Islam: culture, architecture, literature, traditions

The youngest religion on earth is Islam. The culture of the peoples professing it, rests on faith in the one God of Allah and respect for the memory of past generations. The essence of the Islamic religion is to preserve the best of the cultural heritage of the ancestors and in the constant focus on the covenants of Mohammed contained in the Koran.

Islam helps preserve national traditions and culture

The culture of the countries of Islam harmoniously reflects the national characteristics of the ethnic groups professing faith in Allah. This can be clearly seen in works of literature and art of representatives of peoples who converted to Islam. All the achievements of the culture of Islam are somehow connected with religion. There is not a single outstanding work of architecture or literature in which Allah and his prophet Mohammed were not glorified.

Modern Islamic civilization does not abandon its history and does not try to rewrite it, presenting the past in a more favorable light. This is the phenomenon of this religion. The traditions of Islam have not changed much over time. How can this be explained? In our world, crises affecting and destroying a variety of socially and economically significant areas occur almost every year, and generations of people change every three years, if not more often. Communication with the roots is lost, customs are forgotten and die. To understand how the people of Islam retain their individuality, we need to get closer to their cultural heritage, including literature, architecture and national traditions.

The origins of Islamic culture

Islam is six hundred years younger than Christianity. In 610, a man named Mohammed witnessed a miracle. He was shown by the archangel Gabriel (Gabriel) and opened the scroll with the first sura. This event is included in the main Islamic holidays and is called the Night of Predestination. The Supreme Angel visited the prophet for the next twenty-two years. Unable to read and write, Mohammed miraculously read the divine texts himself, memorized, and then retold what he heard to his friends, and they wrote down. The angel repeated to Mohammed all those divine messages that contain the Bible, that is, the Adam's Covenant, the scrolls of Abraham, the Torah, the Psalter and the Gospel, and also narrated the New Message. He said that this is the last Divine Revelation - the Lord will no longer send his prophets to the people. Now everyone will die, how to fall asleep, then rise again, as soon as he wakes up, after which he immediately gets to the Judgment of God, where his outcome will be decided - eternal paradise or eternal hell.

In order to accept Islam, it is enough to declare oneself to be believers in one God, and also that Mohammed is the last prophet. Before him were Musa (Moses), Isa (Christ) and others, whose names are preserved in the Scriptures. To deny the divine essence of Mohammed is the same as denying it from Christ and from the Old Testament prophets.

It is interesting that the ministers of the Christian church continue to wait for the second coming of Jesus and deny the divine essence of Mohammed. In this connection the thoughts of FM Dostoyevsky are recalled, where he writes about the sad fate of Christ, when He again returns to people. Islam sees Isa as a true prophet and believes that his teaching was largely distorted and used by representatives of the Church of Christ not for the benefit of people, but for the commission of many ungodly acts. In this there is a share of truth - the Christian Gospel was rewritten many times, translated into different languages, and those, in turn, were constantly transformed. As a result, it is difficult to expect original reliability from the modern text. If there is a desire to learn more complete truth about the way of Christ, the most correct thing is to learn Arabic and read the Koran.

In fairness, it should be noted that in Islam, not everything is absolutely smooth. The Islamic world, unfortunately, is also not ideal. Dissociation between Muslims is like dissociation between representatives of any world religion. The most basic currents of Islam are the Sunnis, Shiites and Kharijites. The disagreement between them manifested itself at the dawn of Islam and was expressed in the following: the first, Sunnis, unconditionally accepted the text of the Revelations, recorded by the friend of Mohammed Zeid ibn-Sabit (this text is considered canonical); The second, the Shiites, claimed that the Caliph Osman had removed a part of the text from the canonical version; The third, the Kharijites, believed that the 12 suras should be removed, as it represented a too frivolous description of how the wife of the Egyptian grand master Potiphar seduces Joseph.

Muslim Home Book

Numerous detailed studies of the Qur'an confirmed the truth of this book as Revelation from God, or, as Muslims call it, Allah.

It is interesting that some information about the modern man and society, given in the Qur'an, has not been understood by the reader for a long time. Their meaning became clear only with the passage of time. In the Qur'an, certain scientific discoveries that were made in the last hundred years were anticipated. Researchers claim that the information contained in this book was many times greater than the level of knowledge that was in the years of its writing.

