Pre-Islamic Arab Arts
The Artistic Condition of the Arabs at the Appearance of Islam
We do not know a great deal about the artistic situation in the lands of the Arabs at the appearance of Islam. What has come down to us of the literary heritage, however, indicates that the Arabs at that time had reached a very refined level of taste and artistic sensibility in general, such that it enabled them to appreciate the eloquence of the Holy Qur’an and to bear witness to its inimitability.
Nevertheless, in the light of the few pieces of evidence that have reached us, we can recognise some of the artistic manifestations in the lands of the Arabs.
Pre-Islamic Arab Architecture and Fortresses
It becomes clear from the antiquities and the literary heritage that have come down to us that the Arabs before Islam possessed a type of architectural art that flourished to the point of spreading beyond the Arabian Peninsula. By this we mean the architecture of fortresses and strongholds that flourished in the lands of the Arabs from the beginning of the Christian era.¹ Among the most famous of these fortresses in the land of Yemen are the palace of Ghumdān, Baynūn and Salḥīn, which are mentioned in pre-Islamic poetry. Dhū Jadan al-Ḥimyarī said of Ghumdān:
with a lofty peak and a base of iron,
and the sparkling white, the dark,
with red, black and white,
a dove that does not disappear in the crevices.
………………
And after it became ashes, and its beauty was changed by the flame of fire.²
He also said, addressing the two palaces of Baynūn and Salḥīn and the destruction of their surroundings:
no remnants remain of those who have died.
Far away are Baynūn, without a trace,
and after Salḥīn the people of our fathers are gone.¹
Some of the evidence indicates that these fortresses or strongholds used to be established at springs and large bodies of water along the caravan routes that stretched across the Arabian Peninsula.² They were often of square plan and consisted of several storeys; they had walls, spacious courtyards and fortified entrances. Solid construction entered into their building, with the use of massive rocks and dressed stones in addition to moulds of hard mud-brick. Their walls were coated with plaster and were sometimes decorated with pictures and inscriptions; wells were also dug inside some of them.
These strongholds served as dwellings for the tribes and clans that overlooked the caravan routes, as markets for commercial exchange, as storehouses for provisions and treasures, as observation towers, as meeting and consultation places, and as refuges in which people took shelter at times of danger.
It is well known that in Medina the Radiant, in the time of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace), there were fortresses and strongholds whose number reached 19; some of them are mentioned in the accounts of the Prophet’s military expeditions (may God bless him and grant him peace). It is believed that the beginning of the building of strongholds in Medina goes back to the time of the Amalekites. The last stronghold built in Medina is the well-known one: the stronghold of Banū Sāʿida of al-Khazraj. The Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) gave them permission for it when it was completed at the time of his emigration.
Among the strongholds of Medina the Radiant whose remains have reached us is the stronghold of Uḥayḥa ibn al-Julāḥ al-Awsī, known as al-Mujībīyān. It stands on an elevated mound in the south-west of the Mosque of Qubāʾ. It is built of free-stone, and the height of its remaining parts reaches about 14 metres. Near it there is an abandoned well which is said to have been the well of the stronghold; it is more probable that it was inside or in its vicinity.
Some of the people of Medina used to excel in the construction of strongholds and worked at building them outside the city.¹
On the model of the Arab fortresses, fortresses were built outside the Arabian Peninsula; their diffusion reached the point that some of them were constructed in Byzantium.² It is probable that the palaces which the Umayyads later built in the Syrian Desert, such as al-Mushattā (Figs. 94 and 95), al-Ḥīr al-Gharbī, al-Ḥīr al-Sharqī and Khirbat al-Mafjar (Fig. 112), and al-Ṭūba and others, were influenced in their architecture by these fortresses, which were the product of the Yemeni civilisation that flourished in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, such as the states of Sabaʾ and Ḥimyar.
In the north the kingdom of the Nabataeans flourished, and their city of Petra became famous in Jordan, as did Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; it was destroyed in Syria and al-Ḥaḍr in Iraq. Architectural remains and carved objets d’art of a special character have been found there, even though they are connected, as regards style, with Hellenistic and Roman art in the Mediterranean basin and with Iranian art in the East.
