The different aspects of Islamic culture: Volume 5: Culture and learning in Islam

897 Pages·61.533 MB·English

T H E
E T
A
O F I
C U
V O L U-M E- FIV E
C U I, T U R E
A N D L E A R N I N G
IN ISLAM
U N E S C O P u b I i s h i n g
THE DIFFERENT
ASPECTS O F ISLAMIC
CULTURE
5
The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts
contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not
necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this
publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part
of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or
of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The preparation and publication of this volume have been funded by the World
Islamic Call Society (WIGS).
Published in 2003 by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP
Printed by Dergham sarl, Beirut - Lebanon
ISBN 92-3-103909-1
0 UNESCO 2003
PREFACE
At its nineteenth session, the General Conference of UNESCO authorized the
Director-General to take the necessary measures to prepare and publish a
work on the different aspects of Islamic culture. The aim was to show these
various aspects, both from a historical standpoint and with reference to the
present relevance of a civilization whose r61e and brilliance in the future are
expected to equal what they were in the past.
In the Middle Ages, the influence of Islamic civihzation was felt
throughout the world. For the peoples who, from the Chna Sea to the
Atlantic coast of Africa, embraced Islam, it provided a set of cultural refer-
ences and values that served to fashion their unity while preserving their own
specific characteristics. What is more, this civilization, which aspired to uni-
versality from its beginnings, exercised an undeniable influence on neigh-
bouring peoples in several fields.
In the early Middle Ages, Muslim hnkers and scientists, drawing on the
rich heritage of Greece, developed their own world-views and sowed in the
subsoil of the Latin Middle Ages the seeds from whch the first shoots of the
European Renaissance were to grow. They served as an essential link in that
transmission of learning and knowledge which constitutes the most moving
illustration of the many-stranded continuity of the epic of humanity.
Muslim philosophers, geographers, physicists, mathematicians, botanists
and doctors made their contributions to the adventure of science, which paid
no heed to borders. Knowledge flowed in from Sicily and Andalusia. Perhaps
the apocryphal story of Averroes in Italy, whose teaching at the University of
Padua was to find an echo in Dante’s Inferno, is emblematic of this itinerancy
of knowledge, carried like pollen by the bracing winds of human commerce.
Islamic culture, whose roots plunge deep into the past but whch is still
alive today, simultaneously developed a conception of the individual and the
universe, a phdosophy of life and an art of living stiU attested in the prestigious
vestiges of its heritage, whch form an integral part of the heritage of
humanity.
But that culture, momentarily checked in its development by opposing
historical trends, has found in its reserves the strength to spring back.
Faithfulness to its roots by no means prevents it from wanting to take up its
position in the present century, participating in the contemporary debate and
being open to the stimulating dialogue of cultures.
The series of volumes on the different aspects of Islamic culture, of
which this Volume is the third to appear, will seek to present to the widest
possible readershp the various facets of this living culture, namely: the theo-
logical bases that constitute the pillars of faith and the foundations on which
the entire edifice rests; the status of the individual and society in the Islamic
world; an account of the expansion of Islam since the Revelation: the Arab,
Asian, African and European areas opened up before the new profession of
faith, and the way in which the rights of the converted peoples were pre-
served; the fundamental contribution, in the scientific and technical fields, of
Islamic civilization to the adventure of human knowledge ; the educational and
cultural achievements - in literature, art and architecture - of Islamic civili-
zation; and lastly, Islam today, between faithfulness to its past and the ne-
cessary conquest of modernity.
Neither a learned compilation nor an attempt at popularization, this
series of volumes on the different aspects of Islamic culture is intended to be a
work of a high scientific standard with contributions from eminent scholars in
the Islamic world, whom I wish to thank.
This co-operation on a large scale among Muslim scholars is intended by
UNESCO to be a modest contribution to the cultural renaissance begun by
the Muslim countries upon the recovery of their national independence.
In seeking to show the authenticity of Islamic culture, and at the same
time its present relevance, UNESCO is undertaking a task that will require a
long and sustained effort. It thus intends to remain true to its mission, which
is to preserve and promote the values of each culture of the world in order to
strengthen intercultural dialogue as a peaceful and necessary means of un-
derstanding among peoples and nations.
