Color in Islamic art was used to bring art to life and relate it with real-life events. The colors blue and green were considered very important in traditional Islamic art. Blue in Islamic art represents life-giving while the use of green was used to represent the vitality of growth. Water in Islamic art was related to messages in the Quran that viewed water as the essence of every living thing. It was also associated with purification, sustainability, and life. In architecture, Muslims believed that it splashed life into structures. In Islamic culture, their courtyards and hypostyle halls have always been considered as their trademarks (Ghostriver Studios Blog n.p).

            Almost all mosques or house in Arab areas contain Sahn (courtyard) that in most cases contain a fountain, a mihrab that indicates the direction towards which Muslims conduct their prayers, and a minaret where prayers are announced. Other common features include Qubba (dome), furnishing, and the mosque’s patronage. Structures such as windows and doors differ in most mosques. For instance, huge windows and doors characterize the Azerbaijani mosque. The Ottoman mosque is characterized by the dome structures. In Islamic culture, the use of any figurative art is not allowed when decorating religious setting or mosques as it can be distracting. It may also lead to idolatry (KhanAcademy n.p).

            In Islam, calligraphy is strongly connected to chapters and excerpts from the Quran. These common excerpts are considered universal and have a deep religious meaning. Some of the examples from the film include the use of calligraphy to write famous Quran excerpts and quotes on the walls of the mosque. Some of the elements found in Islamic architecture style include the mosque, the tomb, the fort, and the palace. The forest of columns was used to intersect the existing bridge with a web of paths for pedestrians that would fascinate interconnections between neighborhoods. In Islamic architecture, gardens were considered as natural paradises and the place of Allah’s promise. Gardens were also used to provide water for cooling effects, purification and cleansing. Some of the mosques discussed include the great mosque 785 Cordoba located in Spain, the great mosque of Al-Mutawakkil located in Samarra, Iraq, and the great mosque of Mecca, which is the largest in the world and located in Saudi Arabia. I liked the great mosque of Mecca the most because it holds the holiest sites and was declared as a pilgrimage site by Prophet Muhammad.

Works Cited

Ghostriver Studios Blog. Visual Cues in Islamic Art. 2015. web. 17 March 2018.

KhanAcademy. Introduction to Mosque Architecture. 2018. Web. 17 March 2018.