RDB the Qur'an: representations of God

I agree with Zachary Karabell’s assertion that insecurity breeds hostility (Karabell, pg 330). He speaks of insecurity in terms of hostility in the Muslim world, but insecurity also contributes to racism and discrimination across the world. Perhaps insecurity stems from ignorance and a feeling of estrangement; foreign ideas and different beliefs put people on guard as they turn fear into defensiveness. Last semester when we discussed unity and diversity I remember talking about how maybe focusing on similarities rather than differences would decrease conflicts on both a personal and global level. It is very true that once someone can sympathize with a person or feel connected to them through a common thread, it is harder to hate and dehumanize that person.

Understanding all this, I was surprised that during all the “diversity dialogues” offered in high school (and several in College) I had never learned how the Qur’an includes more the just Jewish and Christian beliefs (I had gathered that much) but that it also prominently includes characters from the Bible. In particular the Muslim devotion to Mary and reverence for feminity surprised me.

((An image of God as Father))
Common exposure to Christianity—on billboards, on plagues, on TV, etc— almost always paints God in a patriarchal way. “God the Father” and “He” immediately come to mind when I think of references to God. I find it very refreshing, therefore, that Muslims often call God Al Rahmin and speak of the Qur’an as “a revelation from the Merciful, the Compassionate” (Qur’an 41:2-8, pg 31). Since Ramin is derived from derived from Arabic word for “womb” these stereotypically feminine traits and name remind us that God has both female and male attributes.

((Interior of the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem considered the second holiest site in Islam since Muhammad ascended to Heaven at the rock))

((Muqarnas style is a stactite like ornaments that dematerialize space, a decoration unique to Islamic architecture))
Both Christianity and Islam portray God in similar symbolic terms, but Islam, I believe, interprets God through more abstract visual details rather than physical images and icons. The Qur’an tells us that “there is nothing comparable unto God” (Qur’an 112, pg 17) and that “God is beautiful and loves beauty” (Prophet Muhammad, pg 21). It seems, then, that the Qur’an implies that humans can only experience and speak about God in symbolic terms. Indeed Islamic architecture reveals this emphasis on symbolism through “aniconism,” or a lack of configuration, which leads to an overwhelmingly decorative appearance in mosques. The Dome of the Rock (pictured above), for example, contains highly complex mosaics in rich red and yellow tones. Throughout the shrine panels with ornate Arabic script from the Qur’an even speak of a referential dialogue with Christianity and Judaism. It appears that the purpose of such a complex designs is to draw the viewer into the intricacy of the patterns, focusing them on both the glory of God and removing them from the external environment. The mugarnas carvings are another example of this decorative emphasis in Mosques. Rather than painting or tiling a picture of God or other religious figure onto the dome, the architects chose to create a weightless and heavenly space through repetitive design. Meanwhile, Ebenezer Baptist Church showed scenes of religion, St. Mary’s Cathedral downtown showed figures of Jesus and the disciples in stained glass, and Eastern Orthodox relgions hang icons such as the one shown below.

((Greek Orthodox Icon of St. Joseph- Christianity portrays God and Jesus in a more concrete manner))

Thus, it appears that Islam chooses to highlight the abstract, and ambiguous, aspects of religion. After the difficulty we encountered in putting religion into words during our past few classes, I think that perhaps keeping God in abstract terms is for the best. Images can help us learn and understand but can never grant full understanding.