In our final edition of summer reading recommendations, we bring you Islamic art, love and monotheism.
Aliya Azam teaches at Al-Sadiq and Al- Zahra school in West London. She works closely with RE teachers and interfaith groups. Islamic Art and Spirituality
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
State University of New York Press, 1987
I recommend this book because to me is appears to be unique. Seyyed Nasr describes many aspects of Islamic art, from the chanting of the Holy Qur’an, which is the most central expression of the Islamic revelation, and therefore sacred art par excellence, to calligraphy and architecture which are the “embodiments” in the worlds of form and space of the Divine Word. Through this book the sacred art of Islam is revealed, which has always played and continues to play a fundamental role in the spiritual life of Muslims.
The goal of the spiritual, or inward, life in Islam is to reach the Divine. Seyyed Nasr shows how for Muslims in all societies art provides a climate of peace and equilibrium. Art creates an ambience in which God can be remembered.
For teachers, unlocking Islamic art is a wonderful way to explore Islamic beliefs, culture and spirituality. Islam considers beauty as the necessary complement of the manifestation of the Truth. We could say art is a ‘silent theology’. The language of beauty is a universal language that draws us together and in Islam art is a gate towards the inner life.
Alexis Stones is Subject Lead for the PGCE on Religious Education at the Institute of Education, UCL’s faculty of Education and society.
All About Love
bell hooks
William Morrow and Company, 2016
This incredible book is written from the heart for the heart. The genius of bell hooks is heard through her honest discussions and her call for love to be more crucial in our lives. She reminds us that love is the most important resource for individuals, groups and community. This treatise on love taught me that love is fierce in its strengths. It teaches, guides, forgives and challenges.
As a teacher educator, I encourage student teachers to reflect on their own perspectives and become familiar with the complexities of their own worldviews. All About Love dedicates a chapter to love into fourteen different contexts including justice, spirituality and community. These function as lenses to think about how love manifests across time and space. There are religious, philosophical, ethical, sociological and psychological perspectives that are thought-provoking, humbling and inspiring. It allows me to think about RE on my own terms before I teach.
Kate Christopher is a Secondary teacher and consultant.
The Price of Monotheism
Jan Assman
English translation by Robert Savage
Stanford University Press, 2010
I have become interested in monotheism as a hugely powerful worldview, but one that is rarely the subject of study itself. Someone recommended Assman to me. It is a challenging read, but worth the effort. Assman argues that the shift to monotheism brought into being an idea hitherto alien to the ancient world; the idea of false gods or false religion. Assman states that monotheism is not a distinction between one God and many gods, but between ‘truth and falsehood in religion’ (p. 2).
It is a shift that took millennia. In polytheistic times, pledges and contracts were sealed with oaths of loyalty to a deity. Neighbouring tribes had to establish the corresponding deity in dealing with each other. By 3,000 BCE, ‘tables of divine equivalence’ had been created to allow commerce, allegiance and collaboration among tribes (p. 19). None of this is possible once all other gods are deemed to be false. This is an example of how monotheism changed the way different groups could engage with each other.
Assman is an Egyptologist rather than a theologian, although he appears to me extremely well-versed in theology. His thesis, not unexpectedly, has received significant challenge, such as of anti-Semitism and intolerance, and he spends much of this volume addressing the challenges. I probably wouldn’t teach this before A Level, and I am not expert enough in Assman’s field to know how outlandish or mainstream his argument is. I recommend it because it reminds us as educators to look beyond the world as we find it and dig a bit deeper. Although so widespread we might take it for granted, monotheism is a worldview too, and as such can be investigated.