Shortly before Islam, for about a century, there still existed the kingdom of the Lakhmids in Iraq and the kingdom of the Ghassanids in Syria. There is no doubt that these two kingdoms possessed architectural art; some information about them has reached us by way of Arabic poetry, such as the palace of al-Khawarnaq, even though its remains have not yet been uncovered.¹
In addition to these material indications, the repeated allusions in the Holy Qur’an and the noble Prophetic ḥadīth to building, edifices and representation, as well as pre-Islamic literature, bear witness to the Arabs’ close connection with these arts. For the Holy Qur’an mentions fortresses,² citadels,³ towers,⁴ palaces,⁵ chambers,⁶ walls,⁷ lofty structures,⁸ and fortified villages.⁹
Just as the example of the building that supports one part of itself by another part was struck in a ḥadīth of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace).¹
Plastic Arts: Sculpture and Image-Making
This is as regards architecture. As for the plastic arts—that is, sculpture and painting—it is well known that the Arabs before Islam used to worship idols. That is to say, there is no doubt that among them there were those who made the images and statues which the Arabs of the Jāhiliyya used to worship. We have already mentioned the names of some of them, such as Abū Tajrāh.² The noble Prophetic ḥadīths also refer to the class of image-makers who used to manufacture idols, forbid them from this work, and warn them against practising the making of idols, statues and pictures.
Among what al-Bukhārī relates in the chapter on images in the Book of Dress in his Ṣaḥīḥ, on the authority of Muslim, is that he said: “We were with Masrūq in the house of Yasār ibn Numayr, and he saw images in his ṣuffa. He said: ‘I heard ʿAbd Allāh say: I heard the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) say: “Those who will receive the severest punishment from God on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers.”’”³
It is also related in the chapter on the sale of images that contain no spirit and what is disliked of that, from the Book of Sales, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī al-Ḥasan that he said: “I was with Ibn ʿAbbās—may God be pleased with him—when a man came to him and said: ‘O Abū ʿAbbās, I am a man who lives by the work of my hands, and I make these images.’ Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘I will only tell you what I heard the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) say: “Whoever makes an image, God will punish him until he breathes spirit into it, and he will never be able to breathe spirit into it.”’”
It is related in al-Zamakhsharī’s Rabīʿ al-Abrār, on the authority of a ḥadīth of ʿĀʾisha—may God be pleased with her—that she said: “The Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) returned from the expedition of Tabūk, and in my chamber there was a curtain. A wind blew and uncovered the side of the curtain belonging to my daughters. He said: ‘What is this, ʿĀʾisha?’ I said: ‘My daughters.’ He saw a horse with two wings among them. He said: ‘A horse with two wings?’ I said: ‘Have you not heard that Solomon had horses that had wings?’ He laughed until his molar teeth showed.”²
From all of this it becomes clear that the Arabs possessed experience in the plastic arts, without regard to the aims to which they directed them.
Applied Arts and Craftsmanship
On the other hand there is no doubt that the Arabs possessed experience in various kinds of applied arts, especially the arts closely connected with their livelihood, such as the manufacture of pottery, jewellery, textiles, leather and weapons, and the like. This is confirmed by what has come down to us in their literature.
Some poets have attributed a spear to its maker, saying:
like the sharpness of its maker’s food.³
Noble Prophetic ḥadīths have also reached us that indicate the Arabs’ adoption of certain artistic objets d’art, such as textiles decorated with pictures, swords, jewellery and the like.
Module Key Takeaways
- Pre-Islamic Architecture: Pre-Islamic Arabs mastered advanced fortified and palace architecture that spread across Arabia, influenced later Umayyad desert castles, and is attested in poetry, material ruins, and religious texts.
- Plastic & Applied Arts: Arabs had substantial experience in sculptural idol/image-making—later strictly prohibited by Islamic traditions—as well as highly developed crafts including metallurgy, textiles, pottery, and jewelry.