Surveying and Criticizing the Viewpoints of Traditionalists on Islamic Art

Traditionalists consider Islamic art as having unity and integrity despite borrowing various and sometime paradoxical elements from the other civilizations. Islamic art like what occurs in other tribal groups not only originates in the personal skills and capabilities of the artist but also derives from the mystical and metaphysical aspects of his soul. As a result what a traditionalist artist creates is an embodiment of philosophical, mystical and epistemological facts in his mind, especially in its highest level i.e. holy art. In this article it is attempted to survey the similarities and dissimilarities (seven cases, mostly constitutional) throughout the viewpoints of the traditionalists towards the Islamic art, regardless of their thought integrity in the realm of art and religion or the positive aspects of their ideas as well as reviewing and criticizing some of their reactions to these problems.