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SUFIS OF TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES ANDALUSIA By Jamal Afiq Jamaludin Master of Letters College of Arts University of Glasgow Christie’s Education London The Arts of Europe September 2012 © Jamal Afiq Jamaludin

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Table of Content

Abstract…………………………………………………………3

Acknowledgements……………………………………………..4

List of Illustrations………………………………………….5 – 7

Map……………………………………………………………...8

The Meaning of the term Sufi…………………………………..9

In Approaching Sufi-themed Art…………………………10 - 18

Sufis of Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries Andalusia……...19 - 30

Looking at Sufi-themed objects…………………………..30 - 32

The Sufist Eye……………………………………………32 – 61

Conclusion………………………………………………..62 - 63

Catalogue………………………………………………….64 - 95

Glossary…………………………………………………..96 - 97

Bibliography……………………………………………..98 - 102

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Abstract

The thesis explores on the Sufis of twelfth to thirteenth centuries Andalusia and how the

beliefs and ideas during that time influenced the spirit and material culture of the

geographical area. During the times of the Almohad administration a Sufi-laden

doctrine called ‘The Doctrine of Divine Unity’ was made as an official governmental

charter. This caused an effect on the artefacts that were produced during this time. On

top of that, the nature of the Almohad government that encouraged intellectual

development further enhanced and intensified the influence of Sufism. Two prominent

figures were highlighted in this thesis are namely the founder of the Almohad

administration, Ibn Tumart and the famous Andalusian Sufi and philosopher, Ibn Arabi.

The thesis takes on a theological approach upon studying the artefacts. Inscriptions were

analyzed and compared with Sufi texts that were produced during this time. The Ruh al-

Quds and Durrat al-Fakhirah that were written by Ibn Arabi became the primary sources

for the study besides ‘The Doctrine of Divine Unity’. In addition to that, a few key

terms in Sufism itself were explained, problems raised by other art historian were

discussed and a method to approach Sufi-themed art was introduced.

Word Count: 18,364

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Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank God for blessing me with good health all throughout the

course year. Secondly, I would like to thank my mom for introducing Sufism to me.

Indeed it was history repeating as when she was in London in 1980s as a student at

Architectural Association School of Architecture she equipped herself with the

knowledge on Sufism during her free time and by the grace of God, I did the same. It

was enlightening to be given the chance to compose an art historical thesis about it. My

gratitude extends to my father for supporting my studies in London and giving me

advice every now and then. To my sister in Manchester, thank you for helping me

settling in and I wish you well on your course.

I would also like to thank the faculty of Arts of Europe course in Christies Education,

Dr. Richard Plant for being the father of the course and pushing me to the limits so that

I will work harder, Dr. Cecily Hennessy for being the strict mother of the course and

taught me about being disciplined and Dr. Sadie Pickup for being the sister of the course

and showed me how to be a graceful art historian. Not to forget, Dr. Minna Torma for

conducting a stimulating and pleasing Issues and Context seminars. Other members of

the Christies Education establishment especially Ms. Natasha Held, Mr. Glen W.

Hardwick, Ms. Katie Blackford, Mr. Foiz Uddin, Ms. Hela Fox and Ms. Catherine

McGivern, many thanks for all the help, big and small. Lastly, thank you to the couple

that is in Malaysia right now, Ms. Liyana Ibrahim and Mr. Justin J. Heyes for the

encouragement and agreeing to proofread my thesis dissertation. To a friend, Ms. Ester

Arenas, thank you for being a positive housemate and to whomever I have not

mentioned here but have helped throughout the academic year, thank you.

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List of Illustrations

The Almohad Dominion Map, Catalogue; Almoravid, Almohad and Nasrid Periods:

Ceramics’, Al-Andalus; The Art of Islamic Spain (New York 1992), p. XXVII.

Figure 1: The Blue Quran, 9th to 10th Century A.D., Gold ink on blue parchment, 28 x

38 cm, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, MS.8.2006

Figure 2: The Almoravid Quran Manuscript, 12th Century A.D., Gold and blue ink on

parchment, 18 x 18.8 cm, Istanbul University Library, A6755

Figure 3: The Almohad Quran Manuscript, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Gold and blue ink

on clear parchment, 26.2 x 22 cm, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Smith-Lesoeuf 217

Figure 4: The Kashan Bowl of Reflections, 12th Century A.D., Glazed and painted

lusterware, 8.6 x 33 cm, Brooklyn Museum, New York, 86.227.16

Figure 5: The Kashan Plate, 13th Century A.D., Glazed and painted lusterware, 35.2 cm

(Diameter), Freer Sackler, The Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C,

F1941.11

Figure 6: Bifolium of Andalusian Illuminated Manuscript of Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad. ,

12th to 13th Century A.D., Paint on paper, 28.2 x 20 cm, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,

Rome, Vat. Ar. 368

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Figure 7: Al-Hariri Maqamat, The Farewell at Tayba of Abu Zayd and al-Harith & Al-

Harith and his companions before their separation, 13th Century A.D., Paint on paper,

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Arabe 3929, fol. 122 & Arabe 5847, fol. 46 verso

Figure 8: The Pillow Cover of Queen Berenguela, 12th to 13th Century A.D. , Silk and

gold thread, 86 x 50 cm, Patrimonio Nacional, Museo deTelas Medivales, Monasterio

de Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas, Burgos, 00650512

Figure 9: The Almohad Pair of Earrings, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Gold sheer, wire,

and grains, set with cloisonné enamel, 4.8 x 4.65 cm, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah,

Kuwait City, Kuwait, al-Sabah Collection, LNS30 Jab

Figure 10: The Almohad Jar, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Painted lusterware, 4 cm

(Diameter) , Ayuntamiento de Valencia, 1000

Figure 11: The Almohad Las Navas de Tolosa Banner, 13th Century A.D., Silk and gilt

parchment, 330 x 220 cm, Patrimanio Nacional, Museo de Telas Medievales,

Monasterio de Santa Maria la Real de, Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas, Burgos,

00652193

Figure 12: The Almohad Bowl, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Glazed and painted

lusterware, 23.2 cm (Diameter), Museo de Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, 13505

Figure 13: The Almohad Brazier, 13th Century A.D., Bronze, 26 cm, Museo

Arquelogico Provincial de Cordoba, D. 92/2

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Figure 14: Folio of the Diwan by Ibn Arabi, Collection of Sufi poems, 13th Century

A.D., Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, 255

Figure 15: The Almohad Casket, 12th Century A.D., Ivory, wood, and gilt copper, 41 x

38 x 14 cm, Institutode de Valencia de Don Juan, Madrid 4864

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Map showing the Almohad administration territory during the thirteenth century.

(Image from Ed. Jerrilynn D. Dodds, ‘Catalogue; Almoravid, Almohad and Nasrid

Periods: Ceramics’, Al-Andalus; The Art of Islamic Spain (New York 1992), p.

XXVII.

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The Meaning of the term Sufi.

The term “Sufi” has two derivations in the history of Islam. The first comes from the

record of Abu Rayhan Biruni who said that the word Sufi comes from the Greek word

Sophia which means wisdom and also formed the word “philosophy” which takes from

the word “philo” that means love and “Sophia” that means wisdom. Literally the word

“philosophy” means the love of wisdom. Although, this derivation fits the context of

Sufism in Islam because it reflects the teachings, practice and findings, nevertheless the

Sufi may also means “wool” that comes from the word “Suf”. It was a common word

used to describe the Sufis because of the woollen robes that the Sufis usually wore as a

garment. Ever since ancient times, many mystics and pious people have worn this

garment as a symbol of rejecting the material world. There were also insertions that

claimed even Jesus and Moses used to wear wool. The Sufi from Persia, Jalal al-Din

Rumi was also seen wearing wool and has said the wool fabric is an appropriate dress

for Sufis whom are on their way to the spiritual path in the twelfth to thirteenth

centuries.1

Another sensible point of view would be that during the twelfth to thirteenth centuries,

many Sufis travelled afar in search of knowledge and correspondence with other Sufis

and spiritual masters and the most appropriate dress to battle the cold during travelling

would be woollen garments. Its simplicity signifies humility and in the times of

grandiose empires such like the Seljuk of Rum, it is important for them to distinct

themselves from them and to be recognized not as a threat to the administration but

being just a man on a spiritual path.

                                                                                                               1  Javad Nurbakhsh, ‘Tasavvof: Definitions of Sufism and the Sufi’, Sufism; Meaning, Knowledge and Unity (New York, 1981), pp. 11-12.    

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In Approaching Sufi-Themed Art

Following the death of the prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. in 632 A.D., Muslims were

left with the Quran as a form of guidance. Compiled and canonized by the prophet’s

sahabat or companion named Uthman bin Affan, it became the foundation that helped to

progressively shape Islamic urban living. Since then scholars of hadith, law, theology,

mystics or Sufism and ascetic depended on it.

Brief History Of Sufism

Sufism originated from the spiritual objective and religious practices of the prophet

Muhammad P.B.U.H., his various sahabat, and their successors. Sufism developed in

parallel alongside the expansion of Islam outward from Arabia. While the elites

concentrated in strengthening and giving order to the empire, other Muslims

contemplated on the value of their short-lived material world or dunia.2

The Sufist doctrine teaches decency in abiding by the Quran, humble yearning in

attaining God’s love (zuhud) and total avoidance of sin, as well as excessive material

world desires. It performs as an Islamic, spiritual blanket served to invoke piousness and

supposedly imitating the acts of the prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. A similar concept

can be found in eastern Christian spirituality.3 The Sufist doctrine does not

discriminate between the Sunni or Shiite Islam.

The idea for adapting the Sufist way of life was not originally derived from Islam. The

ascetic attitude has emerged ever since the Abrahamic times. Since then, it has

psychologically, emotionally and spiritually evolved.

2 Ira M. Lapidus, ‘Urban Islam: the Islam of the religious elites – Mystics and Sufism’, A History of Islamic Societies (Cambridge, 1988), pp. 109-115.

3 Ibid.

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Spiritual awareness in Islam involves recitation of the Quran, an understanding of the

meaning of each ayat or verse; zikir (the remembrance of God and repetition of his

attributes), litanies and meditation alongside with the suppression of inner vices or

temptations. These are the believed means through which one can get closer to God,

by constantly reminding oneself to conduct oneself righteously.4

To look into Sufi art, one must understand the development it partook within the

expansion of Islamic civilization. Sufism first began, as a quest for individual spiritual

redemption in the seventh century, that later progressed and became a collective

religious movement in the eighth century. During this period, material attributes or

visual anthropological evidence was associated to the movement such as the white

costume. Out of the purpose of ego consciousness, Sufis felt there was a need to identify

themselves from others. They dressed in coarse white wool garments to signify purity

and to act as a reminder to themselves that they are all equal in God’s eyes as well as on

a quest to return to innocence.5 This was similar with the practice of being in ihram;

the white garment pilgrims wore to Mecca for Hajj and Umrah.

The Sufi movement intensified, gathering more followers and persisted throughout the

ninth century lasting unchanged until the eleventh century. Then with the knowledge

of Greek classics travelling from the east to the west, many intelligentsias from

Andalusia read the translated works by the ancient world philosopher Plotinus. The

twelfth and thirteenth centuries became an era of intellectual discourses. The

theosophical concept of Neo-platonism was discussed and a deeper understanding of

the Sufist doctrine was inculcated; an individual whom is on a journey of spiritual

redemption was capable by inner knowledge or illumination of rising up in the

4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.

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hierarchy of being to the ultimate vision of God.6 The quest for redemption then is found

in the solat or prayer that a devout Muslim performs five times in a day. During the

sitting position in between the two prostrations of the solat, a Muslim recites

“Rabbighfirli warhamni wajburni warfa'kni warzuqni wahdini wa'afini wa'kfu 'anni”

which means “O’ Lord, forgive me, bless me, rectify me, raise my status, give me my

sustenance, guide me, strengthen me and pardon me.” The “status” in this prayer

recitation speaks about “rising up in the hierarchy of being to the ultimate vision of

God or closeness to God” as underpinned in the Sufist doctrine.

Due to the harmonious integration of Sufi thoughts and other forms of Islamic practices,

Sufism gained popularity and became widely acknowledged as a doctrine pursuing the

truth of Islam. Although the essence of Sufism is to fulfil the individual’s spiritual

contentment, the consequence of having theosophical discourses and meetings has

led itself to form orders within a particular collective. Community centres known as

khanaqas were built in south-western of Iran for the purpose of teaching, missionary

work and charity activities. These centres practiced a formal type of organizational

structure and were usually led by a Sufi master. This practice began the dichotomy of

“Master” and “Disciple” in Sufism and established Sufi orders known as tariqat, which

translates to mean ‘Brotherhood’.7 Although most of these orders were regimentally

centred in Baghdad, later on this practice developed in other cities, as scholars travelled

and expanded their Islamic teachings to other territories. The orders began to enculturate

local customs into the teachings. This caused Sufism to expand into two mainly, distinct

schools, which were the school of Baghdad, and the school of Khurasan. The school of

Khurasan focused on the total ecstatic quality of Sufism.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

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A Khurasan Sufi, Al-Hallaj preached the concept of self-annihilation for the purpose of

unity with God. His belief that ‘All living beings are manifestations of God or the

divine’ was misconceived and labelled as heresy. His proclamation of being ‘The truth’

became a threat to the Abbasid caliphate. Although he spoke about divine love and

divine union, his shortcomings of not including the practical virtues of Islam caused him

to be perceived as hysterical and non-conformist. With regards to these attributes, his

approach on Sufism was then compartmentalized as being the Sufi school of Khurasan.

On the contrary, a Baghdadi Sufi, Al-Junayd promoted the same concepts as the school

of Khurasan, but had combined the virtues of patience, trust, gratitude and love of

God to his teachings. Al-Junayd believed in adherence to the Quran while conforming to

Islamic law or Shariah. His approach was more balanced, closely integrated with the

ordinary Islamic religious practice and belief. Al-Junayd’s idea of a mystic goal was not

loss of self as the final end, but through the loss of self, a return to a daily life

transformed by the vision of God and ever after conducted in the presence of God.8

In the case of this thesis, Sufism played a very important role in the Islamic expansion

into North Africa that later took shape in Andalusia’s intellectual, social setting during

the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.9

The Problem And Attitude Towards Sufi-themed Art

Sufi-themed art, is not an established genre within the study of Islamic Art or Islamic

Visual Culture. An Islamic Art scholar, Oleg Grabar has annotated that the importance of

8 Ibid. 9 Ibid.

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Sufism is difficult to assess.10 However, it has been proven otherwise through the study

of the expansion of Islam into North Africa and Andalusia.