All Islamic literature is tied to the Qur'an and is full of references to the sacred texts. We, European Christians, perceive the hypocrite or the hypocrite of a person who mentions the Gospel in a conversation, and the writer's story, which resembles a gospel parable, is considered plagiarism. It is no accident that Jesus said that His teaching will be distorted and will bring people disunity and enmity, His name will be evil, and the Christian church will be founded by that apostle who, even during the life of the Savior, will betray Him three times. Islam is a religion that unites people, and the Koran is the main law in such a rich and prosperous country as Saudi Arabia, in all the emirates of the Persian Gulf, as well as in Libya, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, etc. The moral norms recorded therein And sanctified by Allah, justice, wisdom and force of influence on people is much stronger than the norms of secular constitutions. This conclusion was reached by lawyers who have the opportunity to compare the effectiveness of the law of Islamic states with the situation taking place in other countries.

A night of predestination. Eid al Adha

All Islamic holidays are related to religion. The night of predestination is the most important event in the history of Muslims, when the archangel Dzhabrail opened the first scroll to Mohammed. This event is celebrated on the 27th night of Ramadan. Then, within ten days, the Muslims most earnestly pray, asking Allah for forgiveness of sins. The fast, called Ramadan, ends with a great holiday - Uraza-Bayram, when believers congratulate each other and generously hand out gifts and money to those in need. Passes Ramadan in the summer months.

Sacrifice. Kurban Bayram

The second important holiday for Muslims is connected with the sacrifice of Ibrahim. It is celebrated 70 days after Uraza-Bairam. On this day, Muslims rejoice that Ibrahim demonstrated to Allah the power of his faith and complete obedience to His will. Allah accepted his humility and abolished human sacrifice, and also blessed him for the birth of his son. This story is also in the Old Testament, which confirms the connection between the two main world religions operating in Russia, which are Christianity and Islam. The culture of the two faiths is somewhat similar, in particular, this is noticeable in regard to the bearers of faith in cultural and ethical values, as well as the socio-political processes taking place inside and outside the country.

Arabic - music recorded

Unlike the Christian Bible, the Koran is a folio, the text of which does not change from the very first writing. Arabic can and should be studied according to the Holy Scriptures. It is done all over the world. This is Islam - religion and culture are inseparable from each other. A beautiful, stringy, throaty and very musical language as if by nature itself was created for reading prayers. It is not distorted by Americanisms or other newspeople. A thin and graceful ligature of Arabic letters, more reminiscent of intricate ornament - a beautiful decoration for interior items. The image of letters on the letter is a real living art of calligraphy, which Islam can be proud of. The culture of European countries every year becomes more and more universal, not to say primitive - in secondary general schools long hours for writing handwriting have long been canceled, drawing and drawing have also been rejected as irrelevant. And this is at a time when in the Arab countries all layers of the population are learning their native language according to the Koran. Comprehending the native alphabet, they remember the laws of their country, which are common to all. The differentiated approach extends only to the amount of obligatory monetary donations - the poor are completely freed from them, and the rich pay as income increases. We call it progressive taxation and we dream that someday such a system will work in our country.

In the Arabic alphabet there are 28 letters and four variants of writing each, in addition, separate signs denote vowels. Extraordinarily beautiful look ligatures, denoting individual words or combinations of letters. They are used as decorative design of various objects.

They say that the Islamic civilization will sooner or later press the Christian civilization. It is difficult to object to this.

Unique differences of Islamic culture

Some features of the culture of Islam seem strange and not completely rational, but it should be remembered: difficult for understanding - does not mean bad. This relates to the relationship between people, the traditions of marriage, ways of expressing feelings, etc. The Quran says that all people are equal, like the teeth of the crest, and there is no difference between the Arab and the non-Arab, white or black. Everyone - men and women, peoples and tribes - should strive to understand each other and try to do good to each other.

Islamic culture by right can be proud of the magnificent monuments of architecture. They are mosques, mausoleums, palaces, fortresses, baths, etc. Their distinctive feature is florid and subtle patterns of calligraphic inscriptions, leaves and flowers. All buildings are kept in perfect cleanliness. Their language, culture, nationality, intangible goods, as well as real estate, Muslims perceive as the values passed on to people by Allah. This is called amanate. And this explains why so praises the material comfort and purity of Islam. The culture of this religion pays tribute to the beauty created by the hands of man for the glory of Allah and for his blessing.

The mosque is the main building of the Muslims. Here, worshipers worship Allah. In mosques common prayers are held, sermons are read, here the faithful gather to solve important questions. With mosques, there are always schools where people are taught Arabic.

