{"id":140153,"date":"2020-05-09T10:38:04","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T10:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=140153"},"modified":"2020-05-09T12:09:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T12:09:54","slug":"shuara-architecture-in-the-quranic-surah-shuara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=140153","title":{"rendered":"The Case of Architecture in Surah al-Shu’ara’ (the Poets)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Spahic Omer <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since surah<\/em> al-Shuara<\/em>\nis about the meaning and spirit of prophethood and spiritual light, and about their\nperennial conflict with the forces of falsehood and darkness, it dwells\nextensively on various life patterns that the latter may adopt. Those patterns\nare correlated with the critical life sectors of political leadership and authority, economy and commerce, faith and\nmorality, social structure, entertainment, art and architecture. The story of\nevery prophet and his community featured in the surah<\/em> corresponds to one\nor more of such life sectors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the subject of architecture is concerned, it is brought up in connection with the stories of prophets Hud, Salih and Musa. The stories highlight different dimensions of architecture. When put together, they exhibit what could be described as the foundation and nucleus of the Islamic worldview for architecture and Islamic architectural ethics. This shows that Islam regards the built environment as indispensable to life. It finds it critical to mans cultural awareness and civilisational progression. In terms of importance and value, it is on a par with any other foremost segment of civilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prophet Hud and his people \u02dcAd<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, as part of the story about prophet Hud and\nhis rebellious people \u02dcAd, the surah<\/em> reveals that Hud reproached his\npeople for their constructing of landmarks, monuments and high palaces (ayah<\/em>)\non every high place for vain delight and just to amuse themselves (verse 128).\nThey did not need those structures. They signified a means for showing off and\ndemonstrating their might and worldly riches which God had bestowed on them in\nabundance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, they wanted everyone from their enemies,\ncompetitors and neighbours to hold them and their material strength and\ndevelopment in awe. Instead of being grateful for the blessings, their\ntransgression and misbehaviour were aggravated thereby. That seems to have been\npart of their total behavioural mould as tyrants, for in verse 130, a hint is\ngiven to their typical behaviour with their adversaries: \u0153And will you (always), whenever you lay hand (on others), lay hand\n(on them) cruelly, without any restraint?\u009d (al-Shuara, 130).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hud also admonished his people for\nbuilding fine and strong buildings, castles or fortresses (masani<\/em>) in\nthe hope of becoming immortal and living in them forever (verse 129). This\nshows that \u02dcAds mischief knew no bounds. It originated in a faulty worldview\nand clearly manifested itself in architecture as a framework and physical locus\nof all human consequential pursuits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their main problem concerned as much fundamental ideas, beliefs and standards, as the absence \u201c or non-application — of appropriate architectural moral principles and codes of conduct. Their built environment was their raison detre<\/em> and it epitomised their existential ethos. Their non-belief was hard-core. As a finished product, it crept into and dominated all sides and features of their civilisational consciousness and presence. Architecture is singled out in the story owing to its extraordinary deep-rooted import and position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hud knew the crux of the problem.\nThus, he repeats to his people that they should be God-conscious and fear Him\n(verses 124, 126, 131-132), in that God-consciousness (taqwa<\/em>) is the\ncause of all goodness, while the lack of it and espousing other things and\nideas as forged alternatives, denote the cause of all wrongdoing. He insists\nthat as a trustworthy messenger of God, they should obey and follow him (verse\n126). Only that way will their initiatives and creations — including such as\nwithin the realm of architecture — attain legitimacy and acceptability. Only that way, furthermore, will the identities and\nfunctions of their architectural creations be compatible with other more\nconsequential life dimensions and goals for which they were supposed to exist\nand which they were supposed to serve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Architecture, both as a theory and standard of\nliving, is so intense and overwhelming that a person lacking the right\norientation and goal may easily get lost inside its infinite expanse and depth.