Muslims have no sense of art or culture
The ongoing anti-Muslim campaigns portray Islam as a regressive and archaic religion which fuel the prejudiced notion that Muslims are ignorant, uninformed, old-fashioned and an uncultured bunch of people who oppose progressiveness. The idea that Islam and modernisation don’t go hand in hand is what is generally deemed about the religion. This notion hence frequently invites contempt and disdain towards the community as a whole.
Add to this the actions of the insurgents like the ISIS claimed to be done in the name of Islam, which often get attributed to Muslims as a whole. This compels the whole world to assume that certain aspects of the religion are at fault. That Islam is always at odds with modernity.
However, this is not true. Taking a look at earliest Islamic texts, one can find many ideas which are considered progressive today such as peaceful coexistence, the acceptance of other religions, democratic governance, women’s rights. It also condemns un-Islamic practices such as honour killings and racism.
Islam is a religion which upholds peace, equality and tolerance. Islamic teachings contain many injunctions for settling disputes between people and nations with the aim of establishing peace. Islamic history shows that Muslims and non-Muslims co-existed in peace in Madinah and the successive Muslim states.
The religion greatly emphasised on and encouraged the human pursuit of knowledge. The first verse of the Quran which was revealed to the Prophet (pbuh) was ‘Iqra’, meaning "read,” opening the door to read, write, and ponder.
The Quran urges the mankind to think, ponder, reflect and acquire knowledge that would bring them closer to God and his creations.
The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) urged all Muslims to seek knowledge as far they could reach, and also to seek it all times. Abu Hurairah (R.A), one of the companions of the prophet reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The word of wisdom is the lost property of the believer. Wherever he finds it, he is most deserving of it.” - Tirmidhi
Islam always insisted on good character, to embody righteousness and justice, to exhibit moral qualities and manners, to have integrity in worldly affairs, and to exhibit hospitality to guests, to cite a few, guiding man to strive towards becoming a better human being.
The prophet (pbuh) said: ‘The best amongst you are the best in character and manners’, (Al-Bukhari)
According to his companions, the prophet (pbuh) was known to be the most honest, patient, trustworthy, gracious, and compassionate person of their time. His wonderful character gave him a magnetic personality that everyone around him loved dearly. Through his life, the prophet (pbuh) has left a lesson for his followers to perfect everything we do, however small it is, even in mundane daily actions and to be kind-hearted and sincere even to people who are not nice to us.
“Good and evil cannot be equal. Repel evil with what is better, and your enemy will become as close as an old and valued friend.” (Quran 41:34)
Islam places utmost priority to cleanliness and hygiene that the prophet (pbuh) said that ‘Cleanliness is half of faith’. In Islam, hygiene, sanitation, and purity are religious acts in and of themselves. “Allah loves those who keep themselves pure.’ (Quran 9:108)
Islam granted women their basic rights centuries before the West did. Islamic law made the education of girls a sacred duty and gave women the right to own and inherit property, a first in history. Islam also imposed women's consent as a condition for legitimate marriage contracts as well as permitted remarriage for the divorced women and widows. Similar rights were not available to women in Europe for many centuries after the advent of Islam.
Islam emphasises on equality of man and woman with the husband and wife having an equal role to play in providing support, comfort and protection for one another, fitting each other like a garment fits the body and taking care of the family. The relationship was set up on the principle of division of labour and shouldering responsibilities inside and outside home and not on the domination of one gender over the other. In Islam, both man and woman are given equal status that neither is man superior to his woman nor is a woman inferior to her man.
Nobel laureate Dr Alexis Carrel, a French surgeon and biologist, had said ‘Far from considering marriage with a woman to be a shameful act, Islam, which is basically a realistic religion, considers it praiseworthy for a man to marry a woman. This is a clear indication that the teachings of Islam are wholesomely consistent with modern scientific findings and in complete consonance with nature.
Islam is a religion which is rich with its share of art, architecture and literature characterised as the Golden Age of Islamic civilisation, a period during which the Muslim world made unprecedented advancements in all fields of human intellect.
