more than religious: the Dome was also important to politics and culture at the time, and its art was an embodiment of Islamic ideals. All of these elements — religion, politics, culture, and art — combined to brand the Dome of the Rock the symbol of the dominance of the new Islamic empire and way of life.
Muhammad'south Ascension to Sky
According to legend, the Dome of the Stone is located at the site where Muhammad experienced the mi‛raj, the Ascension to Heaven. The Stone itself, which is the primal component of the building, is said to be the place where Muhammad put his foot equally he began his ascent to antipodal with God. It is obvious that this story is an of import part of the meaning of the Dome of the Stone, but it is unlikely that religion was the only driving factor in its construction.
For 1 thing, the facts regarding the story of Muhammad's mi‛raj fail to add up. Early Muslim historians made sure to point out the fact that it was uncertain whether or not Jerusalem was indeed the spot of the Rise. The passages in the Qu‛ran dealing with the Ascension aren't clear with respect to the location, and scholars at the time disagreed with the estimation that the diction of the text was referring to Jerusalem in the first place.
State of war, Empire, and the Dome
Religion was of such swell importance in everyday Islamic life that politics was inevitably connected to religion, and therefore played a function in the significance of the Dome of the Rock. In order to have a grasp of the political situation at the time of the Dome'south initial completion (691–2 Advertizement), we demand to empathise the events that took place in the years leading up to it.
After the caliph ‛Umar died in 644 AD, ‛Uthman became the leader of the Islamic globe. The Muslims were beginning to expand outward from the Hijaz and the state of the Prophet, conquering the Iranian highlands, Anatolia, and parts of the Sasanian Empire. To control these new territories, garrison towns were formed for the soldiers of the forming Islamic empire. Co-ordinate to historian Marshall Hodgson, these soldiers were living apart from the rest of the Muslim earth, and so the danger was that of "a uncomplicated merging of Arab culture into that of the Fertile Crescent."
Perhaps it was then that the thought of a uniting symbol became relevant to the developing empire. The conquerors didn't want to blot the cultures already existing in the lands they invaded; they wanted their ain culture to reign supreme. This culture, even so, had to survive a menses of instability.
The commencement and second fitnah wars occurred during the menstruation from 656–692, creating an temper of strife and conflict. Diverse sects were aligned confronting each other. Soldiers in the garrison towns weren't pleased with the fact that their profits from conquest were existence controlled from far-away Medina. The dissimilar Islamic regions weren't unified. In short, says Hodgson, it "seemed that something was needed to stabilize the central power." The Dome of the Rock contributed to this stabilization. It was meant to exist a display of the unity of the expanding Islamic empire.
A Symbol of Islamic Civilization
Bated from the pronouncement of the Islamic empire's political authority, much of the Dome's meaning was associated with Muslim culture. The Arabs conquered Jerusalem in 637 Advertising, when Christian and Jewish culture had been long established at that place. The newcomers needed to innovate a symbol of their ain culture. Afterwards all, Jerusalem was far removed from the center of the Muslim world; it was in the outskirts, so to speak, and abroad from the chief concentration of Arab civilization.
What was needed was an impressive monument that embodied all that Islam was. The Dome of the Rock served this purpose. It established the presence of Islam in Jerusalem and was a symbol of a change in Islamic culture — from a culture revolving around the Prophet's tightly knit community to an entity with majestic condition. Besides being a source of pride for Muslims, it was intended for the optics of Jews and Christians. Islam, a newcomer to the region, had to demonstrate itself as superior if it was to rule.
Many aspects of the Dome's architecture were add-ons or improvements to existing ideas. The building tin can exist viewed equally a type of response to Christian art and architecture — indeed, the Dome's structure resembles that of Christian buildings from around the same time.
But at the same fourth dimension, the Dome displayed the fact that the Muslim empire was trying to create a unique, powerful identity and split up itself from the other monotheistic religions with which it had been closely entwined. It sort of "took over" aspects of the other religions and made them its own. For example, the footing the Dome was built on had been considered more or less sacred past both the Jews and the Christians. The Dome of the Rock represented Islamic civilization's affirmation of its uniqueness and superiority over the existing cultures and religions in Jerusalem.
The Birth of Islamic Artwork
The artwork in the Dome is an instance of this unique cultural identity starting to grade. The manner built on that of other cultures, such as Byzantine Christian, but information technology also branched out on its own and established a distinctly Islamic style of art.
There is no depiction of Muhammad's mi‛raj among its beautiful murals. This is 1 of the earliest examples of the Muslim tradition of abnegation from making representations of humans that could be considered idolatry. The practice is not expressly forbidden in the Qu‛ran, but sometime during the early on centuries after Muhammad's death it became custom.
It is not entirely sure why this change in attitude about human being representation came about, but I believe information technology has something to practice with the Islamic empire trying to demonstrate its superiority over the other religions present in its conquered territories. Christian fine art by the time of the Dome of the Rock's construction had evolved into a circuitous, beautiful style that would have been very hard for the Muslims to compete with had they tried to emulate it. Instead, they rejected this style altogether and developed a unlike, distinct Islamic style.
The doctrine that idolatry is a sin was tied to the artwork, and Muhammad'southward Ascension to Heaven wasn't depicted considering that would have been portraying the Prophet as an to a higher place-human idol. Muslim ideology was therefore incorporated into the artwork of the Dome of the Rock, and contributed to the unique Islamic cultural identity that was beginning to be established.
In Conclusion
The symbolism attached to the Dome of the Rock, with the building's unique artwork forth with its political and religious implications, was that of a blossoming, dominant Islamic civilisation. As the empire was expanding, the Dome was the embodiment of the unity and glory of the Muslim world. Its performance as a symbol of the Islamic way of life was at the heart of its meaning at the time of its construction.
References
Grabar, Oleg. The Art and Architecture of Islam 650–1250, with Richard Ettinghausen and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. New Yaven: Yale University Press, 2001.
Hodgson, Marshall G.S. The Venture of Islam: Censor & History in a World Civilization. Volume 2: The Expansion of Islam in the Middle Periods. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974.
Source: https://historyofyesterday.com/the-dome-of-the-rock-symbol-of-islamic-empire-737a9312db87
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