Art is a powerful mode of understanding knowledge of the past and transmitting it to the future generations. Literature on the other hand is a way of recreating the experiences of the past. Thus Art and Literature both reflects life and cultures and are integrated with each other. Bryan in his book Don Juan elucidates the relation of Art and Literature:
‘Shone not on poet’s page, and so have been forgotten’.
Poetry being a part of Literature highlights the past and makes it meaningful and relevant to the present, thus making it more memorable. Despite of the importance of Art and Literature in one’s life there have been numerous debates relating to its place in the religion. The purpose of this essay is to understand the significance of Art & Literature in Islam. The essay will introduce a brief review of the Art & Literature amongst the other aspects covered in this article which has been eliminated from the curriculum at the Mosul schools. It will then highlight the influence that the article will have on the youth concluding with the acceptability and relevance of Art and Literature in an educational context and how this can be discussed in the secondary classroom.
The article ‘ISIS Medieval School Curriculum: No Music, Art and Literature for Mosul Kids’ published in the International business Times by Umberto Bacchi issued on the September 15, 2014 illustrates how the extremist group (ISIS) have issued a new set of regressive academic guidelines for the schools in Syria and Iraq. The article highlights the new curriculum imposed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that excludes the Music, Art, Literature and History by head of the ISIS group Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. (Will be referred as Al-Baghdadi in the essay).
It might be important to consider the authors outlook about this entire incident. The author is a Law graduate with Masters in journalism and has a passion for politics. It may be assumed that the author is looking at the incident from a political perspective. The very fact that he has referred
Al Baghdadi as a self-proclaimed Caliph in the article indicates his political lenses. Also the author does not have any background of religious studies especially Islamic studies despite of which he chooses to highlight that Al Baghdadi’s motive behind drafting the school program appears to be for the spreading religious sciences to combat the prevailing prospectus which is referred to as a ‘decayed curriculum’. Thus this article if read by vast population would possibly represent a negative dimension of Islam in disregarding Art and Literature in order to promote religious science. However by understanding the author’s point of view of writing this article will facilitate the students in the BAI context to look at Islam from multiple dimensions and not just how it’s been portrayed by the Media.
In order to understand the reason for such a radical change in the Mosul school curriculum, it is important to reflect on a couple of questions ‘What is the extremist belief pertaining to Art and Literature? And ‘Does this belief restrict only to religious facet or goes beyond to political gains?’
There have been numerous attempts made to understand the objective behind the acts of the extremist and one such article by Mark Woods ‘Is Islamic State really Islamic? Yes, in a twisted sort of way’ published on the 20th February 2015 discusses that the ISIS wants to backslide Islam to its original form and disbelieves in any modernizations and profane laws thereafter. Thus it may possible mean that the extremists do not want people to have a wider understanding of different cultures and religions which Art and Literature helps in attaining. Further the article represents the extremists act as ‘Political Islam’, which may highlight their political goals of establishing a new theocratic state. The impact of this change on the residents have resulted in discontinuing their children from going to schools and prefer educating them at home.
The Muslim societies and civilizations secondary curriculum volume 2 unit 4.1 and 4.2 describes that the Abbasid’s were patronage of knowledge. They promoted culture and encouraged study of prose and poetry. They respected and valued the knowledge of other civilizations and translated the Greek, Persian and Sanskrit texts into Arabic. Art and Literature were the key features of the Abbasids rule. This article when discussed in the BAI context will help the students to compare the leaderships and the role of the Caliphs during the Abbasids reign to the contemporary times.
Islam is rich in Art and Literature. According to Kathleen Kuiper in her book Islamic Art, Literature and Culture (2010) mentions that the spread of Islam in different parts of the world promoted the spread of Islamic Art and Literature in those places. The Islamic literature which is found in Chinese in China and Philippines and the way Islamic literature influenced the poetry of French as well as the romances and heroic tales of the Western Europe along with the religious architecture which formed a vital Islamic visual art can be some of its examples.
Arts and Literature should be integrated in the school curriculum. According to Rosenblatt (1995, p. 175), “The power of literature to offer entertainment and recreation is . . . still its prime reason for survival.” Literature gives an exposure to various cultures and thus help gain new experiences. Art on the other hand is recognized as an important part of the Education system. As mentioned in the ‘How Integrating Arts into Other Subjects Makes Learning Come Alive’ by Katrina Schwartz on JANUARY 13, 2015 ‘Arts integration seems to be the best form of differentiation out there because it taps into so many different interests and abilities and forms of learning’. Thus art and literature being a part of a school curriculum to a great extent help in the development of the student’s cognitive and critical thinking.
Thus it can be concluded that Art and Literature form an integral part of the Islamic culture. Its amalgamation in a school curriculum would help students enhance their learning skills. The arguments and evidences presented in this essay will be helpful to understand the Islamic point of view of Art and Literature in the Religious education classroom and would give the students a comparative analysis of its importance and relevance in the Islamic History as compared to its contemporary issues.