Islam Mosques

Faisal Mosque, Pakistan

 Kaaba, Mecca

The King Hussein Bin Talal

Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem

Blue Mosque, Mazar-I-Sharif

Faisal Mosque, Islamabad

Faisal Mosque, Islamabad

Grand Mosque, Touba

Umayyad Mosque, Syria

Jumeirah Mosque, Dubai

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Islam's sacred places

In the middle: The prophet Muhammad's mausoleum in Medina; up to the right: Ali's mausoleum in Najaf; down to the right: Hasan's grave in the Baqi' cemetery in Medina; up to the left: Fatima's mausoleum [she was according to tradition buried in an unmarked grave in the Baqi' cemetery in Medina]; down to the left: Husain's mausoleum in Karbala. Original: 23,3x16,4cm, purchased in Jerusalem, The Old City 25.06.99, Siv-Ellen Kraft. Islam's three most sacred places: The sacred mosque in Mekka, The Prophet's mosque in Medina and Al-Aqsa mosque and The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. For a detailed discussion of this picture, see "Islams tre heilagstader" (only in Norwegian). Original: 36x25 cm, printed in Cairo. Purchased in Zaqaziq, Egypt October / November 1980 by Richard J. Natvig.

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Shia Islam

Ali, first Imam of the Shiites. The Arabic text, starting up in the right corner, translates: "God's messenger [prophet Muhammad] said: 'He whose lord I am, also has Ali as his Lord.'" The text comes from a hadith, a Tradition / about the prophet Muhammad: Shortly before the prophet Muhammad died he made his last pilgrimage to Mecca. According to this hadith, transmited among others by the Sunni scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muhammad and his following rested on their journey back to Medina at a place called Ghadir Khumm. There, the Prophet took Ali's hand and held it up, and said to his followers: "He whose lord I am, also has Ali as his lord. O Lord, be a support for all who are the support of Ali, and be the enemy of all who oppose him." This narrative is one of the texts that Shia Muslims use in arguing that Ali is the rightful heir to leadership in the Muslim community, and the first Imam. Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999. Ali with his sword Dhu 'l-Faqar. The Farsi text on the image encourages the viewer to learn from Ali's way of way of being. Ali is one of the great models for all Muslims, but for Shia Muslims in particular. Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999.   Ali with his two sons Hasan (in green) and Husain (in read), Shia Islam's first, second and third Imam respectively. The man standing behind Ali is probably Qanbar ibn Kadan. He was a slave from Abyssinia who had been freed by Ali, and was very devoted to him. The Arabic text la fata illa Ali la sayf illa dhu 'l-faqar, translates.: "There is no hero like Ali, there is no sword like Dhu 'l-Faqar". The sword Dhu 'l-Faqar, a booty of war which Muhammad presented to Ali, is one of Ali's attributes. Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999.   This image depicts Shia Islam's third Imam, Ali's son Husain. Above the portrait the Arabic text reads: "His Highness Husain ibn Ali [Ali's son], lord of the martyrs, peace on him." Husain stands for atonement; his martyrdom gives every follower of his the possibility of salvation. Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999. Husain was killed in the battle at Kerbela in 680. In Shia Islam, the history of this event has become a myth, or sacred story, which is referred to in rituals, story-telling, and in pictures like this. Here we see a portrait of Husain with his sword, and Husain's horse Dhu 'l-janah, standing wounded and riderless after the battle. The Arabic text reads: "Peace upon you, o Husain ibn Ali", and "Peace upon him." Under the portrait of Husain is his name, and below that, in Farsi: "A light that never will be extinguish." Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999.

