The place of beauty in Muslim civilization

In the history of civilizations, some have imposed their power through arms, others through trade. Muslim civilization also left its mark on the world with a certain idea of ​​beauty. A beautiful discreet sometimes, but omnipresent. From the palaces of Cordoba to the mosques of Istanbul, from the Persian gardens to the manuscripts of Baghdad, she developed an art of living where aesthetics were never separated from the spiritual, the everyday or even from knowledge.

This relationship to beauty still surprises today. Because it was not based only on luxury or pageantry. Rather, it was a way of inhabiting the world with harmony. In a modern world that is often brutal, fast and saturated with images, this ancient vision almost seems to provide a breath of fresh air.

When beauty becomes a spiritual language

In the Muslim tradition, beauty has never been considered as simple decoration. A famous hadith also reminds us: “God is beautiful and He loves beauty. » This phrase has deeply influenced Muslim arts and cultures for centuries. From the 8th century, under the Abbasids in Baghdad, aesthetic research became a true civilization of detail. Arabic calligraphy reaches an exceptional level. Craftsmen work letters like living architecture. Copying the Quran becomes an artistic act as well as a spiritual one. Certain old pages, done in gold ink on deep blue parchment, still impress today with their finesse. This idea of ​​beauty is found especially in architecture. When Muslims arrived in Andalusia in the 8th century, they gradually transformed Córdoba into one of the most refined cities in the Mediterranean world. The Great Mosque of Córdoba, begun in 785 under Abd al-Rahman I, is the most famous example. Its infinite columns, its red and white arches, the light that crosses the space: everything creates a sensation of almost meditative balance.

A few centuries later, in the 14th century, the Alhambra palace in Granada took this vision even further. There, beauty comes through the water that circulates in the gardens, the walls covered in Arabic poetry, the play of light and shadow. Nothing is overwhelming. Everything seems designed to soothe the eye and remind us of the fragility of the world. On certain walls, a phrase often recurs: “There is no victor but God.” » Even splendor had to remain humble.

A beauty present in everyday life

What is striking about classical Muslim civilization is that beauty did not remain locked away in the palaces of the elites. It went down to ordinary objects and simple gestures.

In cities like Fez, Damascus or Samarkand, artisans paid immense attention to the details of everyday life. A wooden door could be carved for weeks. Carpets were not only utilitarian: they told stories, regions, sometimes even ancient beliefs. In the Ottoman Empire, in the 16th and 17th centuries, certain Iznik ceramics were made with incredible precision to decorate both mosques and homes. Even the souks had their own aesthetic. The Andalusian traveler Ibn Jubayr, in the 12th century, described Cairo as a city overflowing with light, smells and colors. Markets were not designed just for selling; they formed living spaces where sounds, materials and scents participated in an almost sensory experience of the world.

Beauty was also found in the organization of cities. Ancient medinas were designed to protect from heat, preserve privacy and encourage collective life. The narrow streets of Marrakech or Tunis naturally created shade. The houses opened to interior patios filled with plants and fountains. In many Muslim regions, water occupied a central place because it symbolized life, purity and peace. This culture of beauty ultimately reflected a certain idea of ​​the human being: man should not live in ugliness or permanent aggression. Even simplicity had to retain a form of dignity.

The modern world and the loss of aesthetic sense

For many intellectuals and architects, part of this heritage was gradually erased in the 20th century. Colonization, rapid urbanization and globalization have profoundly transformed Muslim cities. We built quickly, often without aesthetic or spiritual vision. Today, certain metropolises in the Muslim world give the feeling of permanent shock: concrete, stifling traffic, giant advertising billboards, soulless buildings. Entire historic districts have sometimes been destroyed in the name of modernity. In Cairo, for example, several heritage specialists have been warning for years about the gradual disappearance of centuries-old Mamluk buildings.

This rupture also affects the internal relationship with beauty. In societies weakened by economic or political crises, aesthetics often take second place to social emergencies. Yet the need remains there. We see it in the success of the return to traditional crafts, in the growing interest in calligraphy, or in the restoration of ancient Moroccan medinas. Everywhere, young people are rediscovering this heritage with a simple question: how to live in a modern world without losing all harmony? Because beauty, in Muslim civilization, was not a luxury reserved for the rich or artists. It was part of a way of living, of breathing, of praying, of building and even of looking at others.

And perhaps that is the real issue today: finding spaces, objects and gestures that rehumanize everyday life. In an era dominated by noise, speed and consumption, this ancient civilization still reminds us of one essential thing: a human being needs beauty to avoid drying out internally.