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1 The worshiper Syed Danish Ahmed MFA 2010 2 Abstract The worshiper is the person who pays reverent honor and homage to the God. To me, the act of worship becomes a means of reintegration, which unites my outward world to my spiritual existence. The primary objective of my MFA project is to investigate the possibilities of aligning my art to my religious beliefs: and to find ways to place the dialogue in a contemporary framework. My research is primarily informed by the underlying symbolism of practice in Islamic worship and the symbolism behind Islamic artistic expressions. The images emulate the process of spiritual cleansing, which I am experiencing in recent years. My art interprets the remembrance of God in a visual domain as it seeks to embody the environment of worship. The symbolic visual language is directly drawn from the practice of Islamic canonical prayers to facilitate the narrative of my own spiritually dichotomic and divided existence in this world. It attempts to analyze an interaction and tension between inward and outward dimensions of existence in order to create a state of union and integration on a visual plane. My work is focused on the inner dimensions of my faith rather than its outward manifestations; it becomes a vehicle enabling me to arrive at the state of reflection. The images produced are the direct result of the act of contemplation and religious practices. The symbolic visual interpretation of my religious quest is discernible in a universal and contemporary artistic expression that strives to engage a universal audience. 3 Contents Introduction 4 The Language of Unity 7 o Spiritual Character of Islamic Art 8 o Contemporary Reflections 12 Re Union 17 o Qalb e Salim (Sound Heart) 19 o Image of an Inward Tree 20 o The Rug 21 o The Prayer 23 Conclusion 25 Plates 28 Bibliography 46 4 Introduction The primary question I have been researching over the past two years is how my art practice can be aligned to the teaching of my faith, remaining contemporary at the same time. It has become an analysis and investigation of the possibilities of incorporating symbols derived from Islam to construct a narrative of my own life experience. My art practice turns out to be a vehicle for me to arrive at a state of contemplation. It becomes an experience of the spiritual certitude to acquire inner attachment to the Divine. For many years it has been a personal quest to find validity in my art practice, and to establish connections between art making and spiritual growth. I am a strong believer that art will fail its very essence and purpose if it is considered as a medium invoking sensory pleasure alone; to me art should also add credence to life functioning in a spiritual context. My research for the MFA has organically turned into a rediscovery of my religious beliefs. It is a common experience for people like me who, at some point in life, find themselves detached from the spiritual dimensions of their existence. Standing at the crossroads of modernity and spirituality, aided me to investigate my spiritual status as a human being and as a Muslim living in a capitalist environment. Needing to be at peace with the material world, I needed to re-position myself in order to gain access to the very core of my reality, from where I can reflect outwardly in a true manner. Having a divergent and dichotomic existence, where secular and spiritual elements co-exist, often result in a state of conflict and spiritual agitation. An internal conflict has been raging within me. On the one hand I live in the material world with its seductive character of materialism while on the other hand I have a gravitational pull from my inner spirituality. The supreme reality, which has its core at the center of things, also manifests the outward. Nasr states, ‘Muslim who lives in the center of Islamic world, touched in one degree or another by modernism, lives within a polarized field of tension created by two contending world views and system of values. 5 This tension often reflected within his mind and soul, and he usually becomes a house divided against itself, in profound need of re-integration’. 1 This dislocation from the inward or from the center makes the pull even greater as the displacement increases. The distance we are discussing here is not one that is geographical, but the shift is on a spiritual plane; however, physical distances somehow compliment the urge to return back to the center - the spiritual being. The urge to go back to the origin has been a personal realization at a profound degree that resulted in a state of spiritual expedition fueled by an uneasy energy and desire to find the truth and consequently astuteness. Similarly, my research led me to the rediscovery of my art practice in order to connect it to my own religious understanding. Being a Muslim, I am required to go into some extended moments of solitude to contemplate and analyze my actions in order to check and correct my spiritual path in life. The Quran asserts in its very first chapter: ‘Show us the straight path’.2 Being in an un-familiar western environment for the past two and a half years provided me with the opportunity to experience a phase of introspection and contemplation. This process of introspection is followed by the process of purification called ‘the purification of heart’ in Islamic discourse. Islamic life is deeply connected with the doctrine of ‘Divine Unity’ and every action of a Muslim, points to the concept of ‘Tawhid’ -the doctrine of oneness of God. This experience magnified many folds since my departure from my homeland. All of a sudden, everything that defined my religious life disappeared. The call to prayers (Adhan) from the mosque (Masjid), the mosque itself, people going about their prayers across the day between work and other similar and familiar sights are no longer with me, leaving me suspended and floating away from the axis of my existence. Therefore, my art attempts to recreate a spiritual environment, which I am missing in my life. 1 Sayyed Hossein Nasr, Islam and the Plight of Modern Man, Suhail Academy, Lahore, Pakistan, 1999, p18 2 Al Quran 1:6, translation M. Pickthall, Surah Al-Fatiha which means ‘the Opening’; it is also the opening Surah (chapter) recited at the beginning of every prayer and has a very high importance in the life of a Muslim. 6 During such times it is required in Islamic religious practice to correct the course of one’s life in order to acquire oneness, to purify his or herself of all the spiritual ailments and moral corruptions. This process is called Tazkiyah al Nafs (purification of the heart and soul) and it has a fundamental place in the life of a Muslim to perform tazkiyah in order to acquire moral virtues and result in eternal happiness. The hadith (saying of the Prophet) Prophet Muhammad "My religion is based on cleanliness", does not refer only to outward cleanliness; it primarily speaks of inner purity. To arrive at perfection, it is necessary to struggle against lusts and immoral tendencies in order to prepare the soul to receive God's grace. When one travels the path of purification, God will help and guide. Therefore, the fundamental goal for every Muslim is the same, which is remembrance of God and to submit him or herself to His will. This goal should then reflect upon every sphere of life. My fundamental question for my research, therefore, is how I can translate the same concept of remembrance of God into my art practice. 7 The Language of Unity God is beautiful and loves beauty3 In this section, an appraisal of the sources, which facilitated and influenced my thoughts and aided in constructing my outlook and analysis for narrative and studio research are reviewed. The principles with which my research is linked, and subsequently the studio practice emerging, are established symbolically rather than a direct borrowing of visual elements from the resources which have inspired me and impacted my narrative. The stimulus and connections are the direct result of the experiential understanding of the wisdom and the spirit behind the very faith of Islam and its arts. In Arabic the word ‘tawhid’ is used as a term for the Doctrine of oneness of God, it is the concept of monotheistic character of Islam that holds God (Allah) as One and Unique, independent and indivisible. The sacred book of Islam, the Quran, declares the existence of the absoluteness of the divinity that transcends the world of forms; that is independent of the created. The indivisible quality of the divinity implies the indivisibility of God's dominion, which in turn, points to a justly and morally coherent universe, as opposed to a morally chaotic world of forms. In Islam, intellectual history unfolds through a gradual understanding of the meaning and suggestions of God’s Unity by successive generations of believers in every domain of life of a Muslim. This concept of Unity reflects in every domain of the Muslim life, which includes Islamic theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, mystic tradition and also reflects in the development of its arts; all seek to explain at some degree, the concept of Unity and oneness of the God. All kinds of religious activities are entirely explained by this doctrine of tawhid (oneness of God). Five pillars of Islam, Shahada (the witness), Salah (the prayer), fasting, alms giving and the pilgrimage, are the direct manifestations of the idea of tawhid.
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