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Muhammad

Islam's prophet Muhammad ibn Abd Allah. Representations of the Prophet are well known from early on, but are not very common. While some Muslims hold beliefs that it is against Islam to make images of the Prophet, others have more relaxed attitudes, and among Shia Muslims, such pictures are common, and much liked. According to Iranian informants interviewed by Ingvild Flaskerud, such portraits should not be considered "real" portraits of the prophet Muhammad. The artists make these images on the basis of conventional ideas of the character of those personages depicted, in the same way it has been done with Biblical figures in European art. The text below the image is the shahada or Profession of faith: "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is His messenger." Original: Purchased in Qum 1999 by Ingvild Flaskerud. As in the previous picture, the Prophet holds the Quran in his left hand, while with his right hand index finger, he points upwards. The one finger symbolises or reminds the viewer of the basic Islamic tenet of the one God. Below the picture is the shahada, as in the previous picture, while the medallions in the upper corners contain the words "Allah" (to the right) and "Muhammad" (to the left). These portraits remind one of Zoroastrian (or Parsi) depictions of the prophet Zarathushtra, compare for instance with this image from The Life of Holy Zarathustra (The Prophet of the Parsees) by Framroz Rustomjee, Bombay 1961, and image from Introducing Zoroastrianism; With 52 Weekly Sermons by Maneck B. Pithawalla, Bombay 1961. Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999. This picture represents the prophet Muhammadin the middle, with his veiled daughter Fatima on his left hand side, his cousin and son in law on his right hand side, and his two grandsons, Ali's og Fatima's sons, Hasan (in green) and Husayn (in red). "The holy family" or "the Holy Five" has a high position among all Muslims, but particularly among Shia Muslims. Their names are written on the rosette to the left: starting from the top and reading clockwise: "Allah, Muhammad, Fatima, Husain, Hasan, Ali". The text in the middle is not readable. Behind Muhammad stands an angel, probably Djibril (Gabriel) with the Koran in his hands. According to Muslim belief, the angel Djibril was the one who brought the first revelation to Muhammad. In this picture, like in many other representations of Ali, he holds in his hands one of his characteristics, the double pointed sword Dhu 'l-Faqar. Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999. More common than portraits of the Prophet Muhammad are more or less schematic representations of his family or genealogical tree, or so-called "prophet trees", where the Prophet himself may be symbolized by a calligrahic representation of the name "Muhammad", and/or a rose. In this family tree we find the Prophet's name in the midle of the upper part, with near relatives, wives and children and descendants below. The medallion in the right corner contains the sentence Allah jalli jalaluh, "God, Mighty and Glorious is He!" In the left corner medallion: "The magnificent family tree of our lord Muhammad, God's messenger, God bless him and grant him savation, and the people of his house (his family and descendants)." Original: 50x70 cm. Purchased in Cairo in front of the Sayyidna Husain-mosque January 1988 by Richard J. Natvig

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God and the Quran

In large writing, the word "Allah", and in smaller writing the praising jalli jalaluh: "God, Mighty and Glorious is He!".
Islam does not allow making images of God. This makes calligraphic representations of the word for God, "Allah", and various praisings of God, even more important.
Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999.

This text is one of the most popular verses in the Koran, the Throne Verse (Sura 2, verse 255). As a heading, the "basmalla": "In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy", then follows the Koran verse: "God: there is no god but Him, the Ever Living, the Ever Watchful. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. All that is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Him. Who is there that can intercede with Him except by His leave? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, but they do not comprehend any of His knowledge except what He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth; it does not weary Him to preserve them both. He is the Most High, the Tremendous." (From M. A. S. Abdel Haleem's translation, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.) Original: 17x23 cm, produced by Muslim Information Services, 233 Seven Sisters Road, London N4. The text on this picture is the same as on the previous picture. Original: Small images, Ingvild Flaskerud, Qum 1999.   According to Muslim belief, the Koran is the actual words of God. Thus the Book partakes of God's sacredness. On the frontcover of the Koran on the picture, the title is Al-Qur'an al-karim - "The noble Koran", then follows a quote: "this is truly a noble Qur'an, in a protected Record that only the purified can touch" (Sura 56:77-79, from M. A. S. Abdel Haleem's translation, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004; the remainder of the text on the image is not readable). The admonition "that only the purified can touch" is often found under the title in Koran editions, and refers to Islam's rules of purification, which i.a. demands that the person reciting the Koran or touching the Koran, must be ritually purified. Original: 27x18 cm, printed in Italiy. Purchased in Zaqaziq in Egypt October / November 1980 by Richard J. Natvig.

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