Free Essay - Cultural Artifacts and Traditions: Exploring the Rich Heritage of Islamic Objects and Practices

Kiswah, according to Islamic traditions it's the cloth that covers the Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and it is usually covered each year on the 9th day in the month of Dhu-al-Hijjah, which is the day that pilgrims leave for the plains of mount Arafat. Note that the Kaabah is a building at the centre of the Muslim's most holy mosque in Mecca, and they believe that it was rebuilt many times throughout history. The old Kiswah is cut into smaller pieces, given to certain specific people Muslim organizations, and Muslim diplomats who attend the pilgrimage. Therefore this paper will discuss the Kiswa and textile making for the covering of Kaaba.

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Before Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, the Kaaba was regarded as a holy place by different Bedouin ethnic groups who lived in that region. And once in each lunar year, these communities used to pilgrimage in the city of Mecca. They would put aside any tribal differences they had so that they could worship their gods in the Kaaba and finally carry trade with each other (Timur 45). Different types of sculptures, as well as paintings, were housed inside the Kaaba. Hubal's statue (the major god of Mecca city) and other statues from pagans are believed to have also been put around the Kaaba or inside it (King 219).

The walls were also painted with images of gods. After Muhammad conquered Mecca, he discovered an image of Isa and his mother Maryam inside it. The image showed Maryam seated holding his son on her lap (King 229). Inside the Kaaba, it was also painted with pictures of significant prophets and angels, money, and a pair of ram horns. It is believed that the pair of horns belonged to the ram, which Ibrahim sacrificed to god instead of his son Ismail according to Islamic traditions (King 219).

The Islamic holy book, the Quran, also contains several verses that talk much about Kaaba's origin. But what is essential is that it argues that the Kaaba was the first place of worship for all human beings, and Ibrahim and his son Ishmael built it following the instructions of God or Allah (Dryness 25).

One of the verses states that the first house of prayer appointed for was that at Makkah full of blessings and guidance for humankind –Surah Al Imran(3) Ayah 96. Another verse in the Quran also states that and remember Ibrahim and Ishmael raised the house's foundations with prayer "Our Lord accept this service from us For Thou art all Hearing, the All-Knowing" –Al Bakarash(2), Ayah 127.

In his known exegesis of the Quran, Ibn Kathir talks about two interpretations to the Muslims about the origin of the Kaaba. One of them was that a shrine was a place of worship by angels before man was created. Later on, after making man, a place of worship was built and got lost during Noah's flood time, which was later rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael. One of the hadiths by Sahih Al – Bukhari argues that Kaaba was the first Masjid in the world, followed by Jerusalem's temple (Sahir, hadith585).

The Futah Haramayn is a guidebook written by Muhi-al-din Lari about Mecca and Medina's holy cities. It instructs the pilgrimages about the hajj pilgrimage's rituals and outlines the sacred places they can go to. It is popularly exemplified in countries such as Turkey, India, and Iran. Its imagery is usually confined to a fixed and, to some extent, dry method of bird-eye perception of buildings, sites, and courtyards. Other Versions such as the Deccani add substantial through animated purple mountains, curving orange lines of trees, hidden grotesques at their rocky edges, and brighter pallets. The leaf could also be used to show Tawaf or the hajj pilgrimage, meaning that the pigments have to move in an anti-clockwise movement around the Kaaba. Another plate also shows the plains of Mount Arafat, which is supposed to be visited during the second day of pilgrimage, and the illustration of tombstones where the Prophet Muhammad's family were situated.

Kiswah is the cloth that is mostly used to cover the Kaba in the holy city of Mecca, and the Kabaa building is usually clothed on the 9th day in the month of Dhu–al–Hijjah, which is the day that most pilgrimages leave for the plains of Mt. Arafat during the Hajj. Prophet Muhammad and his followers never participated in the Kaaba's clothing until they conquered the city of Mecca in 630AD, for they were not allowed to join by the ruling community. However, after they defeated the city, they chose to live the Kiswah as they found it, until one time when a burning incense accidentally burned the Kiswah, prophet Muhammad clothed the Kaaba with a white Yemeni cloth.

The printing of the Kiswah for covering the Kaaba, begins by putting the first drawings of Quran verses and Islam motifs into the Kaaba belt. The manasaji is also prepared, two sides made from wood, and then a white raw fabric is pulled in between them. Plain silk is drawn on top, and the belt of the Kiswa is printed on it before the Kaaba's door, and then embroidery is added.

For many years the Kiswa, especially during the reign of As Salih Ayub, was used to be made in Egypt, whereby the materials for making it were supplied from Sudan, Egypt, India, and Iraq. Then the Kiswa would be transported from Egypt to Mecca under the leadership of Amir al-Hajj (Dunn, 266).