\nHe may yet be consumed by it. Underscoring this point \u201c parenthetically — Koca Mimar\nSinan, the chief architect of the Ottoman golden age, called architecture an\n\u0153estimable calling\u009d and said that whoever wanted to practice it correctly must\nbe, first of all, righteous and pious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hud moreover pleaded with his people to keep their\nduty to their Creator and Lord. He asks them not to be arrogant, heedless and\nto be grateful for all the good things with which God had aided them and which\nthey were fully aware of. Their architectural talent and creativity were also a\ndivine gift and grace. They needed to reciprocate by subjecting the gifts and\nflairs only to the aims consistent with the metaphysical ends.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If not, Hud feared for his people the torment of a great day when they will lose everything and perish (verses 131-135), when their material progress might be used against them and their fine and monumental architecture as their necropolis. It will be then that they will understand where the truth and where falsehood laid, and who was who in the entire scheme of things and events. They will understand the real meanings of prosperity, success and happiness as well. Such dawning realisations will be coupled with the senses of guilt and bitter regret, but at that point, it will be too little too late. By then, they will have exhausted all the afforded options, munificence and sympathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u02dcAds architecture symptomatic of terminal\nspiritual and moral disorders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gravity of the architectural reality of prophet\nHuds people can additionally be established by the following. When Hud refers\nto his peoples erected landmarks, monuments and high palaces in verse 128, he\ncalls them signs (ayah<\/em>). To make a reference to that particular point in\nsurah<\/em> al-Shuara<\/em>, whose gist and central idea pertain to the\naffirmation and exhibition of signs (ayat<\/em>) throughout the\nmultidimensionality of creation and human behaviour, takes on extra\nsignificance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It shows that \u02dcAds conduct was a grim syndrome of\nepidemic proportions. It morphed into a complete way of life that was firmly\nimplanted in a philosophy and coherent set of values. As such, it not only\nopposed, but also challenged epistemologically as well as conceptually the articles\nof faith and value system preached by prophet Hud. They saw in Hud and his\nmission nothing superior to them and what they concocted and blindly followed.\nHence, they replied to him: \u0153It\nis the same to us whether you admonish us or be not among (our) admonishers.\nThis is no other than a customary device (fable or myth) of the ancients. And\nwe are not going to be punished\u009d (al-Shuara, 136-138)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, another perspective can be\noffered here. According to it, firstly the verb \u0153tabnun<\/em>\u009d, which means\n\u0153you are building or erecting\u009d, is used in the couple of the verses of the\nstory which explicitly deals with \u02dcAds architecture. The verb connotes a means\nfor achieving something extra. That something is mentioned at the end of the\nsame verse – verse 128 – namely the verb \u0153tabathun<\/em>\u009d, which means \u0153for\nvain delight and to amuse yourselves\u009d. However, the latter is not an end par\nexcellence<\/em>. Rather, it is a yet more complex and intense means which is\nused at yet a higher level of meaning and operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That higher level is indicated in\nthe subsequent verse – verse 129. In it, the first two words suggest the\ntransformation of the means and channels into an all-out strategy and outlook,\nnamely \u0153tattakhidhuna masani<\/em>\u009d, which means \u0153you get for yourselves\nstrong buildings, castles or fortresses\u009d. The first word of the two is \u0153you\nget, embrace or champion for yourselves\u009d, rather than \u0153you build for\nyourselves\u009d. While the latter signifies a sheer method and course of action,\nthe former denotes a fully developed culture, ethos and identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That implies that Huds peoples\nbuilding philosophy, style and culture became deeply embedded in their minds\nand souls. There was no turning back. They were identifiable with their built\nenvironment. It became them, and they became it. And the last two words in the\npair of the verses on \u02dcAds architecture are \u0153laallakum takhludun<\/em>\u009d,\nwhich mean \u0153in the hope of becoming immortal and living in them forever\u009d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this, the whole process of\n\u02dcAds architectural deviation was completed. It started with building for wrong\nobjectives and by resorting to unethical norms. It eventually evolved into a\nsophisticated life model that became so extreme that it contradicted not merely\nthe spiritual and ethical systems brought by prophet Hud, but also the\nfundamental laws of nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thereafter, \u02dcAds