It is not known whether a lot of studies have been made to analyse Islamic Art through

examining the Sufist attributes. In 2009, the Brooklyn Museum held an exhibition

entitled ‘Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam’. The exhibition gathered

twenty-five objects related to Sufism from the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, The

Metropolitan Museum of Art, and various private collections. The curation was inspired

by the Sufis ideologies and the poems written by al-Ghazzali and Jalal al-Din Rumi. The

objects of art exhibited, ranged from the medieval Islamic period to contemporary

pieces. The theme of light and enlightenment were emphasised as the focal theme of the

exhibition.

In the case of twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia, it is vital to look into how

Sufism was accepted by the North African Muslims and subsequently expanded to

Andalusia. As the historian and historiographer Ibn Khaldun once wrote in

Muqadimmah – Introduction to History, “If one trusts historical information in its plain

transmitted form and has no clear knowledge of the principles resulting from custom, the

fundamental facts of politics, the nature of civilization or the conditions governing

human social organization and, if furthermore, one does not evaluate remote or

ancient material i.e. art through comparison with near or contemporary material, one

often cannot avoid stumbling and slipping and deviating from the highroad of truth”.11

10 Oleg Grabar, ’Patterns and Ways of Cultural Exchange’, Islamic Visual Culture, 1100-1800: Constructing the Study of Islamic Art, Volume II (Hampshire, 2006), p. 390.

11 Ibn Khaldun, ‘The Muqaddimah’, Muqaddimah – An Introduction to History (London, 1958), Vol. 1, xvii-xxxviii.

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Hence, by looking at Sufism as part of the custom of twelfth and thirteenth centuries

Andalusia and comparing it with its material culture, one couldn’t possibly deviate from

historical accuracy.

It is not difficult to recognize that Sufi-themed art developed out of the mixture of

tradition, personality, character and faith of Islam. In studying Sufi-themed Art,

one must disregard Grabar’s various modifications of the term “Islamic”. In looking at

Sufi- themed Art, one must refer to the Art with the faith of Islam in mind. Grabar’s

insertion of the three elements that identify and explain Islamic Art is deemed

appropriate. Firstly, try to identify and explain the mind of the Muslim user and beholder

of the object of Art (An almost similar concept of Baxandall’s ‘Period Eye’). Secondly,

try to identify and explain the meanings given to the object of Art. Thirdly, like other

Art historical enquiries, try to identify and explain how the object of Art was made.12

There a r e no abso lu t e an swer s i n s t u d y i n g t he S u f i -themed A r t bu t G r a b a r

has underlined how to approach the hypothesis, “It has to explain a sufficiently high

number of perceptible phenomena or documents without being compelled to explain

them all; it has to be meaningful both in terms of individual object of art and in terms of

the wider historical setting in which it was created; and, it has to be a perfectible

statement in the sense that its acceptance is not a final conclusion but one that seeks and

leads to further explanations and to further research”.13 It is agreed that the impulse for

a uniquely Muslim Art and in this case Sufi-themed Art lay not in the object of Art, but

in certain identifiable habits and thoughts, which had to be translated into visually

perceptible forms. Hence, it is rather difficult to strictly label an object of Islamic Art or

12 Oleg Grabar, ‘The Problem’, The Formation of Islamic Art (New Haven, 1987), pp. 5-6. 13 Ibid. pp. 16-17.

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Sufi-themed Art to be secular or religious. It does not work in the same way we perceive

Christian Art or Buddhist Art.

Sufi-themed Art is a form of Art inspired by faith. Although traditional Islamic culture

does not possess a doctrine about the Arts, the way of life and characteristic of

early Islam may have directed the culture towards channelling its artistic activities in

certain directions and one of them being towards the Sufist movement. It was more of an

attitude rather than doctrine. The Quran does not allow itself to be easily translated into

any visual form because it does not have major narrative like the Bible. Instead, it

consists of snippets of reminders. Its lack of complexities and picturesque appeal

found in the Gospels or the Old Testament means that the aesthetic appeal lays only in

the sound of its divinely inspired words. In this circumstance, it was in Arabic, the

mediating language used by the prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. to convey the words of

God. This quality ensured Arabic calligraphy became an important feature in Islamic

Art. Calligraphic Quran inscriptions are one of the apparent attributes in Sufi-themed

Art. The Quran emphasised God as the single Creator or the Musawwir (The

Fashioner and Bestower of forms) and did not lend itself to obvious translation into

visual forms.14

Islamic Art flourished due to the condition of needing to position itself distinctively

amidst the well established Byzantine and Sassanian Art. Both Byzantine and Sassanian

Art were lavish and had been supported by their wealthy royal patronage. These were

seen as new scenarios for Islam, which had come from the relatively humble non-royalist

Arabian background. As the result of the expansion, the life of the luxury was

introduced to Muslims and this created a schism within the Islamic society.

14 Grabar, ‘The Islamic Attitudes towards the Arts’, The Formation of Islamic Art (New Haven, 1987), pp. 84-85.

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A part of the society enjoyed the newly introduced luxurious way of life while the

other saw it as a threat to the purity of their faith. The Sufist thought comes in the

latter. Nevertheless, the Sufi- themed Art sometimes merged the notion of luxury with

moderation.

For the same reason of rejecting the concept of opulence, there occurred a balance of

thematic units in Islamic Art that did not give a primary or even major place to

representations of men and animals. Where-as an opposite scenario took place in the

Christian West, in which representational themes were predominant. Regardless of this

attitude towards Art, a number of pre-Islamic folk cultures and traditions from the

territories that have been usurped by Islam continued to exist.15 Some of them are

evidently seen as Sufi-themed Art objects. To distinguish a Sufi-themed object, one does

not examine the object via its stylistic derivation or techniques used to make it but by

understanding the Sufi ideologies and apply them when reading the inscriptions on

the object or by analysing the concept behind the intention of the object. Even so,

these readings remain hypothetical and provide only an alternative approach to look at

the objects. This approach may well be classified as the “theological” approach.

The final element to take into account when studying Sufi-themed art is to look into

trading routes during the medieval period. In the case of this thesis, the trading routes

during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This is because there is a relationship in

between commercial movements and artistic contacts. One of the most important

novelties of trade in the thirteenth century is the opening up of major trade routes in

Anatolia. Along with this, urban infrastructures such as roads, mosques,

madrasas, caravanserais, hospitals and mausoleums were built.16

15 Ibid. p. 92. 16 Grabar, ’Trade with the East and the Influence of Islamic Art on the “Luxury Arts” in the West’,

(Hampshire, 2006), pp. 43-50.

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It is known that Sufi scholars travelled as far as to Baghdad ever since the tenth century

to join symposiums related to philosophy and Greek science with participants

consisting of Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, materialists as well as atheists.

Therefore, by opening madrasas and other infrastructures, it only encouraged

communication and fostered better relationships with other Islamic kingdoms.17

On the other hand, the communication with the Christian kingdoms had soured due to

the failure of the crusades and the weakening of Byzantium. This led to the growth of

Italian cities and Spanish Christian kingdoms. These changes made the relationship

between the Islamic world and the Christian world less fluid but continuous.

Simultaneously, it contributed to the rise of oriental objects and some Sufi-themed

objects to become luxury items.18

The production of Sufi-themed Art continued fairly well as the ideas travelled. An

approach to take when studying this art is to look at biographies of certain Sufis or

hagiographies, its literary works, or a Sufi-inspired administration doctrine that were

produced during that time. As for this thesis, works of the Sufi master Ibn Arabi from the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia have been taken as the primary source as

well as ‘The Doctrine of Divine Unity’ by the Almohad creed. Particularly the works of

Ibn Arabi are Ruh al-Quds (The Spirit of Holiness in the Counselling of the Soul) and

the al-Durrat al-Fakhirah (The Precious Pearl concerned with the Mention of Those

from whom I have derived Benefit in the Way of the Hereafter).

17 Ibid. 18 Ibid.

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Sufis Of Twelfth And Thirteenth Centuries Andalusia

The development of Sufism and the expansion of Islam to North Africa and Spain from

the Middle Eastern urban and village societies work in correspondence to one another.

In fact, in the history of Islamic expansion, Sufism had been a component following and

completing other Islamic ideologies and doctrines. Hence, that is the reason why Grabar

claimed Sufism to be a tricky doctrine to assess its prominence. This is because its

quintessence lies in all the basic foundation of Islamic thoughts, regardless of sects

or creed. Therefore, it is more likely to say that its prominence is self-evident but the

trace of its diffusion is multi-layered and complex.

In the case of twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia, the Sufi Andalusian life

flourished during the time of the Almohad administration. This was from c. 1100 until

1248 A.D. It began with the vision of Ibn Tumart, whom was a religious scholar and a

sheikh. It was due to his claim as the Mahdi and the insertion of ‘The Doctrine of

Divine Unity’ that set the scholarly tone of Andalusia and consequently became one of

the centres for theological and philosophical debate. This was the time when power

struggles and rivalries existed between the Berber tribes as well as the rise of urban

Islam that encouraged the quest for knowledge. Scholars travelled to learn from Sufi

masters and works of Greek philosophy which had been translated into Arabic. It was

via the Islamic world that the West grasped their knowledge of Greek classics. As a

result of knowledge empowerment, contention also took place between the different

schools of law, namely the Maliki, Hanbali, Shafii and Hanafi.

  20  

The Maliki school became predominant in Egypt, North Africa and Southern Spain

(Andalusia), while the Hanbali school was being practiced in northern Iraq and Syria.

On the other hand, the Shafii school later took over Syria, Baghdad and Khurasan

while replacing the Hanafi school in Transoxania and western Iran towards the tenth

century. Nevertheless, this was to change after the thirteenth century. Although there

were notable differences in between the different schools, the Hanafi, Maliki and Shafii

schools agreed that the independent reasoning was to be closed and that scholars of later

generations were not free to give personal or independent interpretations of the law.

Despite this, however, the Hanbali and a portion of the Shafii schools rejected this

traditional notion and upheld the authority of a qualified scholar to use rational and

independent judgement in approaching legal matters. In this case, they are more flexible

and open to the enculturation of custom and tradition.19

This fluid contention further opened up room for an amalgamation of ideologies and

doctrines to suit the political and governmental needs of various Islamic states. Amidst

this chaos, Sufism seeped in and continued to enlighten its subjects where it was deemed

appropriate.

The Life of Ibn Tumart.

Ibn Tumart’s doctrine is a proof that an amalgamation of ideologies took place before

the launching of the Almohad’s charter of administration. He collected these ideologies

during his travels and while being a student of various scholars. Ibn Tumart was known

as a scrupulous and devout Muslim from a very early age. Like many scholars of his

time, he would travel afar to seek knowledge. He journeyed to the foothills of the

19 Lapidus, ‘Muslim Communities and Middle Eastern Societies – The Schools of Law and Sunni Sectarianism’, pp. 164-167.

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High Atlas Mountain to study at Aghmat before entering Andalusia, where he became a

student of a Sufi named Abu al-Abbas Ibn al-Arif. Abu al-Abbas Ibn Arif was the man

who taught him about the various hierarchical stages or statuses to the realization of God

alone. He also learned about hadith from Ibn Hazm of Cordoba. Around 1106 – 1108

A.D., he moved to Egypt to learn from other scholars such as Abu Bakar ash-Shashi

and al-Mubarak Ibn Abd al-Jabbar about Islamic jurisprudence and theology.20

The most famous account of his travels was his meeting with the renowned Al-

Ghazali. This was deemed sensational because during the time he met Al-Ghazali, the

ruling administration (The Almoravids) in Andalusia, were burning Al-Ghazali’s books,

particularly Ihya ulum ad-din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences).21

At the end of his studies, Ibn Tumart had gathered a holistic knowledge about Islam

consisting elements of Sufism, jurisprudence and theology. These later became the basis

for his doctrine. He began teaching in Alexandria and then later moved to Bougie,

Algeria. Along the way, he began to gather followers and with them, he moved to

Mallala, a village just off Bougie. It was there he met a young traveller who was just

like him, a knowledge seeker. The man was Abd al-Mu’min Ibn Ali and this was the

man who would soon become the ‘Lamp of the Almohads’, the first leader of the

Almohad administration. Together they embarked on a journey leading to Maghreb.

Along the way, they recruited Abd Allah al-Wansharisi at Oran in Algeria who would

become the first army commander for the Almohad.22

20 Vincent J. Cornell, ‘Understanding Is the Mother of Ability: Responsibility and Action in the Doctrine of Ibn Tumart’, Studia Islamica, 66 (1987), pp. 71-103. 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid.

  22  

Ibn Tumart and his followers reached Maghreb in the year 1120. At that time, from

Ifriqiyya to Andalusia, the Maliki jurisprudence was put into practice. Many Sufis were

confined but the sunni-oriented ones were allowed to enter the public sphere. These

sunni-oriented Sufis made an alliance with Ibn Tumart as they shared common

ideologies through the teachings of Al-Ghazali. It was at this time the battalion had

reached Fez and the news of his coalition threatened the ulama’. Immediately Ibn

Tumart and his followers were expelled.23

Following this expulsion, they began to disperse into mobile units and gave lectures

from mosque to mosque. This came to the attention of the Almoravid ruler, Ali Ibn

Yusuf b. Tashfin. Shortly afterwards, Ibn Tumart was summoned to the Almoravid

court and was interrogated. When asked of who he was and what his motives were, he

answered, “For I am a faqir (means peasant), seeking the Hereafter and not the material

world. I have no goal in it other than to command good and to forbid evil.” Ibn Tumart

further explained that the Almoravids were in need of a reform. At first, Ali Ibn Yusuf

was impressed with Ibn Tumart’s stance of moral cleansing and starting anew. However,

this was again seen as a threat to the ulama’. An Almoravid qadi (judge) by the name of

Muhammad Ibn al-Aswad, who had previously killed Ibn Tumart’s teacher Abu al-

Abbas Ibn al-Arif, persuaded the ministers and had Ibn Tumart banished from the city.24

By the time of his banishment, Ibn Tumart’s sphere of influence had reach out to the

populace. Although Ibn al-Aswad further forced Ali Ibn Yusuf to have Ibn Tumart and

his followers arrested and held captive at the High Atlas Mountains, the scheme

of following the sirah (history) of prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. dakwah

23 Ibid. 24 Ibid.

  23  

(preaching in Islam) caused Ibn Tumart’s companions to launch a mission that helped to

chart the Almohad movement. Ibn Tumart elected a council of ten from various tribes to

overthrow the Almoravids. While Ibn Tumart remained as the Mahdi, the council of ten

was held responsible to disseminate the unofficial ‘Doctrine of Divine unity’ throughout

North Africa and Andalusia.25

The Almohad Period.

