A critique on Afif Al-bahanssi’s “Islamic Art”

Theoretical studies in Islamic Arts have a long history and in decades recent different research in this field conducted.  More than everyone, orientalists conducted detailed researches in this field that has resulted in numerous books of Islamic Arts. Some of these books are scientific and documentary but some others have deficiencies that researchers of Islamic Arts must evaluate them in their reviews. Afif Al-bahanssi’s “Islamic Art” is from the few books in this field from an Arab author. In this book, Afif Al-bahnassi has focused on Arabic art and Arab lands, articulating his biased ideas without historical and scientific documents. On some pages, he insists on the independence of Islamic art, especially Arab lands, and ignores the effects of Sassanid art and Iranian art on Islamic art. this paper tries to review some of the key topics of this book and to respond to the theories of well - known authorities in the field of Islamic art.