architecture\nbecame entangled in a vicious circle. Its outcomes were iniquitous because they\nfed on the commensurately iniquitous principles and actions associated with the\nbuilders, patrons and users; while the norms and attitudes associated with the\nintegrity of the stakeholders character were iniquitous because the outcomes,\ndue to their deficiencies and long-term uncertainties, lacked legitimacy,\ninspiration and authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prophet Salih and his people Thamud<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second is the case of prophet Salih\nand his people, Thamud. According to surah<\/em> al-Shuara<\/em>,\nwhile preaching to his disobedient people, Salih said to them that they were\ncarving out or hewing dwellings out of the rocky mountains with great skill (al-Shuara,\n149). He did so in order to remind his people of all the great blessings that\nGod had granted them. They should have been more grateful and humble, using the\nheavenly blessings and gifts aright. They should have employed them as a means\nfor worshipping and serving God, rather than for disobeying Him and mistreating\nother people. Furthermore, they should have used them for creating such a built\nenvironment as could exemplify the truth and aid its application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad Asad explains that the rock-houses or abodes mentioned in verse 149 correspond to \u0153the elaborate rock-dwellings or tombs — to be seen to this day — which the Thamud carved out of the cliffs west of Hijr<\/em>, in northern Hijaz<\/em>, and embellished with sculptures of animals as well as many inscriptions attesting to the comparatively high degree of their civilisation and power. In popular Arabian parlance, these rock-dwellings are nowadays called Madain Salih<\/em> (The Towns of Salih).\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thamud were told to fear God, be God-conscious,\nkeep their duty to Him and obey their prophet (verse 150). They were told to\nwake up and open their eyes and minds and not to lose themselves in the worship\nof insincere power, wealth and the prevailing fashions of erroneous thought.\nOtherwise, their might and worldly prosperity — including the remarkable\narchitectural achievements — will in the end count for naught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As stated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali,\nThamud were told: \u0153All your skill is very well; but cultivate virtue and do not\nfollow the ways of those who put forward extravagant claims for men’s powers\nand material resources, or who lead lives of extravagance in luxury and\nself-indulgence.\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like any other act of transitory immoral extravagance, Thamuds architectural greatness was an instrument of self-deception. It maintained and worked for an intellectual and spiritual mirage. However, it was set to expire soon, just like their very selves and their false hopes and dreams. Hence, they were explicitly warned not to subscribe to, nor practice, extravagance and mischief. They were not to spread corruption in the land (verses 151-152). Rather, tapping into their divine gifts and talents, they were asked to reform their ways and set things right. In other words, they, together with their civilisational output, were asked to become assets on earth, instead of liabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus awaken, Thamud were meant to be\nenabled to see that they and their especially architectural accomplishments\ndepended entirely on Gods grace and His bounties spread throughout His\ncreation. They were reminded of the boons of security, gardens, springs, green\ncrops, fields and date-palms with soft spadix, which they enjoyed (verses\n146-148). They overlooked the verity that they needed nature and the benefit of\nits total subjection to mans use by God in order to perform. They needed to\ncooperate with nature and harmoniously borrow and process its raw materials so\nthat their architectural feats could be completed. They also took for granted\ntheir intellectual and creative abilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accordingly, if they were given,\nthey also needed to give. If they were taken care of, they also needed to take\ncare of. They were not bequeathed with extraordinary gifts because they utterly\ndeserved them, or because God preferred them over other tribes and communities,\nbut because God wanted to test them thereby. God as well intended to make them\nthe instruments of devoutness and reform, but they refused to comply and meet\nthe terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thamud were thus presented with a blueprint for the true sustainable development. They were advised how to make sure that their amazing built environment and civilisation as a whole will become physically and spiritually compatible with the forces and ontological laws of the natural environment. They were also taught how to make sure that the legacy of their built environment could live on and contribute to the wellbeing of the future