The Almohad or the Muwahhidun means ‘those who affirm the unity of God’. It was a

movement set by Ibn Tumart but led by Abd al-Mu’min Ibn Ali to bring down the

Almoravids whom were seen as deviating from the true teachings of Islam. Although

the Almoravids practiced strict Islamic practices, they believed in the anthropomorphism

of God in which was not parallel to the teachings of Islam.26

The Almoravid means ‘the veiled ones in the fortress’. This meaning was associated to

their way of life in the dessert and their living in a ribat (fortress). To study the

Almoravid and the Almohad by ethnic groups, the Almoravids originated from the

dessert, while the Almohads were from the mountains. There is a certain analogy

between them due to their conditions of living. Both were used to a harsh and

independent way of life.27 Nevertheless, the Almoravids were perceived as more crude

and militant in their nature due to their experiences and history of wars and battles

fought during the period of Taifa kingdoms (The period before the Almoravids in

Andalusia). For this reason, the Almoravids were prone to a more nomadic way of life,

while the Almohads were settled sedentarily in the mountains.

25 Ibid. 26 Hugh Kennedy, ‘The Early Almohad Caliphate’, Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al- Andalus (New York, 1996), pp. 196-235.

27 Titus Burckhardt, ‘The Art of Sedentaries and Nomadic Art – Dynasties and Ethnic Groups’, Art of Islam: Language and Meaning (Kent, 1976), pp. 101-106.

  24  

The sedentary quality of the Almohads gave an opportunity for them to establish a

higher level of spiritual stability as Islam favours an urban life. Because of this, Ibn

Tumart also had the chance to study at the foothills of the Atlas Mountain, the birthplace

of the Almohad movement. As a matter of fact, it was mentioned in Hulul al-Mawshiya

that on the deathbed of Ali Ibn Yusuf’s father, his father had warned him to not

aggravate the people of the Atlas Mountains and other Masmuda tribesmen.28

Ibn Tumart passed away in August 1130. As planned, Abd al-Mu’min Ibn Ali took

succession and led the Almohad movement which defeated the Almoravid. On the 24th

of March 1147, Fes, Sale’ and Marrakesh fell into the hands of the Almohad. A year was

taken to reform Marrakesh according to the Almohad’s doctrine. They even had to

negotiate with other Sufis, particularly Ibn Qasi a ruler from Silves and Yusuf al-Bitruji

from Niebla who refused to accept Ibn Tumart’s doctrine.29

In 1148, the Almohad took over Seville and subsequently Cordoba. It was not an easy

victory because of the resistance they had from the Almoravids, they were also weary of

the Castilian’s expansion program that was coming from the northern of Spain.

Nevertheless, the main resistance came from the threat of Ibn Mardanish and his allies

from Murcia. They were of Arab descent. This was the city Ibn Arabi came from, the

famous Arab Andalusian Sufi and philosopher.30

When Abd al-Mu’min Ibn Ali passed away, his son Abu Yaqub Yusuf succeeded him.

During his time, he invited a few intellectuals to his court and among them included Ibn

28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid.

  25  

Tufayl and Ibn Rushd. By this time, the amalgamation of various knowledge and

intellectual debate were openly accepted for the purpose of enlightenment and to foster a

better understanding among the community that consisted of not only Muslims but also

Jews and Christians. It is suspected that during this time, The Doctrine of Divine Unity

became an official charter for the Almohad administarion. The court of Abu Yaqub

Yusuf was known to be very cultured and humane.31

When Ibn Mardanish passed away in March 1172, his allies became weak and

desperately needed the support of the Almohads. This marked a joint venture between

the Arabs and the Berbers. The Almohads welcomed them into the court of the elites

and gave them titles and high official positions.32

Towards the end of Abu Yaqub Yusuf’s reign, there were a lot of hostilities coming

from Castile and Portugal. It was a period of raid and counter-raid. Nevertheless, with

the inter-Christian rivalries, many disputes were settled with truces and vassal

agreements.33

Although the territory of the Almohad stretched out to Andalusia, its central

government was still based in Marrakesh. A lot of urban development works were

concentrated there while elected Sayyids (masters) were representing the subjects in

Andalusia. For this reason, it made the provinces weak. Surprise raids by Christian

forces left the Muslims vulnerable and without the proper leadership and presence of

Abu Yaqub Yusuf, they remained defenceless. In 1178, the Almohads left Seville to the

hand of the Christians.

31 Kennedy, ‘The Later Almohad Caliphate’, pp. 237-272. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid.

  26  

On their way to Marrakesh; a plague broke out and killed the last man from the council

of ten elected by the original founder Ibn Tumart, the deceased man was Umar al-

Hintati. With regards to this event, it marked the end of the original Almohad period that

had a direct contact with Ibn Tumart. The next succession was considered to be the third

generation of the Almohad period, the ‘new’ Almohad period.34

The new Almohad administration was different in many ways. When Abu Yaqub Yusuf

passed away, his son Abu Yusuf Yaqub took over the role of leadership. He immediately

took the title ‘al-Mansur’ which means ‘ the victorious’ and implemented more

strict regulations upon his subjects. He was attracted to the glorious Muslim past and

particularly the Umayyad Dynasty. He visited the palace Madinat Al-Zahra and set an

ambition to bring back and revive the opulence it once had. He put the man Ibn Rushd,

who used to occupy his father’s court to trial and banished him into exile for committing

heresy. The new Almohad period was dark, deviating from the piety teachings of Sufism

and it was intellectually not stimulating. Public discourses were closed and much effort

was spent on building up a massive fortification of Andalusia.35

Even so, in 1212, the joint forces of the Christians broke the fortification and defeated

the Almohads. Sparked by the spirit of the crusades, the Christian forces were

combined. The Castilians, Leons, Aragonese and Portugese toppled the Muslims in the

battle of Las Navas De Tolosa. This union was significant in the history of Reconquista.

Reconquista was an initiative by the Christian to re-conquer the southern of Spain after

the Ummayads established themselves in Andalusia in the sixth century.36

34 Ibid. 35 Ibid. 36Ibid.

  27  

The Almohads did not recover after it was defeated. This gave chance for another force

to come in and fully defeat them and chase them out of Andalusia. This was a militant

group led by a former Taifa Kingdom army named Ibn Hud. Ibn Hud took the title of

Amir al-Muslimin like the Almoravids and brought Sunniism to Andalusia. The new

anti-Almohad doctrine totally wiped off Ibn Tumart’s doctrine from Andalusia and in

October 1228; the surviving Almohads packed their belongings and left Andalusia for

their prime land in Marrakesh.37

The end of the Almohad period did not mean the end for Sufism. In fact, it allowed it to

spread outward of Andalusia. From Spain, Sufism and other Islamic scientific and

philosophical thoughts were transmitted to Europe. Many Jewish and Muslim literatures

were translated into Latin. These included the story of Isra and Miraj, the Quran,

astrology and astronomy works as well as the Greek classics.38

The Life of Ibn Arabi.

Ibn Arabi was a Sufi mystic from Murcia during the times of conflict in between Ibn

Mardanish and the Almohads. He was one of the prominent participants of the twelfth

and thirteenth centuries Andalusian intellectual discourse. He was born into a

religious family of a certain social and cultural standing. His uncles were well

known Sufis named Abu Muslim al-Khawlani and the Sufi king Yahya b. Yughan

from Tlemcen. The father of Ibn Arabi was Ali Ibn Arabi. He was a companion

of the exiled intellectual and philosopher Ibn Rushd during the occupation of

37 Ibid. 38 Lapidus, ‘Islamic North Africa and Spain to the nineteenth century - Spanish Islamic civilization ’, pp. 385-386.

  28  

Murcia by the Almohads. Ali Ibn Arabi was a highly positioned officer in the

Almohad government.39

Since his father was posted to Seville (the Almohad capital in Andalusia), he was put

into a formal education; learning law, the Arabic grammar, the critical interpretation of

the Quran and the traditions of the prophet. During his twenties, he took an interest

in learning the Sufist doctrine. He was confident in conversing with other

intellectuals a n d one of them was the companion of his father, Ibn Rushd. After

his studies, he was appointed as secretary for the governor of Seville. This standing

later boosted his popularity amongst the intelligentsia despite the fact that he came from

a noble family. Later, he became a well-respected man and a teacher to many

Andalusians.40

When he was in his thirties, he went to study with the Sufi ruler from Silves, Ibn Qasi.

After that, in 1194, he went to study in Fez. His studies were disrupted when he heard

that some Sufis were forced to flee and others were confined and persecuted by the new

Almohad government back in Andalusia. He visited the exiled Ibn Rushd before the

aforementioned passed away. In 1200, he spent his time in Marrakesh before leaving to

Fez and then Tunis. The year after, he spent a short time in Alexandria and Cairo and

went for to perform the Hajj in Mecca. As a famous Andalusian master, he was

celebrated and hosted by the influential and learned families in Mecca.41

Upon completing his Hajj, he travelled further on to Baghdad to meet other fellow Sufis.

In 1210, he arrived in Konya and this visit was considered to be a significant one in the

history of Sufism. A large number of his works were left in Konya. This literature

39 R.W.J. Austin, ‘Ibn Arabi, his Life and Work’, Sufis of Andalusia: The Ruh al-Quds and al-Durrat al- Fakhirah of Ibn Arabi (London, 1988), pp. 21-49. 40 Ibid. 41 Ibid.

  29  

then helped to shape the future of oriental Sufism. He was regarded as the Western link

to the Eastern Sufi world. The Persian Sufi, Jalal al-Din Rumi was one of the people

among the followers of his works. The poems by Ibn Arabi are related to divinity and

come in the form of love themes, eulogy, the names of rivers, places and stars.42

In 1223, Ibn Arabi went to Damascus and settled there until he passed away.

Nevertheless, before he died he managed to complete his major work, known as al-

Diwan al-akbar that consists of a collection of mystical poems. He died at the age of

seventy-six in the year 1240. Ibn Arabi was known among the Sufis to be the greatest

Sheikh or al-Sheikh al-Akbar due to the vast amount of his literature that survived and is

still being read. Ibn Arabi focused on the thought of all reality as one, a doctrine of

wahdat al- wujud, which means the unity of being or existence. He believed that

everything, which exists, is God, the divine reality transcends all manifestations but the

manifestations are encompassed by and plunged in God. While God is transcendent the

manifested world is identical with him in essence.43

The works Ruh al-Quds and al-Durrat al-Fakhirah that were written by Ibn Arabi

consist of biographical sketches of lives and teachings of some of the Sufi masters that

lived in Andalusia. The Ruh al-Quds were written in Mecca and the content tells us

about the concerns of the author in practices pertaining to Sufism while

incorporating the teachings of the fifty-five Sufis he had met throughout his life. On the

other hand, al-Durrat al- Fakhirah was written in Damascus and it is actually a synopsis

of a larger work that was written in Andalusia. It compiled the biographical sketches

42 Ibid. 43 Ibid.

  30  

and the teachings of forty-two Sufi sheikhs.44

The doctrine of Ibn Arabi mentioned about the return to God, is motivated by love and is

driven by prayer and worship. Ibn Arabi sees that God is the mirror in which man

contemplates his own reality and man is the mirror in which God knows his essence. In

a nutshell, Man needs God to exist, and God needs the world to know him. The doctrine

of Ibn Arabi completes the whole amalgamation of Sufi ideologies and doctrines. It

concluded the Sufi gnostic and contemplation that had been going on for centuries. His

vision shaped the development of Sufi theosophy and practice while it affected the daily

lives of Muslim believers.45

From the twelfth to thirteenth centuries, the popular literature and intellectual fashion of

Andalusia have concentrated on Sufism. For this reason, Sufism has affected the lives of

people from Andalusia and subsequently its material culture.

Looking at Sufi-themed Objects

Looking at Sufi-themed objects would require the onlooker to get into the minds of

twelfth to thirteenth centuries Andalusians. It would be apt then to apply the approaches

proposed by Art Historian, Michael Baxandall and Anthropologist, Clifford Geertz.

Their approach stresses on meticulously assimilating into the culture of any given

artefact from any given time period in order to analyse visually and contextualize

evidences which come in various form of objects and texts. Geertz mentioned that the

44 Ibid. 45 Lapidus, ‘The personal ethic – Alternative Islam: - philosophy, Gnostic and popular Sufism’, pp. 213- 215.

  31  

Art of a particular period reflects the cultural system of that period. In addition to visual

Arts, he asserted that one must also study the texts and rituals produced during that

period in order to study the zeitgeist of that era.46 In the case of this thesis, the doctrine

written by Ibn Tumart would serve as textual evidence while the biographical accounts

recorded by Ibn Arabi would provide us to some extent with the habitual evidence. This

is because it gives us the information on how Andalusians conducted their lives during

the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Baxandall developed the notion called ‘The Period Eye’ in looking at Renaissance art.47

In looking at Sufi-themed objects, one may use the same device to investigate the

Andalusian culture. This can be called ‘The Sufist Eye’.

In the case of this thesis, the ‘Sufist Eye’ is influenced by the ‘cognitive disposition’

of the Andalusian culture. ‘Cognitive disposition’ comprises of perceptual training

processes that we develop naturally and most of the time unconsciously. These later

become habits and skills that dictate our sensory system and make us react differently to

different sensations. The Andalusians of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were

induced by a different set of sensations that were accustomed during that time and

considered as normalcy. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusian way of seeing

art was Sufi- laden, spiritually inclined, Arabization was pervasive, Arabic grammar was

taught at schools, intellectual discourse and philosophical debate were active and

although Islam was the faith, there were a lot of alternative thoughts about the religion.

This was one of the main reasons intellectual discourse and philosophical debate

flourished. The

46 Clifford Geertz, ‘Art as a Cultural System’, Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology (U.S.A, 1983) pp. 94-120. 47 Michael Baxandall, ‘The Period Eye’, Painting and Experience in Fifteen-Century Italy (Oxford, 1988), pp. 29-108.