While medieval Europe was still in the Dark Ages, Muslim world was witnessing incredible scientific advances in medicine, mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, architecture, art and literature. This period between the 7th to the 15th centuries is considered as the ‘Golden Age of Islamic Civilisation’.
During this period, the first public universities were founded in Baghdad where philosophy and literature were studied. Islamic medicine developed important medical treatments, including a way to surgically treat eye cataracts.
One of the most important medical works to be translated was The Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sina. A Persian polymath was regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age, and the father of early modern medicine. Known as Avicenna in the West, his work remained a standard medical textbook in Europe until the early modern period. The Canon of Medicine was published more than 35 times during the 15th and 16th centuries alone.
Persian scientist Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī significantly developed algebra in in his landmark text, Kitab al-Jabr wa-l-Muqabala, from which the term “algebra” is derived. The term “algorithm” is derived from the name of the scholar al-Khwarizmi, who was also responsible for introducing the Arabic numerals and Hindu-Arabic numeral system beyond the Indian subcontinent.
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) wrote the Book of Optics (1021), in which he developed a theory of vision and light which built on the work of the Roman writer Ptolemy (but which rejected Ptolemy's theory that light was emitted by the eye, insisting instead that light rays entered the eye), and was the most significant advance in this field until Kepler. The Book of Optics was an important stepping stone in the history of the scientific method and history of optics.
What the medieval scientists of the Muslim world articulated so brilliantly is that science is universal, the common language of the human race. The period of renaissance in Europe that followed was greatly influenced by this new acquired knowledge and intellect.
European and North American visual arts have been inspired by the Islamic world for centuries. Known as ‘Orientalism’, this representation of the East in Western art ranged from painting and decorative arts, interior design to architecture, the objects and artworks depict or refer to subjects and styles from the Islamic World, primarily the Middle East and North Africa.
The Orientalist art movement reached its height during the 19th century and is perhaps best known for its production of impressive oil paintings and works on paper. This movement has influenced the production of a wide range of works of art including ceramics, metalwork, photography, to name a few, but also extends more widely to include theatre, architecture and music.
Islamic art includes all types of art from countries where Islam was the dominant religion such as Iran, Egypt, India, Morocco, Spain, Syria, and Turkey, among others. From the Taj Mahal to the greatest examples of silk Persian rugs, the history of Islamic art spans over a thousand years, crosses borders, and takes on a wide range of genres and forms.
Islamic art reflects the cultural values of its believers, and reveals the way Muslims view the spiritual realm and the universe. For Muslims, beauty has always been and will always be a quality of the divine.
There is a hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says: "Allah is beautiful and he loves beauty." The integration of arts and crafts into everyday life was very much the norm in the traditional Islamic world.
Islamic art covers a broad range of forms and mediums, including paintings, wall tapestries, tile work, stained glass and ceramics, carpets, metal structures, wooden decor, and more. Wall paintings and manuscripts dominated the Persianate world; exquisite rugs were made by Berbers, Persians and Armenians (to name a few); grand mosques with quintessential Islamic art characteristics towered over areas of southern Spain, India, Turkey and Iran. As for Islamic ceramic art, Syria was home to the first industrial complex for glass and pottery production in the 8th century. Wars and invasions, new cultures, as well as traditions that emerged throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia have had a significant impact on the evolution of Islamic art.
As far as Islamic architecture is concerned, it is one of the world's most celebrated building traditions. Known for its radiant colors, rich patterns, and symmetrical silhouettes, this distinctive approach has been popular in the Muslim world since the 7th century.
A number of musical instruments used in European music were influenced by Arabic musical instruments, including the rebec (an ancestor of the violin) from the rebab and the naker from naqareh. The oud is cited as one of several precursors to the modern guitar.
Islam has laid down specific guidelines and rulings concerning all aspects of human life. It is more of a way of life rather than a religion, taught by the different prophets as instructed by the almighty. With an extensive, comprehensive and a rich history and culture, all the arguments portraying Islam as a regressive and outdated religion goes down the drain.
References
https://theconversation.com/is-islam-incompatible-with-modernity-48727
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/feb/01/islamic-science
Woman Between Islam and Western Society by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan