Blindspot!
From Issue: 625 [Read full issue]
Artistic Creativity
If Islam's message calls on us to understand the meaning of life and to respect people's common good by celebrating life, peace, dignity, welfare, justice, equality, conscience, sincerity, contemplation, memories, and cultures, then the Universe of artistic expression is opened wide to everybody's creativity. What is at stake is not to produce "Islamic" songs that only speak of such "Islamic" motives as God, the Prophet, respecting parents and norms, and similar things; it is to express through art the feelings and experiences that are part of humankind's hearts and daily lives, with talent and art. Speaking about childhood, fears, tensions, desires, love, friendship, wounds, separations, hopes, and death in an intimate, natural, universal way is "Islamic" and it is not necessary to add specific references linked to a Universe of norms, such as verses, ahadith, or Arabic words to give the impression that the work or product has been "Islamized." Such an attitude reveals a deep lack of self-confidence in the forms of culture and art in general. Obsessed by the fear of transgressing norms, people no longer know how to simply talk about meaning; they find it difficult to convey the most natural emotions and share life experiences that transcend religious belonging, although those give norms their true meaning.
What must characterize contemporary art nurtured by Islamic ethics is its capacity to speak about everything, the universal inner self, aspirations and contradictions, good and evil, quest and betrayal, with nobility, sincerity, and warmth. The point is not, either, to imitate the popular productions of global culture and copy their rhythms or their methods of production while "Islamizing" them. It is urgent to invest time and thought in the now central area of culture and the arts, to devise an alternative that is altogether original, appealing, and faithful to the ethical outcomes.
Compiled From:
"Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation" - Tariq Ramadan, pp. 203-206