  32  

thirteenth century was marked as the end of the Islamic Golden Age due to many factors

such as the invasion of the Monguls, the triumphant Reconquista and strengthening of

Christendom, the internal feud within the Islamic subjects as well as other economic and

political factors.

The Sufist Eye.

The Sufist Eye is predetermined by the cognitive disposition that follows the Sufi way.

The Sufi way was inspired by the shahadah and the 115th verse from the Quran in surah

al-Baqarah (The Cow), which stated “There is no reality but reality (God) and that all

other realities are purely relative to and dependent upon His reality. All cosmic

determinations, whether formal or formless, subtle or gross, are nothing but indications

of the Reality from which they stem by a process of creation and self-manifestation.”48

From a Sufist point of view, this denotes the notion to conduct oneself in an absolute

dependency on God with humility, modesty and acknowledging the fact that ‘we are

nothing but yet a tiny and minuscule part of everything’, that we do not have the

authority in this world, what we are i s by the will of God. As Ibn Arabi once said

“Man needs God to exists and God needs man to know him.” Hence, only fear him and

only love him.

The Sufist Eye sees God in everything. It lives in a condition or way of life that

encourages the invocation of God in Arabic (zikir ism Allah). This was because their

spoken language was Arabic. In essence, a Sufi believes that God has no names but just

attributes. The invocation of God whether repetitively in ejaculatory prayer or by

performing other rites are for the purpose of turning man’s thoughts, feelings and

48 Quran 2:115

  33  

sensations towards God. It is indicated in the Quran in surah al-Ankabut (The Spider),

verse 45, “Prayer indeed prevents lustful acts and grave sins, but the invocation of God

is greater.” A Sufi considers that the material world is capable of promoting illusion that

would make men forgetful of God, the gracefulness and greatness of God.49

Another important factor in Sufism is the suppression of the sense of self or ego. The

ego is seen as mother of all idols and an obstacle to reach the true identity with God

called wahdat al-wujud. This is because the ego commands evil and it chains to desire

and aversion. A Sufi must empty the self and be receptive to the in-flow of divine grace.

In addition to that, they must fight against temptations that come from external forces

that would blind them and make them insensible.50

After the realization to battle the ego, a Sufi then must hope for God’s

generosity and wonders at the beauty of manifestations of God. This will then be

followed with rituals that give deeper meaning to the Sufis. The ablution is regarded as

washing the internal impurity to purify the heart so that it will be in unity with God.

The prostration during the prayer performed five times a day or solat becomes a

symbol of annihilating one’s existence and submit fully to God while the sitting

position in solat signifies one’s subsistence by the wills of God and acknowledging God,

at most times being thankful to God. The same notion applies to the practice of fasting

during the month of Ramadhan. It is regarded as a period of spiritual renewal, an

opportunity to kill the ego through the realization of complete indigence before God.51

49 J. Austin, ‘Ibn Arabi, his Life and Work’, pp. 50-59. 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid.

  34  

Sufism is an awareness to purify one’s self by improving the morals and building up the

inner and outer life in order to attain perpetual bliss. Although Sufism concentrates and

mentions a lot about soul purifications and the realm of mysticism and spirituality, it

never discarded the material culture. An early Sufi Sheikh Abu Nasr Sarraj in the tenth

century once spoke about cultures in his teachings. He said that the worldly culture

or the material culture is about acquiring information, opinions and learning of a

conventionalized kind while the religious culture is about repetitively behaving in an

ethically acceptable way and practicing various rites to solidify the faith. On the other

hand, the Sufi culture is a self-development, realizing what is relevant, concentration

and contemplation, cultivation of inner experience, following the path of Search and

Nearness. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia, the material culture was

developed in order to assists this self-development. A Sufist Eye sees inscriptions on

objects not just to remind themselves of God and being thankful to God but also to

make them conduct themselves kindly and rightfully before the omnipresent eyes of

God.52

Through these inscriptions, a Sufi then, although living in the material world is able to be

drawn back to the eternal and infinite source, that is to say the spiritual realm, a constant

mind that is conscious of God. Sufism is nothing other than Islamic mysticism,

nevertheless it plays a central and most powerful current that constitutes the revelation

of Islam.53

Human beings are prone to being forgetful and heedless. By living in a condition

surrounded by objects with inscriptions that would remind them of God, it would make

them go through a gradual process of transformation, the meaning of the inscription

52 Ibid. 53 Martin Lings, ‘The Originality of Sufism’, What is Sufism? (Cambridge, 1995), pp. 11-16.

  35  

would ideally fill up their minds and consciousness, leaving no room for remembrance

of others.54

Muslims of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia lived in political situation

where the state was not stable to govern its populace. There was constant turmoil and

debates trying to merge the various schools of thoughts. At the decline of the Almoravid,

the Almohad were trying to strengthen the government and its subjects by propagating

one strong doctrine, namely the doctrine of divine unity, which Ibn Tumart helped to

found and thought to be suitable for the Andalusians. It is legitimate to say that Sufism

was integrated into the doctrine due to the influence of his educational background, that

has a link to the famous imam al-Ghazali. Sufism in the context of Ibn Tumart was used

as propaganda to promote the notion of consciousness of God. The material culture was

Sufi-inspired for the purpose of edification and to inculcate psychological and spiritual

attitudes.55

It is appropriate to indicate that the sobriety of the school of Baghdad also influences

the Sufism in Andalusia. Its expressions are usually communicated in prose rather than

in poetry. The second (poetry) is usually associated with the ecstatic school of

Khurasan.56

The sober expressions in prose are found in the artefacts originated from twelfth and

thirteenth centuries Andalusia. It is systematic, indoctrinated and included the

theological and juridical concerns. The sober expressions focused on practice, behaviour,

moral development, and interpretations of the Quran as well as the nature of God. It is

54 William C. Chittick, ‘The Sufi Tradition’, Sufism: Beginners Guide (Oxford, 2008), pp. 22-38. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid.

  36  

highly intellectual and could only be achieved by long discussions and

debates on jurisprudence, theology and philosophy such like the way of life of the

twelfth and thirteenth Andalusia.57

Ibn Arabi wrote his works in Arabic prose and addressed as much of his interests in the

theoretical issues of Islamic thought and practice. On the other hand, another significant

Sufi from the East whom has influenced a lot in Oriental Sufism, Jalal ad-Din Rumi laid

much of his works in intoxicating poetry that have little emphasis on sober

expressions. Nevertheless, Ibn Arabi noted that an Andalusian Sufi Eye sees both sober

and drunkenness in unity. It acknowledges the rationale of both because it understands

the reason.58

The Idea Of Light In Sufism

One of the earliest notions of light in Sufism comes from the classical ninth century

Persian Sufi mystic Sahl al-Tustari. In his view, God comes in a form of light that is a

transcendent illumination that radiates from God itself to create spiritual prototypes of

the material world. With this light then, it enshrined the prototypes of the prophets

and of ordinary human beings who exist before their worldly birth as particles of the

divine light.59

Islam came to Andalusia via North Africa. The Arabs arrived in North Africa with

Islam around the year 643 to 711 and to Spain between the years 711 and 756.60 Along

with it Sufism entailed. The process involved the conversion of Berber chiefs as the

57 Ibid. 58 Ibid. 59 Lapidus, ‘Urban Islam: the Islam of the religious elites – Mystics and Sufism’, pp. 109-115. 60 Lapidus, ‘The Arab-Muslim Imperium – Conquest and empire’, pp. 37-44.

  37  

basis of tribal coalitions and state formation. Islamization then continued with the

involvement of long-distance trade relations and the spread of Sufism.61

Nevertheless, during the ninth century, the Abbasid government established most of the

North African region as one of its subjects.62 In the tenth century the Fatimids took it

over from them during the fall of Abbasid Empire.63 Regardless of which caliphate took

the role of the central government, Sufism still persisted. One of the Sufi-themed objects

from this period that marked as the arrival of Sufism in North Africa is the Blue Quran

(Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Blue Quran, 9th to 10th Century A.D., Gold ink on blue parchment, 28 x 38 cm, Museum of

Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, MS.8.2006

It is a Sufi themed object that came before the empire of the Almoravids and the

61 Lapidus, ‘Introduction: the Islamic world and the rise of Europe – Conversion to Islam’, pp. 242-252. 62Lapidus, ‘The Arab-Muslim Imperium – The Caliphate; The Abbasid Empire: social revolution and political reaction ’, pp. 74. 63 Lapidus, ‘From Islamic Culture to Islamic Society: Iran and Iraq, 945-c.1200 – The Caliphate; Post Abbasid Middle Eastern State System’, pp. 137.

  38  

Almohad administration but became a precedent for many later years to come. The Blue

Quran employed the impression of light (nur) over darkness (zulumat) with its gold

script over a dark, blue background. It implies that the concept of light in surah al-Nur

(The Light) has been transferred onto the physical Quran manuscript. In the 40th verse

of surah al-Nur, it is stated “Or they (the unbelievers) are as shadows upon a sea

obscure, covered by a billow above which is a billow above which are clouds, shadows

piled upon one another; when he puts forth his hand, well-nigh he cannot see it. And to

whomsoever God assigns no light, no light has he.” 64

The notion of “Light” is also perceived as essentially spiritual and related to the divine

revelation. The Quran represents a divine light on Earth as explained in the 52nd verse of

surah Al-Syura (The Counsel), “We have revealed to thee a spirit of Our bidding. Thou

knewest not what the Book is, nor belief; but We made it a light, whereby We guide

whom We will of Our servants.”65

In the twelfth century, the Sufi imam al-Ghazali interpreted this verse and equated God

with light and wrote about seventy thousand veils of light and darkness separating the

believer from that Light in his treatise Mishkat al-anwar (The niche of Lights). Al-

Ghazali considered the Quran as a container of light because it consists of the words of

God.66

Sufism referred to the Quran as the basic source of inspiration. Besides al-Ghazali,

64 Alain George, ‘Calligraphy, Colour and Light in the Blue Quran’, Journal of Quranic Studies, Vol. 11 (2009), pp. 75-125. 65 Ibid. 66 Ladan Akbarnia, ‘Light in Sufism’, Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam (London 2010), p. 11.

  39  

another Sufi by the name of Suhrawadi also wrote in his book Hikmat al-Ishraq

(Theosophy of the orient of Lights) that he agreed with the notion introduced by Sahl al-

Tustari which was “everything is derived from one source of supreme light”. Ibn Arabi

in the thirteenth century fetched this idea and puts forward that all reality is one.67 In his

book al-Durrat al-Fakhirah, he wrote about an encounter with an Andalusian Sufi named

Abu Al-Abbas B. Tajah. Abu Al-Abbas B. Tajah was a man who always had the Quran

in his hands. Abu Al—Abbas B. Tajah once said that “Just as a lamp is lit from another

lamp, so does all knowledge derive from the Quran, a light from light upon light, God

may He be glorified, has taught us that He is the Light of the heavens and the earth, so

that we might take our lights from Him; therefore seek light only from its true source.”68

Islam regards the prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. as the messenger of God, the one who

revealed the source of God’s light. In a hadith, it was written that the prophet said, “the

first thing God created was my light” and “I am made of God’s light.”69 Light in this

context means an awakening from within, to live righteously and conduct oneself

virtuously before the eyes of God.

A Quran from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia was inspired by these

unified views on light and referred to the aesthetics of the Blue Quran. The Almoravid

Quran manuscript (Figure 2) and the Almohad Quran manuscript (Figure 3) were not

written on a dark blue background, however, they were written in gold to signify

light. In addition to that, the blue ink was still in use to fill in the Arabic letters. It is not

known why the vellums were not dyed in blue like the Blue Quran. A hypothetical

reason

67 Lapidus, ‘The Arab-Muslim Imperium – The Caliphate; The Abbasid Empire: social revolution and political reaction ’, pp. 74.f 68 Lapidus, ‘The personal ethic – Alternative Islam: - philosophy, Gnostic and popular Sufism’, p. 213. 69 Akbarnia, p. 11.

  40  

would be because of the costly blue dye. Nevertheless the dimension of light was still

put into the production not dissimilar to how Christian iconography had depicted light

through a representation of divine Incarnation in gold mosaics and such. Nevertheless, in

Islam, these ornaments of gold embody the divine words of Quran.70

In the Almohad Quran manuscript, a roundel is placed to separate each verse and within

each roundel the word God was written over a dark blue background. This is parallel to

the Sufism practice of zikir. The Quran readers during the Almohad period are

entrenched in Sufism and constantly practice the remembrance of God.

Figure 2: The Almoravid Quran Manuscript, 12th Century A.D., Gold and blue ink on parchment, 18 x 18.8

cm, Istanbul University Library, A6755

70 George, ‘Calligraphy, Colour and Light in the Blue Quran’, Journal of Quranic Studies, Vol. 11 (2009), p. 107.

  41  

Figure 3: The Almohad Quran Manuscript, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Gold and blue ink on

clear parchment, 26.2 x 22 cm, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Smith-Lesoeuf 217

The Idea Of Love In Sufism

An early account of love or divine love in Sufism appeared both in the school of

Khurasan and the school of Baghdad. The first proposed an ecstatic kind of love, which

sought to the loss of self and submit to the doctrine of divine love, while the second

proposed the same self-annihilation before God but in addition to that regarded the

practical virtues as equally important. This created the dialectic effect and the schism in

between the school of ecstatic and the school of sobriety. The sobriety school was

influenced by a figure from the ninth century named Al-Harith al Muhasabi. His idea of

love of God should be expressed in love of God’s commandments and acceptance of

their sovereignty in daily life.71

Nevertheless, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, courtly love literatures

71 Lapidus, ‘Urban Islam: the Islam of the religious elites – Mystics and Sufism’, p. 112.

  42  

became a popular genre. It tells the story of heroes consumed by physical passion and

devoted to the idealization of perfect and inaccessible woman. Court poetry consisted of

themes that dealt with wine-intoxicated lovers suffering from unrequited love. These

love stories were based on popular convention and were later being adapted by other

cultures. An important author of this genre was a Persian twelfth century writer named

Nizami who wrote the famous story of Layla and Majnun. Sufi poets adopted the idea of

Nizami and altered the narrative from normalcy to the divine subject. Representations of

wine, drinking and love were adapted to express yearning for and love of God. A

prominent Sufi writer of this genre would be Farid al-Din Attar, who wrote books on the

history of the Sufis, books of wisdom, the Language of the Birds and Book of God. His

main themes were concentrated on the renunciation of worldly desires and the soul’s

journey toward metaphysical vision, in which a traveller progressively leaves behind

this world in a quest for the world to come. This idea was later fetched and highlighted

by the Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, a contemporary of the Andalusian Sufi Ibn Arabi.72

This Sufi literary culture further inspired the production of the Iranian artistic style.

