LEADER 03955nam 2200589Ia 450 001 9910827710703321 005 20230801225240.0 010 $a0-674-07066-6 010 $a0-674-06739-8 024 7 $a10.4159/harvard.9780674067394 035 $a(CKB)2670000000276405 035 $a(EBL)3301164 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000754991 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11494764 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000754991 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10727194 035 $a(PQKB)10656672 035 $a(DE-B1597)178052 035 $a(OCoLC)818143118 035 $a(OCoLC)840436506 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674067394 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3301164 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10621349 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3301164 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000276405 100 $a20120515d2012 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurnn#---|u||u 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aAisha's cushion$b[electronic resource] $ereligious art, perception, and practice in Islam /$fJamal J. Elias 210 $aCambridge, Mass. $cHarvard University Press$d2012 215 $a1 online resource (432 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a0-674-05806-2 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tPreface on Abbreviations and Conventions --$tPrologue: The Promise of a Meaningful Image --$t1 Representation, Resemblance, and Religion --$t2 The Icon and the Idol --$t3 Iconoclasm, Iconophobia, and Islam --$t4 Idols, Icons, and Images in Islam --$t5 Beauty, Goodness, and Wonder --$t6 Alchemy, Appearance, and Essence --$t7 Dreams, Visions, and the Imagination --$t8 Sufism and the Metaphysics of Resemblance --$t9 Words, Pictures, and Signs --$t10 Legibility, Iconicity, and Monumental Writing --$tEpilogue --$tNotes --$tBibliography --$tAcknowledgments --$tIndex 330 $aMedia coverage of the Danish cartoon crisis and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan left Westerners with a strong impression that Islam does not countenance depiction of religious imagery. Jamal J. Elias corrects this view by revealing the complexity of Islamic attitudes toward representational religious art. Aisha's Cushion emphasizes Islam's perceptual and intellectual modes and in so doing offers the reader both insight into Islamic visual culture and a unique way of seeing the world. Aisha's Cushion evaluates the controversies surrounding blasphemy and iconoclasm by exploring Islamic societies at the time of Muhammad and the birth of Islam; during early contact between Arab Muslims and Byzantine Christians; in medieval Anatolia and India; and in modern times. Elias's inquiry then goes further, to situate Islamic religious art in a global context. His comparisons with Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu attitudes toward religious art show them to be as contradictory as those of Islam. Contemporary theories about art's place in society inform Elias's investigation of how religious objects have been understood across time and in different cultures. Elias contends that Islamic perspectives on representation and perception should be sought not only in theological writings or aesthetic treatises but in a range of Islamic works in areas as diverse as optics, alchemy, dreaming, calligraphy, literature, vehicle and home decoration, and Sufi metaphysics. Unearthing shades of meaning in Islamic thought throughout history, Elias offers fresh insight into the relations among religion, art, and perception across a broad range of cultures. 606 $aIslam and art 606 $aArts$zIslamic countries 615 0$aIslam and art. 615 0$aArts 676 $a709.1767 700 $aElias$b Jamal J$01008835 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910827710703321 996 $aAisha's cushion$93972925 997 $aUNINA