The Influence of Shia Ideology in Using Dragon Figure in Iranian Arts

The teachings of Al-Quran and hadiths and sayings of Allah, including the creation of the universe and the creatures, Ygangykhda, resurrection, heaven and hell, the number of characters is reprehensible constitute the foundations of Shia thinking Artist.Dragon is an infernal creature in Islamic beliefs. In Islamic narratives, the meaning of the concept of dragon is animosity along with filth and evils. Iranian artist who is committed to religious principles, aesthetic criteria aside, considers his art as an arena for stating his beliefs and imagines these religious ideologies. In this research, we will study Islamic resources (Quran Verses and Prophet Narratives) for imaging dragon and religious monuments in which the figure of dragon exists. In fact, we study these cases to answer this question: why Iranian artist have used dragon. Is it a cultural borrowing and the artist have not considered his beliefs? Why this evil figure exists in religious monuments? This article, which is based on descriptive – analytic study, shows that Iranian artist had a bright and evident source for imaging dragon and used it in service of his religion. The artist is also aware of the meaning of Good and Evil and that is why he has used dragon to show eternal battle between Good and Evil. Of course it should be mentioned that artist maintain other concepts which are specific to culture, mythology and mysticism of Iran.