During the Seljuk period, the city of Kashan and Rayy produced new types of ceramics.

These were highly influenced by the Chinese wares but personalized with

inscriptions and painted in polychrome or monochrome with glaze finishing. The

aesthetics of the painted scenes imitated Sassinian models and figural decoration that

consisted of animals, birds, vegetal elements and court scenes with images of

hunting, polo, music and dancing filled the depictions. These representations suggested

an illustration of love and meditation. It was often decorated with texts on the theme of

love and even included poetries by the Sufi Jalal al-Din Rumi’s master named Shams al-

Din Tabrizi as shown in (Figure 4).

72 Lapidus, ‘From Islamic Culture to Islamic Society; Iran and Iraq, 945-c.1200’: The post-Abbasid Middle

Eastern state system – Local courts and regional cultures: Islam in Persian garb, p. 158.

  43  

The Bowl of Reflections (Figure 4) was used as a decorative object rather than a

utilitarian one. The iconography of the bowl reflects Sufi subjects. Despite the two

bands encircling the bowl were filled with Sufi poems, the representation of the fish in

the bowl represents a Sufi metaphor. It symbolizes the mystic or prophet while the water

denotes the infinite divine grace. The combination between the fish and water then

signifies the union between the mystic and God.73 It compliments the teaching of Ibn

Arabi when he said that “Man needs God to exists and God needs the world to know

Him.” Just in the same way the fish needs the water to live and the water needs the fish

to discern its qualities. The five-seated ladies suggest a courtly scene while the bird in

the middle of the bowl was a popular mythological figure that originates from central

Asia and being adapted into the Islamic art.74

Figure 4: The Kashan Bowl of Reflections, 12th Century A.D., Glazed and painted

lusterware, 8.6 x 33 cm, Brooklyn Museum, New York, 86.227.16

73 Oya Pancaroglu, ‘Lusterware from Kashan: C12th-C14th – Religious Iconography’, Islamic Ceramics Online. 74 Ibid.

  44  

Another bowl that illustrates Sufi inspiration and the idea of yearning for and the love of

God is the famous Kashan bowl that was signed by the maker named Shamsuddin al-

Hasani Abu Zayd as shown in (Figure 5). The Iconography includes the same fish

metaphor but with the presence of a human figure in the water. The human figure in the

water is an earthly representation of divine beauty. The youth that is seated in a

mourning and sorrow position is contemplating on the unrequited love he had towards

the illusionary human figure in the water. Out of the rejection he turned himself to God

in a mystic sleep in the quest to cure his heartache. The five figures on the horse

represent the earthly attachments that are looking down on him as he meditates,

yearning for union with God.75

Figure 5: The Kashan Plate, 13th Century A.D., Glazed and painted lusterware, 35.2 cm

(Diameter), Freer Sackler, The Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C,

F1941.11

75 Ibid.

  45  

On the other hand in Andalusia, Love was the central theme in the philosophy of Ibn

Hazm, the teacher to Ibn Tumart. During the time of the Almoravids, Ibn Hazm taught

that the attraction between two people was based on an eternal affinity, a timeless

connection of souls. Ibn Arabi grasped this idea and later explained that a man loves a

woman because she is the mirror that reveals his innermost true being, by which he

means the spiritual reality that transcends the material reality. A woman’s love is a

kind of love that serves as a reminder of the original nature of the soul and is indirectly a

reminder of God. Therefore in the Sufism teachings of Ibn Arabi, love blooms from the

glimpse of manifestations of God in mankind and sexual love is what separates

them from the divine.76

Ibn Arabi further explained that when the union of marriage occurs because of the love

of reproduction and procreation, it joins the divine love. God then made this happen, as

he loves to be known, God in this context is the master that transforms from the state of

nonexistence to existence. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusian Sufi writings

on love mainly come from prose written by Ibn Arabi as compared to in Persia where

love writings come from poems by Jalal al-Din Rumi. Despite this distinction, the notion

of yearning for divine love linked both of them together. However, the second focused

more on ecstatic love rather than sobriety love.77

Love had always been integrated in the teachings of Sufism. It is distinct from

knowledge and fear but the synthesis of love (al-mahabbah), knowledge (al-

ma’rifah) and fear (al-khawf) leads to the aspired path towards God.

76 Lapidus, ‘The Worldwide Diffusion of Islamic Societies from the Tenth to The Nineteenth Century; Islamic North Africa and Spain to the nineteenth century: Spanish Islamic civilization ’, p. 385 77 C. Chittick, ‘The Way of Love’, pp. 74-90.

  46  

Love manifests whenever the divine reality is contemplated and felt.78

Ibn Arabi interpreted surah al-Hadid (The Iron) in the fourth verse, where it is stated

“And God is with you wherever you are.” to mean that God is always watchful of His

subjects and He takes care of them because He loves them.79

On the human side of it, Jalal al-Din Rumi wrote that all desires and affections that

people have for different things, that is to say one’s father, mother, friends, heavens,

earth, gardens, palaces, sciences, deeds, food, drink and many more are desires for God.

Nevertheless these desires are merely veils. When people leave this world and meet the

divine without these veils, they will then know that their true object of desire all along

was in the reality for the divine. This is when all their difficulties will be solved, all the

questions and confusions that they had in their hearts will be answered and they will be

taken care of. All the love in pursuing the truth is a quest to show love for God.

Love is good because it is divine. However, it remains as a deceptive veil for as long as

lovers do not recognize its true object. People fall in love with manifestations of God

that is omnipresent and a lover must be able to distinguish divine love and normal

love, the gold from the gold-plate.80

There is no true lover and no true beloved but God. Sufism installs this idea of love in

Islam. Nevertheless, this precondition of love must first come with the

acknowledgement of the person’s vices, imperfections, inadequacies and limitations.

78 Titus Burckhardt, ‘Knowledge and Love’, An Introduction to Sufism (Kent, 1990), pp. 31-34. 79 C. Chittick, ‘The Way of Love’, p. 78. 80 Ibid. p. 83.

  47  

After the person recognizes the inadequacy and ignorance w i t h in t h e m selves and

regards God alone as adequate, then it will yield a deep feeling of longing in the soul

which Jalal al-Din Rumi recognized as “pain”. This pain then intensifies when the

person sees the self, as far from being wholeness, balanced, reaching equilibrium,

wisdom, compassion and much more desired perfection. Human beings can only

manifest a miniscule glimpse of God’s manifestations. The condition of being imperfect

is known as being a faqr, which is known as being in poverty. Ibn Arabi clarified that

being a faqr is an affair with God, in which the person conducts themselves in

humility before the omnipresent eyes of God. There is no way a person with this

realization can escape from this. By acknowledging the poorness, the person then

yearns for God’s help, the need for God, the drive to reach God. From this, the person

wishes to attain deliverance from pain and union with God in happiness and no pain at

all.81 The notion of this pain is demonstrated in the courtly love story told in twelfth and

thirteenth centuries Andalusia. The Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad is a story about an

unrequited love between Bayad, the merchant’s son from Damascus and Riyad, the lady-

in-waiting in the court of Sayidda, the daughter of a minister. In the manuscript of this

love story, Bayad is seen in a yearning position longing for union with God after being

affected by the unrequited love tragedy. On the other hand, Riyad is seen in the

manuscript to be prostrating before Sayidda, begging for mercy and forgiveness as if

she had committed a crime. This is shown in (Figure 6). Although the influence of the

production of this manuscript comes from the school of Khurasan, (because of the

narrative that includes a kind of ecstatic love when the protagonist sought to the loss of

himself and submits to God in a yearning position), Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad is

an Andalusian literary work that was also influenced by the Persian literary work

particularly Layla and Majnun and the Spanish culture itself

81 Ibid. pp. 85-90.

  48  

It is often compared to the Al-Hariri Maqamat (Figure 7) and the story of “One

Thousand and One Nights” that included stories such as Aladdin and His Magic Lamp,

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad. The manuscript is set

within an Andalusian architectural setting, such as the palace and garden at Casa de

la Contratacion in the Reales  and  the  Alcazares  of  Sevilla.82

Figure 6: Bifolium of Andalusian Illuminated Manuscript of Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad. ,

12th to 13th Century A.D., Paint on paper, 28.2 x 20 cm, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,

Rome, Vat. Ar. 368

Although the Almohad administration appears to be strict as demonstrated in the Hisba

82 Robinson, Cynthia, ‘Love localized, science from afar: the image program of the Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad’, Medieval Andalusian Courtly Culture in the Mediteranean: Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad, (Oxford, 2007), pp. 70-113.

  49  

Manual written by Ibn Abdun in the early twelfth century, it is important to note that

this market regulation in Muslim Seville was one of the earliest market regulations

documents in the history of Islam and presumably there were preliminary defects. The

Hisba manual was put forward as an attempt to keep peace in Andalusia, as Andalusia

was a melting pot of Muslims, Christians and Jews. A market inspector called Muhtasib

was installed to promote good and prevent evil at the marketplace. The task was to

supervise the product quality, prices, weights, measures, business practices, moral

conducts and to foster good relationship in between the subjects of three different

faiths.83 During this time, Andalusia was also a centre of knowledge where intellectuals

from different cultures and schools gathered to discuss about theology, philosophy,

astronomy, astrology, Sufism and metaphysics. Therefore, it gave room for opinions to

flourish, to be amalgamated and shared. This includes themes from the East.

Figure 7: Al-Hariri Maqamat, The Farewell at Tayba of Abu Zayd and al-Harith & Al-Harith and his

companions before their separation, 13th Century A.D., Paint on paper, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris,

Arabe 3929, fol. 122 & Arabe 5847, fol. 46 verso

83 Ibn Abdun, ‘Al-Andalus Under the Almoravids and Almohads (Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries): Market Regulations in Muslim Seville: Hisba Manual’, Medieval Iberia: Readings from Chrtistian, Muslim and Jewish Sources, trans. Bernard Lewis (Philadelphia, 1997), pp. 175-179.

  50  

(Figure 8) shows an artefact that combines the aesthetics of the court scene in Andalusia

and the ideology from the doctrine of divine unity as proposed by the founder of the

Almohad administration, Ibn Tumart. The pillow cover of Queen Berenguela bears

inscriptions that read, “There is no God but God” and “The perfect blessing” while at

the same time depicts a court-dancing scene. In Islam, the practice of seeking for

blessing from God is expressed during the sitting position in between the two

prostrations in solat (prayer). In this prayer, it is recited Rabbighfirli warhamni wajburni

warfa'kni warzuqni wahdini wa'afini wa'kfu 'anni which means “O’ Lord, forgive me,

bless me, rectify me, raise my status, gave me my sustenance, guide me,

strengthen me and pardon me.” This notion of seeking for the blessing from God is

featured in the pillow cover of Queen Berenguela.

Figure 8: The Pillow Cover of Queen Berenguela, 12th to 13th Century A.D. , Silk and gold

thread, 86 x 50 cm, Patrimonio Nacional, Museo deTelas Medivales, Monasterio de

Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas, Burgos, 00650512

  51  

The pillow cover was commissioned from the court of Andalusia during the Almohad

rule in between the year 1180 and 1246. During this time, the Almohad was likely an

ally to the kings of Leon. Queen Berenguela was the daughter of King of Castille,

Alfonso the Eighth. She was married to the King of Leon, Alfonso the Ninth in 1197 but

the Church hierarchy annulled their marriage in 1204. After the separation and the death

of her father in 1214 and consequently the death of her brother Enrique the First in

1217, she co-reigned the kingdom of Castille with her young son Fernando the Third.

Fernando the Third later proclaimed to be King and reunited the kingdom of Castille

and Leon. This union marked as the ear ly zenith in the history of Reconquista and

the collapse of the Almohad rule in Andalusia.84

The Doctrine of Divine Unity.

The ‘Doctrine of the Divine Unity’ was likely to be written by Averroes (Ibn Rushd) in

1183. However its foundation was concocted long before this. The founder of the

Almohad administration, Ibn Tumart played a major role in passing and incorporating

the teachings of imam Al-Ghazali into the doctrine, as he was a student of this scholar.

At the time when the Almohad administration was under the rule of Abu Yaqub Yusuf,

Ibn Rushd was an advisor in his court. This was when the doctrine was written. In

addition to this, the philosophical propositions about God in the doctrine were

adopted from Aristotle’s work Metaphysics. In the court of Abu Yaqub Yusuf, Ibn

Rushd was editing and commenting on Aristotle’s work. Inevitably, Imam Al-

Ghazali influenced other parts of the doctrine.85

84 Kennedy, ‘The Later Almohad Caliphate’,, pp. 256-257. 85 Trans. Madeleine Fletcher, ‘The Doctrine of Divine Unity; The Almohad Creed (1183)’, Medieval Iberia: Readings from Chrtistian, Muslim and Jewish Sources, pp. 190-197.

  52  

The doctrine is divided into twelve chapters and the most important part is found in the

second chapter where a declaration of the reason for faith was put forward. It was stated

in the doctrine “It is by the necessity of reason that the existence of God, Praise to Him,

is known.” During the Almohad administration, the only way to reach out to the

public was via the intellectual appeal. In the doctrine, the laws of reason, axioms of

Greek logic, and Islamic law were combined to prove any theological points. It was

regarded as a very important document that it was been translated into Latin and

disseminated in Paris and Western Europe. it became a window for the European

world to grasp the knowledge of the classics.86

From chapter one through to twelve, the ‘Doctrine of Divine Unity’ addressed the

Oneness and many attributes of God, the five pillars of Islam, the importance of prayers

(solat) and the remembrance of God, as well as the relevance of conducting oneself

righteously before the omnipresent eyes of God. The many reasons are then coupled with

excerpts from the Quran to support the logic.87

The ‘Doctrine of Divine Unity’ was not just a binding document. In fact, the sets of

guidelines were also being translated into the material culture of twelfth and thirteenth

centuries Andalusia. Many artefacts from this period were produced and merchandised

to reflect the doctrine of divine unity.

