Real Art
by mfarnold April 2025
Introduction
For many in the west, art is seen as a separate discipline. To the east art is life. It beautified them, their home and their environment. It is the expression of the beauty and potential of the materials they work with. They do not place foreign objects on a base. They do not express protest, personal struggles or use art to force ideas onto the general public or influence rulers. Artistic flair is not used for political expression. The east uses art to enhance everyone within the community. Art to them is not egocentric. To them art is functional and a means to express honour to people and their beliefs. Art in the east is spiritual and communal. It celebrates heritage, the means of skills development of their community, tradition, family and training of children, who will be able to carry on their culture as a sustainable livelihood. To the west, art is not connected to sustainability. It rests on dependency of funding from the rich, who invest in art, own galleries and the rich man's sport - art auctions. That explains why wars are created by the rich to steal artifacts from the indigenous peoples for their galleries. What ensures this western cultural service for the rich, is the educational systems they subtly force governments to implement to trap young minds to seek professions that ensure their financial control of the markets. Their educational system creates the individualistic competitive skills-sets that push theoretical writing skills for funding proposals, policies and CV' s that ensure that the masses compete in sophisticated begging, while the rest who have no housing, deliberately created by the elite to ensure structural poverty, create the policing staff to protect their assets. That is why police react swiftly for the upper-class, while they delay actions of defense for the poor.This is their Art of Manipulation for dominance. Now let us unpack world art.
Academic Art
Art studied at schools and universities, focuses on external identification of techniques and materials and historical heritage. The way eastern and other cultural art is interpreted and taught falls within the framework of western analytical thinking, without evaluative, deep spiritual knowledge.
This is because their belief in the tangible/material world as the only truth, restricts their knowledge-base and their insight.
The term art was coined by the west as a separate science and then defined further as the industrial revolution influenced the world world. This allowed for specialist studies for different industrial purposes, thus restricting the artists creativity to the dictates of the sponsor or business requirements. This in turn caused creative people to then depict their emotions of frustration through different art forms that rsonate with their personal emotions, often totally detatched from the common people's experience and needs. This then open the door to exclusive audiences for the arts and creates a class structure, which actually benefits the elite in many ways. Dur to their ownership of the financial means they even dictated the perosnal expreion of the art pieces of the creative people. This allowed the elite to use art to create new markets for "goods of want". Indigenous peoples,who were creative for goods of needs", were also slowly influenced to create "good of want" as the became westernised.
Political Art
All rulers and states use art to subconsciously control the minds and hearts of their subjects. That is why when a new government takes over, all the prevbious artworks, sculptures and even riad names are changed to reflect the wishes of the rulers. In countries controlled by kings, their picture is displayed in every street, shop, house etc. This creates a sense of fear in the people and a type of idol worship.That is a core reason why Islam forbids the creation of pictures of the prophets and human beings, to stem idol worship, which reduces people's ability to tap into the Real Spititual Connection with The Only God, Allah SWT, Who is unrepresented by pictures, statues etc, because it is below The Magnificence of God Almight, Who is Above all creation as The Creator of Everything and every one. One can now understand the economic "value" for disbelieving in God Almighty, because it reduces the cash cow of the elite, who places fear in the hearts of people for them, so that they can exploit their subjects. When Trust and Respect for Allah SWT is deminished through the use of artistic imagery, then the people open themselves up for all sorts of problems, which they created with their own hands in submission to human rulers, instead of God Almighty.
The Arts in Islam
Aesthetics amongst Muslims, who adhere to the non-representational art dictates of God Almighty, thus use symbols and design to create beautiful artefacts. Their concentration is on the qualities of the materials they use, bringing out the potentials of the material and the rememberance of God Almighty through symbolism that reflect the Beautiful Names of God Almighty (Asmal Ghusna) in Arabic script or reflective. balanced designs that brings about a sense of calmness and beauty that takes the onlooker deeper into the Divine Spirit of the Self (Ruugh) that Knows these wonderful qualities that heaven/ Jannah possesses. Considering that all of us were Created by Allah SWT is Jannah/ heaven, it thus explains wht people desire and fight for justice, peace, tranquillity, ample resources, truth, beauty, harmony, safety, progress, love and other godly attributes, because we were Created by Allah SWT and stayed in heaven for a long time before we were sent to the lower realm- earth and its stars Q7:172. One then sees in the Arts of Islam the depiction of gradens and designs that point to the cosmos and its components. The British and American wars for stealing resources in Islamic lands, saw the stealing of many artefacts and the establishments of Islamic Art Museums in the west, which the elite, who finances wars, benefits from on a large scale, because the beauty of the Arts in Islam attract people from various cultures, because the principles by which the Arts in Islam are created resonate with the hearts of people and is not brain related, because it vibrates the soul of people in a profound spiritual way - even the evil stealers - but to them, if the do not repent , will be their punishment here and in the hereafter - a Promise Allah SWT Makes for those who are His SWT enemies and the abusers of Muslims and their property. The Arts in Islam is based on core Attributes of God Almighty and that is why is affects the soul of many. Alghamdu lillaah. My Book "The Arts of Islam" details the principles of the Arts in Islam.
