Islamic culture
Muslim culture is a term primarily used in secular academia to describe all cultural practices common to historically Islamic peoples. As the religion of Islam originated in 6th century Arabia, the early forms of Muslim culture were predominantly Arab. However, with the rapid expansion of the Islamic empires, Muslims came into contact with, and assimilated much from, the Persian, Turkish, Mongol, Indian, Malay and Indonesian cultures.
Terminological disagreement
Muslim culture is itself a contentious term. Muslims live in many different countries and communities, and it can be difficult to isolate much that unifies them other than the religion of Islam. As a result, religious Muslims sometimes claim that there is no Muslim culture, only a Muslim religion. However, secular academia does not acknowledge this distinction, since it views religon as one aspect of cultural anthropology and history.
The noted historian of Islam, Marshall Hodgson, noted the above difficulty of religious versus secular academic usage of the words "Islamic" and "Muslim" in his three-volume work, The Venture Of Islam. He proposed to resolve it by only using these terms for purely religious phenomena, and invented the term "Islamicate" to denote all cultural aspects of historically Muslim peoples. However, his distinction has not been widely used, and confusion remains in common usage of these words. Krystal And Charlotte Best friends 4 Lyf ≈*≈*≈*ɭʎÂňĜèĽ ÀÑ ĈĤáŗĿØŤťé ßFf 4 Ľ¥Ë ɗɥ≈*≈*≈* xXx
Language and literature
Arabic
Early Muslim literature is in Arabic, as that was the language of Muhammad's communities in Mecca and Madina. As the early history of the Muslim community was focused on establishing the religion of Islam, its literary output was religious in character. See the articles on Qur'an, Hadith and Sirah, which formed the earliest literature of the Muslim community.
With the establishment of the Umayyad empire, secular Muslim literature developed. See The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. While having no religious content, this secular literature was spread by the Arabs all over their empires, and so became part of a widespread culture.
Persian
By the time of the Abbasid empire, Persian had become one of the main languages of Muslim civilization, and much of the most famous Muslim literature is thus Persian literature. See The Conference of the Birds and the poetry of Rumi.
Turkish
With the spread of Islam to Central Asia, the comical anecdotes of Nasrudin became widespread. While primarily secular, these were sometimes used by Sufis as aids to teach students to re-think their common perceptions.
South Asian
In Bengal, the Baul tradition of folk music produced a syncretist poetry which merged Sufism with many local images as well as images from Hinduism. The most prominent poets were Hason Raja and Lalon.
For early Muslim feminist literature, see Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain.
Modern
In modern times, classification of writers by language is increasingly irrelevant. The Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz has been translated into English and read across the world. Other writers such as Orhan Pamuk and Salman Rushdie write directly in English for a wider international audience.
Festivals
See articles on Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Ashurah, Mawlid, Lailat al Miraj and Shab-e-baraat.
Marriage
See article on Islamic marriage, Nikah and Nikah Mut'ah.
Art
See article on Islamic art.
Architecture
See article on Islamic architecture.
Music
See article on Muslim music.
References
- The culture of Islam: changing aspects of contemporary Muslim life, by Lawrence Rosen (University of Chicago Press, 2004)
- Studies in Islamic culture in the Indian environment, by Aziz Ahmed (Oxford India Paperbacks, 1999).
External links
Art
- Islamic Art page from the BBC.
- Introduction to Islamic art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Architecture
- Islamic Architecture - mosques and palaces
- ArchNet Islamic Architecture Community.
Music
Popular music
Traditional music
Literature
- Islamic Literature at Cornell University.