Although Islam does not favour the idea of opulence, decadence and grandiose way

of life, it permits women to wear adornments within the private realm that consists of

86 Ibid. 87 Ibid.

  53  

their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their step-sons, their

brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women-servants, male attendants

lacking in natural vigour and children who have no carnal knowledge of women. This

was mentioned in surah Al-Nur (The Light) in the 31st verse.88 (Figure 9) is a set of

earrings that was produced and worn in the court of Andalusia during the time of the

Almohad administration. It posits influences from the Fatimid dynasty in which it

must have been brought via the Anatolia trading route or during the Fatimid dynasty’s

occupation in North Africa after the fall of Abbasid Empire. The earrings bear

inscriptions that read surah Al-Ikhlas (The Oneness) that stated, “In the name of God,

the Compassionate, the Merciful, God is One, God the eternal, He begot none, nor was

He begotten. None is equal to Him.” The notion of Oneness is explained in chapter ten

of the ‘Doctrine of Divine Unity’.

Figure 9: The Almohad Pair of Earrings, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Gold sheer, wire, and

grains, set with cloisonné enamel, 4.8 x 4.65 cm, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait

City, Kuwait, al-Sabah Collection, LNS30 Jab

The practice of the remembrance of God was considered as a custom that even before a

woman adorned herself with a pair of earrings, she voluntarily is reminded of the

88 Quran 24:31

  54  

Oneness attribute of God. In an Arabic-speaking Andalusian society, this was

materialised via the inscriptions of surah Al-Ikhlas on the face of the earrings.

Predictably, it was also to encourage piety.

The Sufi-laden custom was also materialized in utilitarian objects. (Figure 10) is a

thirteenth century drinking-jar produced during the Almohad administration and bears

inscriptions in three encircling registers. The first register emphasised again on the

Oneness of God and reads “Glorify God, reject that most alien to you.” The second

register stated “Behold excellence, for you see the results before your eyes. My mouth

has an agreeable savour; it is devoid of defect; it is sublime.” This inscription was meant

to provoke a sentiment of appreciation towards God for creating humans in such beauty.

The Sufi adheres to the notion of praising God in their daily lives and whenever they

were reminded of how blessed they were. The third register is then inscribed to further

enhance the sentiment from the second band as it reads, “In me, by God’s grace, is art

made beauty. To set forth that God is good, He is supreme.”

The concept of human creation is explained in chapter three of the ‘Doctrine of Divine

Unity’ when it was stated that humans are created from water spurting forth and it is in

no doubt that God, turned this drop of water into form and giving it bone and flesh and

the ability of hearing or seeing.89 Ibn Arabi further explained this notion of creation

when he wrote about ‘Creation through divine breath’ and according to it, everything in

this world comes from the divine Primordial Word ‘Be!’ which means every single

creation in this known and unknown world is by God’s willing for it to happen.90

89 Madeleine Fletcher, p. 192. 90 Samer Akkach, ‘The World of Imagination in Ibn Arabi’s Ontology; Creation Through the Divine Breath’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 24, No. 1 (May, 1997), pp. 107-109.

  55  

Meanwhile, Ibn Arabi also described about the concept of ‘Beauty’ in which he stated

that there is a distinction between ‘Divine Beauty’ (Jamal) and ‘Majestic Divine Beauty’

(Jalal Al-Jamal). When the first means divine beauty, the second is defined as

majestically Divine Beauty and it is only via the first that God reveals itself to humans

for contemplation. The idea of ‘Majestic Divine Beauty’ is a concept that is beyond

human contemplation and comprehension. God only manifests the concept of ‘Divine

Beauty’ in humans in two ways; that is either by a reverential fear of God, or by

intimacy with God.91 The Almohad Jar addressed the thought of beauty in the second

band inscription with the intention of contemplation through an intimacy with God.

Indeed, it is a contemplative and a utilitarian piece at the same time.

Figure 10: The Almohad Jar, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Painted lusterware, 4 cm

(Diameter) , Ayuntamiento de Valencia, 1000

91 Pablo Beneito, ‘On the Divine Love of Beauty’, Journal of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society, XVIII (1995), pp. 1-22.

  56  

The act of remembrance of God or zikir ism Allah (repetitive invocation of God in

Arabic) during the Almohad period was pervasively practiced. This invocation of God

would not necessarily have been conducted loudly but could also be remembered by

heart. In the doctrine of the divine unity, it was quoted surah Al-Shura (The Counsel) in

chapter seven “He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing.”92

Figure 11: The Almohad Las Navas de Tolosa Banner, 13th Century A.D., Silk and gilt

parchment, 330 x 220 cm, Patrimanio Nacional, Museo de Telas Medievales, Monasterio

de Santa Maria la Real de, Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas, Burgos, 00652193

This indicated that even if the invocation was done silently, God would always

know. The zikir ism had also been materialized in objects, one of these was the Las

Navas de Tolosa Banner (Figure 11). The word God in Arabic was inserted in each

Arabic letter that spells the inscriptions on the banner. This was a form of zikir

contemplation.

92 Quran 42:9

  57  

The Las Navas de Tolosa banner was in the possession of the Almohad

administration during the battle of Reconquista at Las Navas de Tolosa with the

reunited kingdom of Castille and Leon under the son of Queen Berenguela, Ferdinand

the Third. Nevertheless, it was won, as a trophy after the Almohad administration was

defeated.

The occurrence of zikir ism was also reflected on another Almohad object. The

Almohad bowl (Figure 12) was glazed and painted with a repetitive Arabic inscription

motif that reads, “Glory is God”. This inscription motif was repeated eight times

encircling a band within the bowl. Any manifestations that repeat the attributes of God

are a form of zikir.93

Figure 12: The Almohad Bowl, 12th to 13th Century A.D., Glazed and painted lusterware,

23.2 cm (Diameter), Museo de Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, 13505

93 Jerrilynn D. Dodds, ‘Catalogue; Almoravid, Almohad and Nasrid Periods: Ceramics’, Al-Andalus; The Art of Islamic Spain (New York 1992), p. 350.

  58  

The last object that referred to the doctrine of divine unity is a brazier that bears a

repetitive praying inscription that reads “Total Blessing” (Figure 13). In addition to that,

it consists o f two main inscriptions. The upper band reads “Perpetual health and

divine grace” while the lower band reads “The blessing of the Exalted one upon the

possessor”.94

Figure 13: The Almohad Brazier, 13th Century A.D., Bronze, 26 cm, Museo Arquelogico

Provincial de Cordoba, D. 92/2

94 Ibid. ‘Metalwork’, p. 274.

  59  

In chapter two of the doctrine of the divine unity, it was explained that it is by the

necessity of reason that the existence of God is known. An analogy of forces of nature

like rain falling was used to describe how an action has a doer, how God is in command

for such a phenomenon to exist and humans are vulnerable before the eyes of God. This

insertion in the doctrine was then been supported by surah Ibrahim (Abraham) in

the eleventh verse, which stated “And is there doubt as to God, the creator of the

Heavens and the Earth?” Thus when the Exalted One informs about the Creator of

Heaven and Earth’s existence, it is not to be doubted.95 “The Exalted One” in this

context would mean God itself, in transmitting knowledge about itself.

The Ruh al-Quds and al-Durrat al-Fakhirah.

The Ruh al-Quds and the al-Durrat al-Fakhirah are reliable hagiographical resources to

study the way of life in twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia. Although there are no

original copies of the two literary works written by Ibn Arabi, there are still manuscripts

that were copied by other writers with the authorization and attendance by Ibn Arabi that

have survived. An example of such manuscript would be a folio from a copy of Ibn

Arabi’s thirteenth century Diwan that is in the Nasser D. Khalili’s Collection of Islamic

Art (Figure 14). The Diwan or anthology consists of Sufi poems and prose that were

copied from Ibn Arabi’s literary work but certified by Ibn Arabi himself. It is written in

Ibn Arabi’s handwriting “This confirms that the aforementioned person has heard the

reading of this volume and the rest of the diwan, which make up another five volumes at

numerous sessions.” The testimonial also indicates that reading sessions were one of

the activities conducted by the court of intelligentsias in Andalusia.

95 Madeleine Fletcher, p. 192.

  60  

Figure 14: Folio of the Diwan by Ibn Arabi, Collection of Sufi poems, 13th Century A.D., Nasser D. Khalili

Collection of Islamic Art, London, 255

In the al-Durrat al-Fakhirah and the Ruh al-Quds, Ibn Arabi wrote an account of his

meeting with Abu Imran Musa Bin Imran Al- Martuli. He described the man to be

spiritually disciplined and always balancing his ways in manifesting the concept of

divine beauty (Jamal) through a reverential fear of God and developing an intimate

relationship with God. Abu Imran Musa Bin Imran Al-Martuli was described to have

experienced the Self-revelation of God in its aspect of divine beauty (Jamal).96

96 J. Austin, ‘Abu Imran Musa B. Imran Al-Martuli’, pp. 87-91.

  61  

Figure 15: The Almohad Casket, 12th Century A.D., Ivory, wood, and gilt copper, 41 x 38

x 14 cm, Institutode de Valencia de Don Juan, Madrid 4864

The Almohad ivory casket (Figure 15) that bears the inscription “With beauty I did

wonders that are radiant, all the while I was surrounded by garden and embellished with

plants and flowers.” Clearly, the beauty in this context is divine beauty (Jamal) as

explained by Ibn Arabi and experienced by Abu Imran Musa Bin Imran Al-Martuli. The

possessor of this casket was appreciating the garden by associating it to divine beauty or

as manifestations of God. The casket also bears a prayer that reads “Happiness and

prosperity” o n the lower portion of the object which was installed for the purpose

of reminding the possessor to remember God and conduct oneself gracefully.97

97 Jerrilynn D. Dodds, ‘Catalogue; Almoravid, Almohad and Nasrid Periods: Ivories’, p. 350.

  62  

Conclusion

It is no doubt that the influence of Sufism can be traced on the material culture

of twelfth and thirteenth centuries Andalusia. The Sufist Eye method can be put

into practice for the time period and geographical area of this study because we

have such influential figure like Ibn Arabi who provided us with textual

evidences in the form hagiographies and Sufi prose works. The Sufist Eye

method can be used on eastern subjects of the same time period such like during

the times of Seljuk of Rum because we have another prominent figure named

Jalal al-Din Rumi who was famous for his Sufi poetries from that region. As

Sufism became the literary topoi of medieval Islam, it became easy for us to

detect its manifestations on artefacts produced during this time. The

merchandise supported this popular literature and vice versa. The doctrine was

so popular and it was in its high point that mass medieval Muslims regarded

Sufism as something novel, stimulating and enlightening.

Although Sufism can be traced back to the seventh century A.D., it is not until

the ninth century when paper was widely used that Muslims started to write.

Nevertheless, the Quran was given priority in this inscribing practice. When the

book industry started to flourish in the twelfth century A.D., this was when

other subjects were recorded and one of them was Sufism. It was widely

circulated until it activated an intellectual community and encouraged it to

become a striking development.98 Hence, the period of twelfth to thirteenth

centuries are considered the well-suited phase to research on Sufism.

                                                                                                               98 Jonathan Berkey, ‘Sufism’, Formation of Islam; religion and society in the Near East 600-1800 (New York, 2003), p. 241  

  63  

However, by the end of the fifteenth century, Sufism was already integrated into

Muslim religious life and this could only result into two phenomena. First, it

could have been tainted with tints of other popular Muslim cultures that resulted

to difficulties for researchers to trace it (Grabar’s theory) and secondly it could

had become more distinct and been manifested via material cultures from other

Islamic subjects as Islam with Sufism expanded to India, South Asia, East Asia

and South East Asia. Regardless of the consequences, the Sufist Eye method can

still be applied to investigate on whether or not Sufi-themed objects continued

to exist. Another hypothesis would be it could only exist in textual evidences.

Even so, it opens for another research opportunity.

  64  

Catalogue One

The Blue Quran folio of Surah Al-Baqarah, 2, vv. 34-41

9th to 10th Century A.D.

Gold ink on blue parchment: 28 x 38 cm

Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, MS.8.2006

This blue Quran is famous for its chrysography (the art of writing in letters of gold)

on blue parchment. A rare Islamic artefact of its time and perhaps the only one of its

kind, the blue Quran comes from the contested and overlapping cultures due to the

power struggles among Muslims during that time.

Assertions have been made that it could either come from the Abbasid culture

when the caliph al-Ma’mun commissioned it to be made for the tomb of his father

  65  

Harun al-Rashid in Mashad or from an early Fatimid manuscript made in Maghreb

before the dynasty established Cairo as the capital city of the Fatimid empire in the

late tenth century A.D. Another theory indicates that it might have been produced

in Sicily or North Africa under the Aghlabids (proxy to the Abbasid caliphate) or

Kalbids (proxy to the Fatimid caliphate). Nevertheless, an inventory of it was

recorded for the Library of the Great Mosque of Qayrawan in 1294 A.D. in

Tunisia. The mosque had a room on the northern side of the courtyard that kept

discarded Qurans.

Considering the Quran has 114 surah and 6236 verses, the original Blue Quran must

consists around 600 folios of this kind. This is because each folio is limited to only 15

ruled lines.

There is no record or any evidence that suggests that the Quran comes from North

Africa except for recipes of gold ink that was written by a Zirid ruler of central North

Africa named Ibn Badis in the eleventh century. The formerly mentioned library

inventory that was recorded in the thirteenth century recorded the discovery of

parchment being manufactured from Maghrib starting from the tenth century. It is

important to note that Qurans travelled great distances in the medieval period just like

scholars, scribers and pilgrims.

The blue dye comes from luxurious vegetal pigments with indigo properties. It

mainly comes from Indian, Mediterranean and West Asian origin. The indigo is

widely used in textile making and prior to becoming a dyeing agent it had to be

fermented. For the blue Quran, the parchment must have been dipped into the vessel

  66  

repeatedly to get the rich indigo hue. After it has been dyed, the fifteen grid lines

were drawn out. Once this is done, the gold ink is scribed before being outlined with

dark brown ink. Other embellishments such as the verse division decoration, it was

added later before the folios been gathered into quires and bound. For the

parchment, the skin of the animal needed to go thorugh a few processes of cured,

scraped, removal of fats and flesh, sanded, stretched out and dried. The close-up of

the blue Quran folio is displayed below and the brown outline of the calligraphy is

seen.