Origin of the word "Art"
The word "art" originates from Latin "Ars", thus of European origin, meaning 'craft' or 'skill'. All human beings have a natural ability to be creative. It is creativity that gives rise to the advancement of peoples. Creativity originates from the unseen world into the minds and body of those eager to receive The Gifts from God Almighty, to create with consciousness of His SWT Guidance. Anything outside the Guidance of God Almighty, is within the encouragement of satan/evil, which creates disequilibrium in the souls of those who subscribe to such forms of craft. Idol worship is one of such forms of unacceptable art. When skills are used to praise humans or animals or any creation of God Almighty, then it gives honour to created objects, a danger that disorients the natural human condition of truth and beauty. One then experiences that the Arts in Islam surpasses all other forms of art in the world because of its non-human representative compositions, because it stays within the realm of Divine Guidance, which allows the Muslim Creative to express real beauty, balance, care, relaxation, calmness, awe, and excitement. Muslims creatives do not dabble in low human expressions of hate, protest, evil, darkness, depression, loss. exploitation and other negative human responses to oppression and hardship. Muslim creatives are positive and allow the onlooker the opportunity to connect with Divine Beauty and Essence that is an outpour of careful thought of a believer in God Almighty. It is this type of creative who makes the world a better place to live in - rather to live with. Western Art compositions is often individualistic and emotionally charged with negativity, projection of disharmony and base obsessions, that depletes modern society from its harmonious, clean and wonderful original existence - Fitrah.
Defining "Art"
"Art emphasizes personal expression, often conveying emotions or ideas, and can be non-functional. Craft, on the other hand, focuses on skill, precision, and the creation of tangible objects that often have a practical purpose." This is the definition of Art in Google. You can see that the definition is indivualistic and materialistic. The signing of the Name of the Artist on the art piece indicates the individualistic, competotibe mindset of the western world, that speaks English - hence the British cultural influence in academia and learning. When one leans towards the East it presents a different senario, but it is difficult for us to access it, because we do not speak the same language and do not know the Nuance of their language. Taking the Arts in Islam as an example of a different mindset towards Art, I can perhaps show the difference between Muslim and Western art, through the studies I have made in that regard. Muslims artists of old did not sign their names on the artwork. That indicates a non-indivualistic base concept of their artwork. There aim was to remind onlookers of Allah SWT. Their artwork is the a Thikr ( Rememberance of Allah SWT is the crafts and skills). The Muslim artists did not work on canvas to be hung on walls, but created or transformed the wall into a timeless heritage piece of exquisite beauty, to reveal the qualities of the material - wood, metal, material, ceramics, plasterm stome etc. One then immediately see the different mindsets between Muslim and Non-Muslim artists. Muslim artists who now sign their names of the artworks and display it on walls or galleries to be transported, without changing the permanent environments, arr not tradistional craftmen and women, but westernised Muslim artists trapped in Western educational mindsets. Real Artist within the Islamic world thus deliberately stay clear of self-glorification and extend themselves towards drawing the onlookers attention to Allah SWT through the heart connection not inidividulaistic agendas. The Arabic for art is FAN - plural FU-NUUN and the root of this word is FANNA - which means " to diversify, mix, be versatile, to be a specialist, an expert, a master, to be professional - but not in a separated field mastery as in the western world, but in holistic, appreciative way.
Muslim Artists
A Muslim artist does not only create an artpiece to express his/her own emotional outpouring.
A muslim artist or rather creative, holistically values and respects the materials and tools he/she is
working with to express a deep love for Allah SWT, the blesing of the skills, opportunity and materials
and tools Given/Granted by Allah SWT. When creating, it becomes an Ibaadah and form of worship.
This intention of the artist, allows the artpieces or rather creative pieces to transcend time and space and
travel into the hearts of the onlooker, even at times calling him/her towards a greater consciousness
of Allah SWT, The Possessor of Beauty, and even causing the person to become Muslim. Within this
context, Art in Islam is thus not at all " non-functional" as in the Google Definition given above.
Muslims creatives must have an intention to reflect the Unity and Order of Allah SWT and must never
violate the guidance that pertains to creating functional objects - it must never try a represent the living.
That is only the domian of Allah SWT. Thus Muslim Artists do not depict humans or animals in their
creative work, but if they do, for historical purpose, theyr distort the figures to look more like a cartoon
or caricature - distorted. This is based of Ghadeeth literature - that whoever tries to imitate lifelike
humans or animals in 3D will be asked to put life into it on The Day of Judgment.
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