generations and their own civilisational quests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if they turned against their prophet and, by extension, their Creator and their intrinsic natural disposition, the edifice of their civilisation will be in danger of collapsing and getting wiped out (verses 146-148). Everything they had will be used against them. The act of divine punishment, when happens, will be tantamount to an act of self-destruction preceded by various acts of self-betrayal. Their ruins will then become a sign of how unsustainable their civilisation \u201c including architecture \u201c was. It will become a sign of how things are not to be done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At long last, since Thamud did not\nheed their prophets counsels and admonitions, what they had been warned about\ncame to pass. The Quran elaborates on the fall of Thamud as follows in surah<\/em> Hud<\/em>:\n\u0153So when Our decree came to pass, We delivered Salih and those who believed\nwith him by mercy from Us, and (We saved them) from the disgrace of that day;\nsurely your Lord is the Strong, the Mighty. And the rumbling overtook those who\nwere unjust, so they became motionless bodies in their homes, as though they\nhad never dwelt in them; now surely did Thamud disbelieve in their Lord; now\nsurely, away with Thamud\u009d (Hud, 66-68).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their immoral attitudes and\npractices, Thamud did not differ much from their predecessors, the \u02dcAd people.\nThey followed a similar mode of mischief-making and waywardness. Architecture\nwas an effective means of communication and a canvas for expressing convictions\nand articulating preferences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thamud were also cousins to \u02dcAd,\nperhaps a younger branch of the same race. While \u02dcAd resided in the southern\npart of Arabia, Thamud did in the northern part. Consequently, prophet Salih\nsaid to Thamud, as disclosed in surah<\/em> al-Araf<\/em>: \u0153Remember how you were made the heirs\n(inheritors) of \u02dcAd and settled in the land, capable of building mansions in\nthe valleys and carving out homes in the mountains. Therefore, remember the\nfavours of Allah and do not spread mischief in the land\u009d (al-Araf, 74). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It follows that Thamud were so blind\nand engrossed in worship of the false glitter of the power and wealth of this\nworld that they did not learn anything from the fate of their ancestors. Rather than learning, they became yet another historical\nlesson to be learnt from. Rather than becoming a symbol of success, they became\na symbol of failure. They became a bad example to posterity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some vestiges of the houses of the Thamud<\/em> people were still in existence\nduring the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He wanted his companions — and\neveryone else after them — to learn from what had befallen those people. Once\nwhen he and his companions were passing by Hijr<\/em>\n— the homeland of Thamud<\/em> — the\nProphet (pbuh) told his companions: \u0153Do not enter the dwellings of these\ntormented people except in the state of weeping. If you do not weep, do not\nenter, lest what had befallen them should befall you too\u009d (Sahih al-Bukhari).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Architecture as a proof of mans\nsmallness, rather than greatness  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third is the case of prophet Musa\nand Pharaoh, which is the first in surah<\/em> al-Shuara<\/em>. Towards the end of the story where it is\nalluded to the end of Pharaoh and his party, God says: \u0153So, We expelled them\nfrom gardens and springs, treasures and every kind of honourable place\n(sumptuous dwellings). Thus (were those things taken from them) and We caused\nthe Children of Israel to inherit them\u009d (al-Shuara, 57-59).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message of these verses\nresonates throughout the stories of the \u02dcAd and Thamud peoples as well. The\nmessage brings home that when a man pits himself against God and the established\nspiritual and moral laws, he is bound to lose. The same applies to groups, and\nentire nations, and their endeavours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is so because Almighty God as\nthe Creator and Master of all creation is ceaselessly glorified and worshipped\nby every animate and inanimate, spiritual and physical, being in the heavens\nand on the earth, except certain factions of defiant and wayward humans and Jinns<\/em>.\nThis is a truth so compellingly expounded by the Quran and the Prophets Sunnah<\/em>.