The script is Kufic. The blue Quran was produced when this style flourished within

the different and overlapping sub-cultures of the Abbasid and the Fatimid caliphates.

A study was done in grouping various Kufic folios on the basis of letter shapes. It was

found that the blue Quran falls under the ‘D.IV’ type of Kufic writing. The ‘D.IV’

style is the medium-sized Kufic script marked by its distinct usage of mashq. Mashq is

a free hand technique of varying the lengths of the horizontal strokes within and

  67  

between the letters. It sometimes makes the shapes of the letters appear larger or

smaller. An additional exclusive attribute of the blue Quran is the oblong or the

horizontal format of the folio’s page. Research indicated that the blue Quran is the

only Quran written in D.IV Kufic calligraphic type within an oblong or horizontal

format.

Dr. Francois Deroche’s Table IV Letter forms of group D in The Abbasid Tradition;

Qurans of the 8th to 10th centuries A.D

A further attribute of this folio that is hardly seen is the silver rosettes used to signify

the separated verses. Nevertheless, they have now oxidised. The blue Quran was

considered to be a revolutionized or modern Quran during that time due to the

introduction of rosettes as verse separators, the horizontal format and divisions into

different volumes.

  68  

Other than that, it was implied that it tried to imitate the Byzantine bibles written in

gold on purple parchment. There is no evidence for this but throughout the tenth

century, it is known that precious gifts were widely distributed in between the

Byzantine, Carolingian and the Abbasid courts. Other gold and blue architectural

references include the Umayyad construction of the gold mosaic inscriptions against

greenish blue background at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, Umayyad mosques

of Damascus and Medina, the Abbasid construction of the gates at the prophet

Muhammad’s P.B.U.H mosque in Medina and other Abbasid monuments such as the

mosque of al-Mutawakkil in Samarra and the Nilometer on Rawda island (Fustat).

The most obvious dating evidence would come from the fact that from about 1000

A.D., Quran scripts were generally copied in cursive manner or more accurately the

muhaqqaq and the naskh calligraphic style. The Islamic culture also has a practice

called waqaf or waqfiyyah, it is an endowment or gift-giving gesture to mosques or

other religious institutions in order to receive good deeds. Each waqf is usually

recorded on the side of the manuscript. Sometimes it provides the information such as

the name of the donor and the date of the donation or other times just the date, as the

donor prefers to be anonymous. The date then gives a clue on the latest point of

production or terminus ante quem. In the case of the blue Quran, the same ‘D.IV’

Kufic manuscript was found with date inscriptions bearing the year c. 940-941 A.D.

This makes the dating of the blue Quran to fall within the date bracket of c. tenth

century A.D.

If in Christian iconography, chrysography is linked to the ‘radiant virginity of the

heavens’ and to ‘divine light’, in Islam these associations is further enhanced in a few

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surah, that is Surah Al-Nur, Al-Maidah and Al-Shurah. The notion of ‘Light’ is then

translated via the colour combination of the blue Quran. The gold script against an

intense dark indigo gives a resonance of light over darkness.

Other suggestions have indicated that the size of the blue Quran means that it was not

for personal use but for a special congregational ceremony. The rare oblong format

and the colour of the parchment show that it was a special Quran. Perhaps it was

meant to be seen during the candlelit darkness of Thursday doa or during the natural

light of Friday jemaah. Maybe it was meant to invoke the practice of zikir in

appreciating such beauty and recite subhanallah “Glorious is God.”

LIT. Jodidio, 2008, pp. 98-99 Cat 5

D’Eroche, 1992, pp. 11-45 Cat 42

Akbarnia, 2010, pp. 11-13 Cat 1

George, 2009, pp. 75-125 Fig. 1

  70  

Catalogue Two

Bifolium of Andalusian Illuminated Manuscript of Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad.

12th to 13th Century A.D.

Paint on paper: 28.2 x 20 cm

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome, Vat. Ar. 368  

Two leafs of polychrome illustrated Arabic manuscript about courtly love in twelfth

to thirteenth centuries Andalusia. The left page consists of Bayad (The male

protagonist, a merchant’s son from Damascus), lying down in front of an architectural

setting, having fainted by the riverbank of Tharthar with the presence of an ‘Ajouz’

which means “an old one”. The river was a famous theme found common in the

works of prose by Ibn Arabi. It was also featured in the Eastern Sufi-themed objects

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such as The Bowl of Reflections (Cat 4) and The Kashan Plate by Shamsudin al-

Hasani Abu Zayd (Cat 5). The latter is more similar to the scene in this manuscript as

it depicted a mourning figure by the river. The ‘Ajouz’ mourned over Bayad’s sorrow

and a close friend or relative, a ‘Qareeb’. Top upper register of the page has two

registers of Arabic inscriptions and the bottom register has three. Meanwhile the right

page illustrates a scene of Riyad (The female protagonist, a slave in Sayyida’s court, a

minister’s daughter), prostrating in front of her master while being witnessed by other

slaves and a the female narrator, another ‘Ajouz’. The inscriptions closely resemble

the ‘Naskh’ Arabic calligraphic style. The inscriptions that were written in bold

marked as a title of a new chapter.

Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad is a maqamat which means dramatic anecdotes written in

rhythmic poetries in the Middle East and parts of North Africa. It may have been

produced in Andalusia and later on arrived in Tunisia. When Tunisia was sacked in

1535, the manuscript was brought to Rome and in 1940; it was discovered in the

Vatican Library and was studied by A.R. Nykl and U. Monneret de Villard. The

maqamat comprises of thirty paper folios and fourteen illustrations. However, what

remain today is incomplete. The illustrations attributed to the influence of central

Islamic civilizations i.e. Baghdad and Mosul. Its direct influence is possibly derived

from another maqamat that is known as Al-Hariri, which was produced in the East.

After the sufists overthrew the Almoravids in 1149, many of literary works of themes

like divinity and courtly love flourished in Andalusia and Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad

was one of them.

  72  

When the Almohad administration was installed in Andalusia in 1172, the production

of these topoi intensified. It gave birth to more literary works stretching from the

genre of astronomy, astrology, philosophy, mysticism, metaphysics, and love and

passion that revolve around God, beauties of nature, garden, wine and many more.

Due to the culture of the early Almohad administration that supports intellectual

discourses within its court, it gave space for the human capital to flourish.

Furthermore, evidently many of the architectural settings in the Hadith Bayad Wa

Riyad strike similarities with a number of palaces and gardens during the Almohad

period such as the Casa de la Contratacion in the Reales Alcazares of Sevilla. The

Almohads ruled Andalusia until the uprising of the Nasrids in the middle of the

thirteenth century.

The material paper came to Spain via the Arab world. Hence, the strong influence of

the East on the manuscript illustrations. The colour red from the manuscript might

have come from cinnabar or mercuric sulphide. On the other hand; the blue may have

come from azurite or lapis lazuli from Afghanistan. The lapis lazuli also came to

Spain via the Arab world. Other pigments such as green come from malachite or from

verdigris, yellow from volcanic earth or from saffron and white from white lead. The

colours were painted and hand-written onto the papers by mixing it with white of egg

or tempera. Other agents of glue include gums from various animals’ skin such as fish

and cattle.

The illustrated maqamats were considered as objects of the upper class society in the

medieval period as papers and pigments were considered luxury items and the

production of the manuscripts was tedious and meticulous. Despite the heavy

  73  

influences of Bayad Wa Riyad that is attributed to the Fatimid patronage, it is not

precise to classify its stylistic influence comes from the School of Bahgdad as it has

already interspersed with the local Spanish culture. Nonetheless, it is accurate to say

that the Arabization from the East was prevalent. The Eastern account of Bayad Wa

Riyad is Kitāb alf laylah wa-laylah or better known in English as the story of “One

thousand and one nights”. Although Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad was produced in

Andalusia but we do not know exactly where was the location. Presumably, it was

produced in Seville, as this was the capital of Almohad’s administration. In addition

to that, the Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad serves as a visual evidence on how the costume,

landscape and architecture of the Almohad period looked like.

LIT. Robinson, 2007, pp. 70-113  

D. Dodds, 1992, p. 312 Cat 82

Rosser-Owen, 2010, pp. 39 – 40

  74  

Catalogue Three

 

Bifolium of Almohad Quran Manuscript

12th to 13th Century A.D.

Gold and blue ink on clear parchment: 26.2 x 22 cm

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Smith-Lesoeuf 217

The inscriptions were written in Western (Maghribi) Kufic style but closely resemble

the ‘Naskh’ Arabic calligraphic style with a few letters inscribed using the Mashq

technique in which the strokes were lengthened for aesthetical purposes. By thirteenth

century, Quran scribers has stopped writing in block lettering and adapted a soft

cursive style. The historian Ibn Khaldun has noted that Maghribi calligraphers were

trained from young age to write the whole Arabic words rather than block letters. The

manuscript used the roundels as a device to indicate the end of an ayat (verse). Each

roundel then was filled with the word God in Arabic. This form of repetitive insertion

  75  

of the word God is meant to invoke the practice of zikir ism (Remembrance of God by

constant invocation) in readers. The word God was painted in white against the blue

background such like the woven white threads against the blue tapestry of the

Almohad Las Navas de Tolosa Banner (Cat 9). Zikir ism is a practice put forward by

the Sufi teachings of twelfth to thirteenth centuries Andalusia. The title of the surah

(chapter) is marked in bold inscriptions. The same device to mark the title of the

chapter was used in the production of Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad manuscript (Cat 2).

The production of this graceful manuscript used a very fine technique that started with

sketching the inscriptions of the ayat. After the sketches have been finalized, the

scriber then traced back the inscriptions with pen that uses ink made from resin and

burned oak gall. After this tracing, the inscriptions were filled with gold. For the title

of the surah, the outlines of the inscriptions were traced in gold and the contours were

filled with dark blue. The notion of ‘Light’ in Sufism has been applied to the

manuscript, in which the words of God were written in gold to signify nur (God’s

light), spirituality and divine revelation. The famous Blue Quran (Cat 1) from the

ninth to ten centuries A.D. uses the same combination of dark blue and gold to

transmit the sacred character.

LIT. D. Dodds, 1992, p. 315 Cat 84

Lings 1976, p. 205, pl. 95

  76  

Catalogue Four

The Kashan Bowl of Reflections

12th Century A.D.

Glazed and painted lusterware: 8.6 x 33 cm

Brooklyn Museum, New York, 86.227.16

The Kashan bowl of reflections combines Sufi poetries in Arabic and Persian texts

with an imagery that takes reference from the Central Asia. This Sufi-laden bowl

depicts an image of a court scene that consists of five moon-faced women seated

below a scalloped and sgraffito-painted blue sky and before a river that abstractly

featured six fishes painted in cobalt blue. The river was a common theme found in the

works of prose by Ibn Arabi. It was also featured in Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad (Cat 2)

and the Kashan Plate by Shamsudin al-Hasani Abu Zayd (Cat 5). All the five moon-

  77  

faced women are looking at a central abstract image of a tree that holds a bird. The

fishes symbolize mystic or prophet while the water denotes the infinite divine grace

and the merge of these two elements signifies the union with God as explained by the

Andalusian Sufi, Ibn Arabi and proposed by Ibn Tumart.

The moon-faced women were a familiar theme in the Persian literary topos and it

usually signifies divine beauty (Jamal), light and the Beloved.

The inscriptions within the two bands were written in the Naskh calligraphic style and

bear excerpt of poetries by Shams al-Din Tabrizi (the master to Jalal al-Din Rumi)

from Konya, Anatolia and Baba Afzal al-Din Kashani from Kashan.

The lusterware is made from ceramic that is painted with cobalt blue and lustre, which

is a shining agent that melts during firing and leaves a sheen layer afterwards.

LIT. Canby, 1987, pp. 219-220 Cat 162

Akbarnia, 2010, pp. 90-91 Cat 32

  78  

Catalogue Five

The Kashan Plate by Shamsudin al-Hasani Abu Zayd

13th Century A.D.

Glazed and painted lusterware: 35.2 cm (Diameter)

Freer Sackler, The Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C, F1941.11

This plate bears the name of its maker named Shamsudin al-Hasani Abu Zayd and the

year of production that was in the month of Jumada II of the year 607 of the Hijra.

The first study of this plate indicated that it was part of the series of display-ware that

depicted the story of a Persian legendary hero. However, recent studies have found

that the plate represents a Sufi metaphor. Similar to the Bowl of Reflections, it was

  79  

made from ceramic and paint but layered with lustre that makes it shine. Other source

has specified the technique as Minai. It is a technique derived from Egypt but was

introduced in Kashan. This is the reason behind the name attributed to it.

The plate depicted seven moon-faced figures with five figures were represented

seated on a horseback before a mourning figure crouching on the ground by the river.

The scene of mourning by the river is common in Sufi-themed artefacts. The same

depiction can be found in Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad (Cat 2). Rivers are frequent subject

written by the Andalusian Sufi and philosopher, Ibn Arabi. The last figure is

portrayed as an illusionary being swam with the fishes underwater. The plate is

separated in between an on land scene and an underwater scene. Other decorations on

the plate include vegetal and sgrafitto motifs. In addition to that, the rim is filled with

Arabic inscriptions written in the Naskh calligraphic style. The plate is designed with

a scallop rim that flattens out on top.

The image on the plate takes precedent from Sassanian art that was prevalent in

Central Asia. In the Sufi metaphor, the crouching figure represents a contemplating

youth in his mystic sleep of quest. The fishes in the water on the other hand signify

the mystic or the prophet that symbolizes an infinite divine grace, the thirst that all

beings continuously want to quench. This continuous effort of quenching the thirst is

defined to be as getting mystically united with God. Ibn Arabi elaborated this co-

dependency and unification in between men and God in his Sufi prose. The human

figure in the water embodies the earthly representation of divine beauty (Jamal) while

the five figures seated on the horseback represent the earthly attachments. The

narrative of the metaphors tells the story about the youth yearning to unite with the

  80  

figure in the water and willing to reject the earthly attachments.

The inscriptions were influenced by the Sufi school of Khurasan, which emphasized

on divine unity via the loss of self in intoxication. Part of the inscriptions read, “The

soul and the heart is with thee, say what is the remedy of the pain of the slave?”

