Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur'an and its Creative Expressions (Book report)
The title is a book in the Quranic field, by Fahmida Suleman published by Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies as one of the Qur'anic Studies Series. The following is a report of the book.[1]
Overview
• First comprehensive collection of essays in English to cover artistic expressions of the Qur'an in a wide range of media, from manuscripts, architecture and textiles to coinage and contemporary painting
• Illustrated throughout in full colour, with some artefacts published for the first time
Description
Muslim reverence for the Qur'an as the Word of God has manifested itself in various artistic forms throughout history and up to the present day. This innovative collection of essays explores creative expressions of the Qur'an in a wide range of media. Contributors include museum curators and leading academics in art and architectural history, palaeography and material anthropology, and their studies span four continents and cover topics from medieval coins and early illuminated copies of the Qur'an to contemporary painting. They offer a multidisciplinary approach to the questions of how, why and in what contexts the Qur'an has inspired Muslim artists and craftspeople to adorn the spaces they inhabit and the objects they cherish with its verses. The volume includes 120 colour illustrations, some published for the first time, and an extensive bibliography.
Table of Contents
1:Introduction, Fahmida Suleman
Opening Reflections
2:1 The Qur'an as a source of artistic inspiration, Oleg Grabar
Qur'anic Calligraphy and Inscriptions in the Medieval Muslim World
3:Beyond the secular and the sacred: Qur'anic inscriptions in medieval Islamic art and material culture, Doris Behrens-Abouseif
4:Arts of the 'Celestial Pen': Qur'ans from the Library of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, Duncan Haldane
5:Qur'anic inscriptions on Sinan's imperial mosques: a comparison with their Safavid and Mughal counterparts, Gülru Necipoglu
6:'And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truthfulness and righteousness': Qur'anic inscriptions on Fatimid coinage, AH 296-488/AD 909-1095, Alnoor Jehangir Merchant
Amulets, Talismans and Magic
7:Amulets inscribed with the names of the 'Seven Sleepers' of Ephesus in the British Museum, Venetia Porter
8:A magic mirror in the Louvre and additional observations on the use of magic mirrors in Yemen today, Anne Regourd
9:Persian glosses on a Qur'anic manuscript from Central Asia, Marie Efthymiou
The Qur'anic Text in Recent Times
10:The art of Qur'anic penmanship and illumination among Muslim scholars in southwestern Nigeria, Ismaheel Akinade Jimoh
11:The art of the Qur'an in Southeast Asia, Annabel Teh Gallop
12:Qur'anic inscriptions on woodcarvings from the Malay Peninsula, Huism Tan
13:Sacred calligraphy in contemporary art, Ayse Turgut
Qur'anic Inscriptions on Textiles
14:Ka'ba covers and their inscriptions, Hülya Tezcan
15:Qur'anic inscriptions on the so-called 'Pennon of Las Navas de Tolosa' and three Marinid banners, Miriam Ali-de-Unzaga
Final Reflections
16:Written, spoken, envisioned: the many facets of the Qur'an in art, Sheila S. Blair
Author Information
Edited by Fahmida Suleman, Research Associate and Qur'anic Studies Project Coordinator, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London
Contributors:
Fahmida Suleman
Oleg Grabar
Doris Behrens-Abouseif
Duncan Haldane
Gülru Necipoglu
Alnoor Jehangir Merchant
Venetia Porter
Anne Regourd
Marie Efthymiou
Ismaheel Akinade Jimoh
Annabel Teh Gallop
Huism Tan
Ayse Turgut
Hülya Tezcan
Miriam Ali-de-Unzaga
Sheila S. Blair
Reviews and Awards
"A superb collection... Over and above the consistently high quality of the individual contributions, a major strength of Suleman's collection is its breadth of chronological and geographic coverage." - John Renard, Religion and the Arts
"This is a beautifully presented and carefully edited collection of studies, capable of engaging readers from outside the narrow confines of Islamic art history as well as those within it." - Margaret Graves, Der Islam