Koicbiro Matsaara
Director-G eneral fo UNESCO
CONTENTS
List of maps and figures 13
Introduction
Ekmeleddin hsano$u 1 9
I - The languages of Islam
CHAPTER 1
The Arabic language: its lingustics and philology
Abdelkader Mehila 33
CHAPTER 2
The Persian language
Ali-Asbraf Sadeghi 49
CHAPTER 3
The Turkish language
Nub Yuce 55
CHAPTER 4
The languages of the Indian Muslims
Annemalae Schimmel 65
CHAPTER 5
Malay
Mobamed Taib Bin Osman 71
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 6
African languages
Jan fiappert and Arthur Zrvine 77
CHAPTER7
The languages of the European Muslims
Nmetullah Najx 87
CHAPTER8
Cross-fertilization between Arabic and the other languages of Islam
Ekmeleddin hsano$u 103
-
I1 Literature
CHAPTER1
Arabic literature from its origins to 132/750
Mohamed Abdesselm 12 1
CHAPTER 2(a)
Poetry of the East
Jamel Eddine Bencheikb 141
CHAPTER2 (b)
Adab literature in the classical period
Abddah Cheikh-Moussa 15 5
CHAPTER2 (c)
Poetry in the Muslim West: second to fifth/eighth
to eleventh centuries
Brahim Najar 171
CHAPTER3
Arabic literature in the post classical period:
sixth to twelfth/twelfth to eighteenth centuries
Leila Sabbagb 187
CHAPTER 4
The modern and contemporary period of Arabic literature
Mustapba Badam' 209
CHAPTER5
Persian literature
Jalal Matini 225
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 6
Turhsh literature
Giinay fit 251
CHAPTER 7
Literature of the Muslims in the Indo-PahstaniS ubcontinent
Annemarie Scbimmel 287
CHAPTER 8
Malay literature
Mobamed Taib Bin Osman 303
CHAPTER 9
Literature in African languages
Jan Knappert 31 7
CHAPTER 10
The literature of Muslim people in Europe
Nmetulah Hajx 333
I11 - Philosophy in Islam
CHAPTER 1
Revealed text and the manifestations of reason: introduction to
philosophy in Islam
Ahmi Jadaane 35 1
CHAPTER 2
Philosophy in Islam: the Royal Road
AhmiJadaane 359
CHAPTER 3
The way of the Hellenizers: the transmission of Greek philosophy
to Islamic civilization
Abdurrahman Badawi 383
CHAPTER 4
Philosophy in Islam
Muhsin S. Mahdi 399
CONTENTS
IV - Muslim mysticism
CHAPTER 1
The early period of Sfifism
Annemarie Schimmel 427
CHAPTER 2
The significance of Sfifism:
its place and value in the universal and perennial process
of spiritual inquiry
Enes firic 445
V - Human sciences
CHAPTER 1
Geographical investigations under
the guidance of Islam
Anton M Heinen 457
CHAPTER 2
Arabic historiography
Abdul-Axix an' 487
CHAPTER 3
Persian historiography from the &h&nid period to the vigdance
and Renaissance era
Crzj AfShar 5 1 1
CHAPTER 4
Ottoman historiography
Mehmet &irh 525
CHAPTER 5
The Indmn school
Balid Ahmad Nxami 539
VI - Artistic creations
INTRODUCTION
Art and aesthetic creativity
A3f
Bahnassi 549
CONTENTS
CHAPTER l(a)
The art of calligraphy in Islam
Mhtafa @ur Derman 569
CHAPTER l(b)
Islamic miniatures
Nurhan Atasy 589
CHAPTER l(c)
Decoration and flumination
DavidJames 603
CHAPTER l(d)
Book binding
Has@ Oktq Aslanapa 61 5
CHAPTER l(e)
Ebm (marbling): The art of paper marbling applied in an emulsion
Mzlstafa @.r Derman 625
CHAPTER 2
Islamic architecture and urbanism
S. GuLxar Haider 633
CHAPTER 3
Music, song and the performing arts tradition:
past and present developments
Metin And 695
CHAPTER4
Music in Islamic culture
Salah Mahdi 721
CHAPTER 5(a)
Islamic carpets
Jerare Xtkin 735
CHAPTER 5(b)
Ceramics in the Islamic world
Oliver Watson 751
CHAPTER 5(c)
Islamic metalwork
Esin Atil 767