“From thee I come, only to thee I complain, O refuge…of union with thee, I am

weeping and quaffing wine…may thy fortune be always increasing, your good luck

be out of all bounds…O master of the world, be an addition to thy soul…I thought I

escaped from the hands of love…” Similar to other Islamic artefacts, the plate

additionally bears repetitive prayer inscriptions that translate “May the creator of the

world protect the possessor of the plate, wherever he may be.” This was repeated

three times.

LIT. D. Guest and Ettinghausen, 1961, pp. 25-64

J. Grube, 1965, pp. 209-228

Winter, 2011, pp. 60-65

Pancaroglu, 2007, Islamic Ceramics Online

  81  

Catalogue Six

The Pillow Cover of Queen Berenguela

12th to 13th Century A.D.

Silk and gold thread: 86 x 50 cm

Patrimonio Nacional, Museo deTelas Medivales, Monasterio de Santa Maria la Real

de Huelgas, Burgos, 00650512

The Pillow Cover of Queen Berenguela was probably commissioned from the court of

Andalusia during the times when there was a good relationship in between the

Almohad administration and the Kingdom of Leon. During this time, Queen

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Berenguela was the Queen consort to Alfonso the Ninth, the King of Leon. Before the

union in between the kingdom of Leon and Castille, the Kingdom of Leon took the

Almohad administration as an ally in the battle with the Castilians. It was a custom

among the kingdom and the administration to exchange gifts and this pillow cover

most probably was one of the gifts exchanged.

The pillow cover is made of woven crimson silk with ornamentation in gold threads.

The main attribute of the pillow cover would be the central roundel that featured a

court-dancing scene containing two barefoot female figures on each side of an

abstract representation of “The Tree of Life”. This was a typical style of Coptic art.

The roundel is framed and circulated with a band that consists of cursive Arabic

inscription that reads, “There is no God but God”. This may be referenced to the

doctrine of divine unity as proposed by the founder of the Almohad administration,

Ibn Tumart. Other ornamentations include four stars that were woven around the

central roundel and two bands that bear Arabic inscriptions that read “The perfect

blessing” or al-barakah al-kamilah. This was a form of prayer dedicated to the

possessor of the pillow cover, Queen Berenguela. The pillow cover was also adorned

with small tassels at the end of each edge.

LIT. D. Dodds, 1992, p. 315 Cat 84

G. Shepherd, 1978, pp. 111-134 Fig. 12, 30

L. May, 1957, pp. 64-69 Fig. 40

  83  

Catalogue Seven

The Almohad Pair of Earrings

12th to 13th Century A.D.

Gold sheer, wire, and grains, set with cloisonné enamel: 4.8 x 4.65 cm

Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait City, Kuwait, al-Sabah Collection, LNS30 Jab

The jewelry piece posits influence from the Fatimid dynasty. It uses the blue and gold

colour scheme to indicate light over darkness such like the concept behind the

production of the Blue Quran (Cat1) and the Almohad Quran manuscript (Cat 3). The

frames of the earrings were made of tiny beads called granulation and twisted threads

known as filigree metalwork. Ten loops surrounding the frame were then added to

hold the pearls or semi-precious stones that are now not intact. The faces of the

earrings were made of cloisonné enamel. It is a technique in which the decoration is

formed by adding compartments by using gold strips.

  84  

The compartments were then filled with enamel that is made of bright colour against

the dark blue background. Sprinkles of red enamels were also added to the cloisonné

decoration. The compartments were laid to spell surah al-Ikhlas (The Oneness) in the

Naskh Arabic calligraphic style. The inscription reads, “In the name of God, the

Compassionate, the Merciful, God is One, God the eternal, He begot none, nor was

He begotten. None is equal to Him.” The concept of Oneness is emphasized by the

selection of surah al-Ikhlas (The Oneness) in this piece in regards to the Doctrine of

Divine Unity as proposed by Ibn Tumart, the founder of the Almohad administration.

LIT. Jenkins, 1993, p. 105 Cat 55

Jenkins, 1983, p. 91

  85  

Catalogue Eight

The Almohad Jar

12th to 13th Century A.D.

Painted lusterware: 14 cm (Diameter)

Ayuntamiento de Valencia, 1000

The Almohad Jar is an artefact that really transmits the spirit of the Almohad period

which was distinct by the production of rich Sufi prose as part of their literary topos.

The jar is adorned with three bands of Arabic inscriptions that praise God in Sufi-

laden texts. It was made out of clay from two forms that were joined at the neck. The

  86  

incisions of the inscriptions and embellishments were done after the core form is

baked in kiln. The two handles on the sides were added later and baked separately.

The Arabic inscriptions resemble the Naskh calligraphic style. A scratching technique

that formed a repetitive circular pattern called sgraffito was applied to fill in the

background of the inscriptions. The jar stands steadily on a short base.

The inscriptions on the jar started with a God-praising prose, which resonates the

doctrine of divine unity that reads “Glorify god and reject that most alien to you.” The

second band on the other hand reads, “Behold excellence, for you see the results

before your eyes. My mouth has an agreeable savour; it is devoid of defect; it is

sublime.” Lastly, the third band reads, “In me, by God’s grace, is art made beauty. To

set forth God is good, for He is supreme.” As much as the texts were suggested to

personify the jar, it could also personify the possessor as defined by the famous Sufi

during this time, Ibn Arabi on the meaning of beauty. In between the first band and

the second band, geometric patterns were added in as part of the design. Due to the

ergonomic size of the jar, it was probably used as a drinking jar.

LIT. D. Dodds, 1992, p. 353 Cat 109

  87  

Catalogue Nine

The Almohad Las Navas de Tolosa Banner

13th Century A.D.

Silk and gilt parchment: 330 x 220 cm

Patrimanio Nacional, Museo de Telas Medievales, Monasterio de Santa Maria la Real

de Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas, Burgos, 00652193

This banner was in the possession of the Almohad administration during the battle

with the united kingdoms of Leon and Castille at Las Navas de Tolosa, Jaen.

Nevertheless, due to the lost of the Almohad administration in the battle, this banner

was taken as a trophy won by Ferdinand the Third, the son of Queen Berenguela and

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King of Leon, Alfonso the Ninth. Ferdinand the Third then donated the banner to the

Monasterio de Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas. During the thirteenth century, such

banner like this was a common artefact. Spanish poets of the time usually called the

fabric as “Red samite woven in such a manner that in sunlight it flashed like a

mirror.”

The banner has eight-pointed stars as its central motif. These stars are framed within

circular and four triangular sections that consist of gold rings, small stars and vegetal

motifs. Bordering this central design are four scripted bands woven in blue threads

over gold field. The bands read “Believer, Shall I point out to you a profitable course

that will save you from woeful scourge? Have faith in God and His apostle, and fight

for God’s cause with your wealth and your persons. That would be best for you, if

you but knew it. He will forgive you your sins and admit you to gardens watered by

running streams; He will lodge you in pleasant mansions in the gardens of Eden.”

That is the supreme triumph. ” This was a passage taken from the tenth to twelfth

verse of surah al-Saff (Battle Array). Although the passage chosen from the Quran

fits the context of battle campaign banner, it is not known whether it was produced

specifically for the battle at Las Navas de Tolosa.

However, the main inscription of this banner comes from the most top register that is

framed within two narrow registers that consist of inter-laced stars and oblong

medallions that are filled with repetitive inscriptions of “There is no God but God and

Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This is a form of zikir ism as taught by the Sufi

doctrine. The main inscription on the other hand reads “In God I find refuge from

Satan, punished by stoning. In the name of a compassionate and merciful God, the

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blessing of God is upon our Lord and master Muhammad, the honoured prophet, and

upon his family and friends, Health and Peace.” The last form of zikir ism on the

banner would be the repetition of the word “God” in each Arabic letter that spells the

entire inscriptions. This was woven in white threads and is seen in the close-up image

of the banner. It uses the same concept from the Blue Quran (Cat 1), where it featured

the notion of light over darkness. The white woven threads woven against the blue

background tapestry is also found in the Almohad Quran manuscript roundels (Cat 3).

In the banner, the word God was inter-woven into the inscriptions to symbolically

signify that God is at the heart of the verse chose from the Quran and the well-

wishing prayers.

The bottom part of the banner is made of eight circular decorations containing

patterns of repetitive gold crescents. The circular decorations used to bear inscriptions

that are now no longer intact.

LIT. D. Dodds, 1992, pp. 326-327 Cat 92

L. May, 1957, pp. 56-58 Fig. 39

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Catalogue Ten

The Almohad Bowl

12th to 13th Century A.D.

Glazed and painted lusterware: 23.2 cm (Diameter)

Museo de Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, 13505

The bowl comes with a central design of an eight-petals flower motif that corresponds

with the repetitive Arabic inscription of “Glory is God’s” that was written eight times

encircling the bowl. This was a form of zikir ism within the Sufi context. The two

designs are separated with a band that is filled with patterns made out of the sgrafitto

technique. The bowl is also rimmed with another plain band. The inscriptions were

written in the Naskh calligraphic style.

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The bowl is made from ceramic and painted before it underwent a second layer of

glaze that makes it shine. It was perhaps been used as a utilitarian bowl during the

times when a fraction of the Almohad community had to take refuge in the cave dels

amagatalls (the hiding places) when the Catalans threatened to invade Andalusia in

1229 A.D. This bowl was found undamaged in the cave. Other embellishments

include small flowers, leaves and vine motifs that filled the white space of the

inscribed band. This effect makes the zikir inscriptions appear camouflage.

LIT. D. Dodds, 1992, p. 350 Cat 106

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Catalogue Eleven

The Almohad Brazier

13th Century A.D.

Copper Alloy: 26 cm

Museo Arquelogico Provincial de Cordoba, D. 92/2

The brazier is made out of six copper alloy sheets that were incised and joint together

using rivets. These sheets also serve as the foundation that holds a separate tray within

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the brazier by providing crossed ribs for the tray to rests. Two of the sheets were

attached with a semi-circular handles and one of them were incised and pierced with

two inscriptions that read “Perpetual health and divine grace” and “The blessing of

the Exalted one upon the possessor”. Chapter two of the doctrine of divine unity

(governmental charter of the Almohad Administration) influenced the inscriptions on

this main sheet when it explained about God being the Exalted One and the Creator.

Other sheets were repeatedly incised with the inscription that reads “Total blessing”.

In addition to that, a protruding crescent was set on top of each sheet. All the sheets

were furnished with incisions and piercings of vegetal and acanthus motifs

surrounding the Arabic inscriptions. The inscriptions were designed in Kufic

calligraphic style.

The brazier stands on six legs that were soldered independently. These legs were

made to look long by giving an extra finial sprouts at the upper end of each leg. These

sprouts were also soldered independently. Each leg was incised with horizontal and

ring patterns while attached with a sphere foot. The brazier takes precedence from

Persian designs and it was used to burn charcoal for heat during cold weather or to

burn incense.

LIT. D. Dodds, 1992, pp. 274-275 Cat 56

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Catalogue Twelve

The Almohad Casket

12th Century A.D.

Ivory, wood, and gilt copper: 41 x 38 x 14 cm

Institutode de Valencia de Don Juan, Madrid 4864

The Almohad casket comes in a shape of a coffin. It is made from plaques of ivory

that were laid on wooden core. The plaques were incised with decorative motifs and

secured its attachment to the wooden core with small clot-head ivory pegs and gilt-

copper trimmings. A long gilt copper rod was attached to the lid and the front face of

the casket to perform as a hinge equipped with a lock. In addition to that, a handle

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was fastened on top of the lid to carry the casket.

The ivory plaques were incised with circular motifs that contain eight-pointed stars,

rosettes and traceries. Palm tree and vegetal motifs were also added at corners and

edges of the plaques and casket. In between the lid and the body of the casket, the

plaques formed a band that was incised with inscriptions in the Naskh calligraphic

style. The inscription reads, “With Beauty, I did wonders that are radiant, all the while

I was surrounded by gardens and embellished with plants and flowers.” This

inscription is attributed to a Sufi prose and the meaning of ‘Beauty’ in this context

means ‘Divine Beauty’ as elaborated by the Sufi philosopher Ibn Arabi. The prose

does not personify the casket but instead it personifies a garden in which where this

casket was probably kept. Other inscriptions were incised at the lower part of the

plaques that were attached to the sides of the casket. These inscriptions read

“happiness and prosperity” on both sides. This was a form of prayer for the possessor

of the casket. The casket takes precedent from Persian designs that reached Andalusia

via Anatolia and Sicily.

LIT. D. Dodds, 1992, p. 265 Cat 50

B. Cott, 1930, pp. 131-146

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Glossary

Sahabat – Companion or friend.

Hadith – Sayings, teachings, acts ascribed to Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H.

Dunia – Matrial and temporary world.

Zuhud – Love for God.

Ayat – Verse.

Zikir – Invocation of the word God, attributes of God or prayer towards God.

Ihram – A sacred state a Muslim enters before performing Hajj or Umrah that involves

cleansing rituals wearing white cloth.

Hajj – A major pilgrimage.

Umrah – A minor pilgrimage.

Solat – The five times prayers within a day.

Khanaqa – A building built for gathering of the Sufis for spiritual retreat and

character formation.

Tariqat – Brotherhood.

Shariah – Islamic law.

Musawwir – The Creator, the Maker, the Giver of form.

Madrasa – A building used to teach Islamic theology and shariah and often includes a

joining mosque and often a small-sized mosque.

Sheikh – An elderly, leader or governor.

Mahdi – Redeemer of Islam.

Ulama – An Islamic scholar.

Qadi – Judge.

Sirah – History.

Dakwah – The preaching of Islam.

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Ribat – A fortress and most times a place for Sufis’ spiritual gathering.

Sayyid – Master.

Wahdat al-Wujud – The unity of existence.

Shahadah – To know and believe without doubt that there is no God but God and

prophet Muhammad is the messenger of God.

Nur – Light.

Zulumat –Darkness.

Faqr – In poverty.

Caliph – Head of a state.

Waqaf – Endowment.

Doa – Prayer.

Jemaah – Congregation.

Ajouz – An old one.

Qareeb – A close friend/confidant.

Maqamat – Arabic collection of stories.

Mashq – A calligraphic technique of varying the lengths of the horizontal strokes

within and between the letters

Surah – Chapter.

Samite – A heavy silk fabric interwoven with gold.

Sgrafitto – A repetitive circular pattern.

 

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© Jamal Afiq Jamaludin