The book I read to research this post was Islamic Art & Architecture by Robert Hillenbrand which is a very good book which I borrowed from the library. I can only scratch the surface of Islamic Art in a post like this. Islam is the most diverse religion in the world. Thinking of Islam as 1 religion is like thinking of Christianity as 1 religion. The 2 major branches of Islam are Sunni & Shi’ite but they are very different to one another. I certainly would like to do more posts on this subject. With Islam Art & Architecture it is as diverse as its Western counterpart. It’s worth noting if the Muslims hadn’t been defeated at the Battle of Poitiers in France we would all be Muslims. The most holy mosque in Islam is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul built to commemorate its capture. It has a dome 230 ft wide. Apparently the dome has a similiar significance to their helmets. In olden days they were quite warlike. Often in the Middle East you come across Fire Temples which are pillars which are decorated mostly with text from the Qu’ran & many of these are very old. They are often holy sites. One thing a lot of people don’t realise is there’s a lot of similiarities between Islam & Christianity like they worship the same God. Also Jesus although only regarded as a prophet by Muslims is a very important one.
