They maintain that Islamic art emerged at the same time with...

They maintain that Islamic art emerged at the same time with the very rise of Islam itself.l0 In this correlation, it is essential to refer to some verses of the Qur‟an and few Traditions of the Prophet, which without a doubt endorse the view that Islamic art is inherent in Islam itself: “We have adorned the lowest heaven with the beauty of the planets.”11 “We have placed constellations in heaven and made them beautiful for those who look.”12 In addition to the above Qur‟anic verses, a couple of Traditions of the Prophet(S) would be in order: “God likes that whenever anyone of you performs any work he should do it in a beautiful manner.”13 “God is Beautiful and likes Beauty.”14 There is an „inward intimate relationship between Islamic art and Islamic spirituality and as a result Muslim artists think about the sacred art of Islam to be a descent of heavenly Reality upon the earth.

Through this creative activity we maintain our symbolic correlation with an Invisible Spiritual Order. “To be spiritual” in the words of George Santayana, “is to live in the presence of the ideal”.15 This „Ideal‟ is Allah (God) who is the cause of everything. In the words of G.T.W.

Patrick: God is the soul of the world, an indwelling spiritual presence, a creative, organizing and perfecting power, the source of our moral religious and aesthetic ideals.16 Spirituality is profoundly interlinked with religion, although they are not interchangeable terms.

Durant Drake has well explained the meaning of „spirituality‟ and its relation to „religion‟ in the following words: The disposition of the heart and will, through which a man comes to care for the highest things and to live in gentleness and inward calm above the surface aspects and accidents of life, we call, in its inner nature, spirituality; when it is embodied in outward forms and institutions, and spread among whole communities, we call it a religion.I7 Muslim artists tried (and still try) to create every art-form by invoking in them the Power and Blessing of the Supreme Reality.

It is His gifted creative energy that man can create and appreciate a number of art-forms. While creating „beauty‟ in his product the artist or architect always thinks of Allah (God) as the Supreme Beauty (Jamal) and He is Present (Hadir) everywhere. Islamic art keeps us united before the Divine Presence. It paves the manner for the explorer who wishes to enter the ultimate Sanctum-Sanctorum of Divine Revelation.