The mosque lamps, which are often made with gilding, survived in large numbers in Islamic arts in the Middle Ages, notably during the 13th and 14th centuries in Egypt, Allepo, and in Syria in the city of Damascus, where they were highly built (Mitchell & Jones 134). They were applied with enamel decorations, and the decorations could include Quran verses, mostly in their first part Ayah-an –Nur, whereby writings and heraldic symbols record the contributor(Jones & Mitchell,134). The lamps aimed to be symbolic and practical as they relate to the verse of the lighting and the beautification of the lights entails the names of symbols obtained from Islam heraldry or the individual who gave it. Additionally, other types of lighting in mosques comprised large metal stands, such as broad candle sticks popularly used in secular buildings, which sometimes were intricately beautified (Canby 85).

The uljutayu tombstone is a structure that houses the remains of the sultaniya who was a much-praised Mongol city founded in c.1285 by Il-Khan Arghun, which was later dedicated as a city by his son Sultan Uljatyu Khubadada around 1313. It is assumed that the Sultan began building his tomb when he ascended into power that is immediately after he converted from Sunni Muslim to Shia Muslim. He then opted that the grand mausoleum would be a shrine for Imam Ali and Husayn, who decided to move from their resting places in Iraq. This resulted in the building's modification during the construction times. However, the plan was later altered and become Sultan Uljatyu's graveyard(Sheilla,139).

Diwani is calligraphic variety of Arabic scripts or cruising styles which were developed during the times of Ottoman Turks in the 16th and 17th centuries. And became popular under Suleyman I the magnificent one between 1520-1566. The dominant paintings of the miniature in the later years of the Middle Ages were from Persians who had quite a significant number of centres that were too dependent on one patron, that is whether the shahs or other notable figures ruled a particular portion of a country-like centre.

These include Herat whereby Baysungars were significant clientele in the 15th the 16th centuries shah Tahmasp I who was a notable figure interested in commissioning books declined which made the Persian tradition of commissioning books lack a stable source for commissioning books in the ancient style, however after some years Ibrahim Mizra who was Tahpmans new established an atelier at Mashhad that made the free Jamis. It was during this period when a single miniature made to be in albums became dominant (Titley 113).

The Mughal dynasty was founded in the Indian continent and began after the expulsion of the Persian's second emperor Humayun, who after his return was joined by Persian artists such as Abd as-Samad. This led to the growth of the Mughal style under their next leader Akbar who large custom-built well-illustrated books, contrarily his artists made single miniatures just for albums.

Realistic studies of animals plants and flowers were in the 17th century, portraits by rulers were popularly borrowed from leaders in the West (Crill & Jawila 68).Examples of Mughal court images especially by Salim Album that were drawn during the reign of Akbar the Great houses images of Christians and Hindu courtiers.

The precious red stones were highly admired in the Arabian Peninsula Gulf especially in their selection when jewellery was being made, small-sized vessels for kings as well as regalia of different varieties ranging from crowns to seals. These stones were highly valued and liked because they produced light, especially at night when the sun had just set.

Rubies and spines were mostly hunted and even to date are highly regarded and valued in Iranian Literature ranging from Persian poetry and ancient chronicles as well as gemological discourses written in Arabian and Persian languages. The dark red mostly in western gemology as red corundum is regarded in old Persia stone identification as red yokad and has for many years stayed as the most expensive red stone.

The wine cup of shah Jahan was a wine cup that was made from nephrite jade and was explicitly designed for the Mughal leader Shah Jahan. It had the shape of a guard as seen in detailed designs. The handle was designed and looked like a ram head, and the cup was usually decorated with writings such as the second lord of conjunction.

This is due to the reuniting of splendid titulature in the Persian-speaking languages. Which specifically alludes to Timur where the Mughals originated (Roberts, 273). This cup is dated to 1067 in Islamic times, and it was made in India and was widely acquired in the 19th century by Charles Seton after the Indians rebelled.

Works Cited

Canby, Sheila R. (ed). Shah Abbas; The Remaking of Iran, 2009, British Museum Press.

Dunn, Robert, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta as Muslim traveller of the fourteenth century 1986 university of California Press,p.266

Dyrness, W. A. . Senses of Devotion: Interfaith Aesthetics in Buddhist and Muslim Communities 2013 7. Wipf and Stock. Publishers. p. 25.

Jones & Mitchell, 134; A mid-14th-century Islamic glass mosque lamp from Cairo (XXVB94) Wallace Collection

King, G. R. D. "The Paintings of the Pre-Islamic Kaba". Muqarnas., 2004, 21: 219–229.

Roberts Skeleton, Islamic and Mughal jades 1991, Springer Boston MA pp 273-296 Sahih Bukhari. Book 55, Hadith 585.

Sheillah s Blair, The Mongol capital of sultaniya "The imperial"Iran vol 24(1986) pp139-151

Timur Kuran, "Commercial Life under Islamic Rule," in The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East. (Princeton University Press, 2011), 45–62.

Titley, Norah M., Persian Miniature Painting, and its Influence on the Art of Turkey and India, 1983, University of Texas Press.