Makings

So as muslims lived through history,

they shaped the world around them

in ways that suited their tastes and purposes,

and looking back, despite all the local differences,

it can seem like there is something distinctive about muslim style,

the domes and arches, and decoration.

But architectural shapes are not specifically Islamic

the Romans had their arched aquaducts

and Constantinople's Hagia Sophia was there

for Sinan to compete with when designing Istanbul's Blue Mosque

Similar architectural problems

tend to have similar solutions

involving the best that

current technology can achieve,

and domes were the best solution to the problem

of the need for large uninterrupted floor space

for communal prayers.

But as modern engineering

takes us away from the need for domes,

so muslim spaces are increasingly designed in different ways.

Muslim design is not different from everyone else

but integrated with it,

Nonetheless

muslim building designs

often reflect certain common characteristics

such as the preference for pattern over images,

and the way that calligraphy is so often given pride of place.

When the Hagia Sophia had the images in its cupolas whitewashed by conquering muslims,

the spaces were soon filled with large calligraphies of Caliphs' names.

But design is more than large buildings,

it can be seen in the finest of details

in hand made arts and crafts,

and as with all such things,

technology often changes

what is possible,

then what is normal,

for everybody.

Muslim culture may look to tradition,

but life is faced looking forwards,

making a difference to any artistic choices made.

Mosque walls may have been image free,

but at a smaller scale,

muslims were perfectly capable of using imagery,

not only for its practical uses

but also for artistic storytelling.

When deciding whether something is Islamic,

we have to decide if a style can be Islamic of itself,

or whether it gets its nature from the identity of the person that imagines it.

Which do we prefer to think of as Islamic style,

Glasgow's Central Mosque, designed by non-muslims

who felt the need to visit Turkey and Jeddah

to help them reference Islamic tradition

the mosque proudly lauding its Islamic style

with its mini-dome crude muqarnas and a minaret that is never used

or the Glasgow Transport Museum,

a project from the very non-traditional imagination

of the born and raised muslim Zaha Hadid.

We invent our own traditions,

and minarets were once the most practical solution

to the problem of informing the population of the time for prayer,

just as domes were the most practical technical solution

to covering a large open space with a roof.

What makes someone's work Islamic

is not an external style, but the intention of the stylist,

knowing that the work, although being done for fellow humans,

is really being done in the service of God,

the One True Maker and Shaper.

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