The legendary love story

Speaking about Islamic culture, one can not ignore the famous Taj Mahal and its associated history. This mausoleum, or the palace-tomb, built the emblems of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz-Mahal, who loved eternal divine love. About the descendant of Tamerlane, who built other structures that amaze the imagination with the luxury of the materials used and the complexity of the constructions, the writer and historian of the 17th century, Inayatullah Kanbu, left information. He compiled the most complete epic of the Great Mogul dynasty, Behar-e Danesh. About Shah Jahan is written in the book "Tarih-e delgusha" as a ruler who put the great empire on the verge of financial collapse. The reason lies not only in the huge spending on luxury, but also in the numerous unsuccessful military campaigns, in which the shah set out, providing himself with complete comfort. Together with him were always his numerous wives and concubines. Not all women and children returned from the hikes alive. Mumtaz-Mahal also died during childbirth when she accompanied her husband's army. It was her 14th child who did not die right after birth. She was pregnant constantly and gave birth to children almost every year. Constant pregnancies that occurred earlier than the time for menstruation came - a sign that the woman is clean, like white marble, from which the mausoleum is made. And death during childbirth is considered a blessing for women and a sign of holiness. In Islam, it is common to divide women into pure and unclean women. Mumtaz-Mahal during all her marriage with the Shah was pure and died during childbirth, for which he admired her.

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal was under construction for twenty years. The palace is magnificent. White in the afternoon, at sunrise and sunset, it turns pink, and on a moonlit night it seems cast from silver. The cold shine of metal is reflected in the pool waters and fountains. In the absence of electric lighting, it causes a feeling of an independent source of radiance, which is born from the smooth walls of the building. These are the properties of a rare grade of marble, brought from Rajasthan, located three hundred kilometers from the construction site.

The mausoleum includes several elements - the tomb with the tombs of the khan and his wife, two mosques and a park complex with a marble pool.

Taj Mahal is a mixture of Indian, Persian and Arab architectural styles. It is executed with absolute symmetry. Talented architects have planned it in such a way that when viewing the palace from different angles, there are interesting optical effects.

Islam prohibits depicting animals and people. Thin and openwork patterns that cover marble slabs are drawings of flowers and leaves, as well as excerpts from the Koran.

Semi-precious and precious stones - carnelian, malachite, turquoise, jadeite, agate and others - were used for interior and exterior decoration of walls and decorative elements. According to some estimates, there are 28 types.

Over twenty thousand craftsmen from all over the empire of the Great Moguls worked on the palace. Legend has it that the architect, at the end of the work, was chopped off hands so that he would not create anything more perfect. True or not, it is difficult to say. If you think about it, the construction of the Taj Mahal was accompanied by so much material cost, and against the backdrop of the famine, which almost every year carried away the lives of millions of Indians, it makes no sense to speculate about whether or not the Khan's brutal act could be committed. That there is only one story that he killed all the relatives who stood on his way to supreme power. True, in his old age he himself was displaced from the throne. One of his sons repeated his father's way, killing all the brothers and imprisoned the Khan Jahan himself.

Taj Mahal is very similar to the tomb of great-grandfather Khan Jahan - padishah Humayun, which by 1570 was built by the widow of the padishah.

Currently, the Taj Mahal is considered one of the wonders of the world and is under the protection of UNESCO, but the time and adverse changes in climatic conditions have put the palace complex in jeopardy of destruction. Marble loses its whiteness, the foundation sags - cracks appear.

Integration of Islamic culture in non-Muslim countries

By now, the Islamic world has embraced all the continents of the Earth. This confirms the validity of Scripture, where it is said that Mohammed came to Earth in order to save all people without division into nationalities and religion, while Moses is only for Jews, and Christ is for Gentiles. To date, Muslims consider themselves a quarter of the world's population, and their number is increasing. In Europe, the process is due to the migration of residents from South Asia. With the same speed, if not faster, Islamic culture conquers the United States, but not at the expense of resettlement - more and more locals come to the mosques and ask for the blessings of muftis, willing to voluntarily join in a reasonable and just faith. Modern Islam is a religion of peace and good. It is sad that some of its representatives, willingly or unwillingly, cast a shadow on religion and people professing it. This is unfair. For individual situations in which a small group of people participated, all Muslims should not be responsible. This is the same as blaming modern Christians for the crusades and the bloody inquisition that took place in the Middle Ages, when Islam, by the way, was just beginning.