\nHence, submitting to Almighty God is a rule, rejecting and disobeying Him an\nexception. Worshipping Him is an ontological standard, while denying Him is an\ninvented anomaly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that said, man was created but in full agreement with the existing spiritual mould of life. He was decreed and guided to fit into it and was given all the necessary means and facilities to do so. His life mission is all about recognising God, believing in Him and fulfilling the authority of His divine Will and revealed Word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man alone is an inept, vulnerable\nand indigent creature, notwithstanding his remarkable intellectual prowess\nwhich, when alls said and done, is nothing but a gift from the Creator. The\ngift is intended to be used correctly and for the right ends, not misused or\nabused. It is intriguing that man is fully aware of his weaknesses. He\ntherefore tries to hide, or mitigate, them, focusing on and making the most of\nhis limited strengths instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, mans true character in the end always comes to the fore, for it is impossible to hide the obvious and compulsive. As a result, his longing for eternity and perfection incessantly rages and is insatiable. It became a hallmark of each and every human civilisational phase. Some of the greatest cultural and civilisational undertakings of man throughout history reflect such an arduous quest of his. They reflect his yearning for his other and supernatural self to be elevated to another and supernatural realm. His accomplishments cry for eternity and impeccability, every so often morphing into acts of desperation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On account of its inherent position\nand value, architecture proved one of the most fertile grounds for the purpose.\nSuperhuman greatness and immortality are often sought through it. Ironically,\nhowever, via architecture, human fragility, flaws and vulnerability are not\nonly exposed, but as well exacerbated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is the case because under\nnormal circumstances, architecture survives its architects, engineers, patrons\nand generations of users. It highlights their transience and evidences their mortality\nand failure in pursuing false dreams and hopes. That becomes all the more\nmanifest and severer in impact when juxtaposed with enduring architecture\nwhich, too, is transient, but outlives its stakeholders by eons and\ngenerations. It seems as though it calls cynically: Where are my creators and\ncohorts of owners and users? Needless to say that even in the realm of\nimpermanence and transience, let alone infinity and constancy, man fares poorly\nand cannot survive on his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mans power, lifecycle and influence on the realities of life come into view as marginal \u201c virtually non-existent \u201c if meticulously studied and compared with myriads of physical and metaphysical actualities. Architectural remnants offer that learning opportunity better than a great many other segments of civilisation. Instead of proving mans superhuman importance and greatness — as originally planned \u201c architecture, in fact, proves his inconsequentiality and smallness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, in this surah<\/em>, in the\ncontext of the conflict between Musa and Pharaoh, God underlines the nature and\nscope of Pharaohs and his partys failure and demise. Such manifested itself\nin the fact that they were all defeated by Gods direct intervention. They all\nvanished, leaving everything they owned behind. They neither carried anything\nalong, nor could their pomp and riches avail them of any respite or sympathy.\nWhat accompanied them to the Hereafter were only their (mis)deeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, what they accumulated and\ndelighted in \u201c including sumptuous private and public buildings — passed into\nthe hands of others, in this case their adversaries. The episode became a sign\nfor posterity, attesting to Pharaohs and his partys spiritual and moral\nbankruptcy and ultimate ruin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It follows that if a community with its generated legacy really wants to live on and write genuinely successful chapters in history, what Pharaoh \u201c as well as the \u02dcAd and Thamud peoples \u201c did, certainly is not the way to follow. In the same vein, the way they all conceived, fashioned and used their architecture \u201c so as to personify, facilitate and advertise their materialistic and hedonistic lifestyles \u201c is not the way to go about either.***<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Spahic Omer Since surah al-Shuara is about the meaning and spirit of prophethood and spiritual light, and about their perennial conflict with the forces… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":140163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,11],"tags":[],"nelio_content":{"isAutoShareEnabled":true,"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"followers":[111,134,12,5],"suggestedReferences":[],"efiUrl":"","efiAlt":"","highlights":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/26.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140153"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140165,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140153\/revisions\/140165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/140163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}