Islamic Practice and Observance
- Comments
-
Glasgow Museums has a collection of objects relating to Islamic Practice and Observance which date from 1200 to the present. This collection holds a variety of religiously oriented objects that have been produced or adapted for use in Islamic religious practices and observances. Most, if not all, of these objects are not sacred in themselves, but explore or facilitate religious practices such as prayer, study, remembrance and festivals. These include items such as prayer rugs, Qur’an stands, candlesticks and incense burners, wall tiles made for mosques and shrines, calligraphic renditions of sacred scripts on paper, religious banners and garments, rosary beads, charms, talismans and incantation bowls; religious festivals’ greetings cards and various religious tracts and publications. In addition, there are a variety of objects that bridge the religious and the secular spheres of Islamic culture, such as those that depict allegorical scenes derived from folklore and mythology, but are reinterpreted from a Sufi mystical perspective, and those objects relating to rites of passage, such as tumbstones. Such objects include ceramic and metal wares, arms and armour, and illustrated manuscripts. The main Islamic religious cultures represented in the Islamic collections include Mughal India, Seljuk and Safavid Iran, Mamluk Syria and Egypt, Ottoman Turkey, and Mahdist Sudan. There is also some material from the Caucuses, Afghanistan and other parts of Africa.
- Broader term