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The orientalists and thinkers have had very important researchers and discussions in Islamic art during two hundred years ago.
But there are some differences and contradictory points of view in their researches. Some believe that the Islamic art had mystical and theosophical base that we can find in the texts of Ibn Arabi, Sheikh Eshragh, Maulana Rumi, Ibn Sina,and … . Another group of thinkers say: “There is not any Islamic elements in Islamic art” and some others think that the traditionalists believed mystical base, didn’t have sufficient evidence and historical reasons for their views.
Here, there is a very important question:
“Why do the researchers have difference and contradictory in Islamic art?”
To me, there are some factors in this affair:
First, absence of sufficient sources and references for confirmation the philosophical and theosophical bases of Islamic art.
Second, there are not any methodic and academic studies in Islamic art , especially in Islamic philosophy of art.
Third, engagement of some theoretical artistic base for confirmation of theological problem (as the last day , prophecy ,revelation of prophets and dream ).
Indeed , in west ,there is a clear history of philosophy, especially philosophy of art , from Plato to Heideggar.But we don’t have such history in Islamic thoughts
In this paper, I try to describe some concepts and philosophical base of Islamic art that some philosophers have discussed in their texts. (As faculty of fantasy, imaginal world and taste, especially in Imam Mohammad Ghazali’s thought in his important texts such as kimya-i sa adat ,Mishkat al anwar and ihya ulum al-din). He has used a modern concept for describing the power of fancy or imagination, nine hundred years ago: “The Lantern of Imagination” that is a very important and interesting point in Islamic philosophy.
Although Moslem philosophers have used these artistic principles to prove some theological principles like prophecy and the Last day however these studies and researches made the important theoretical bases in Islamic art.
At this time it seems necessary that Moslem researchers decipher these bases and collect Islamic art philosophy.
The thought of Ghazali is important because he has used artistic examples in many situations, for example Chinese and Roomian Painting in Ihia-ol-Olum that has been used by Maulana Jalal al din Rumi in the first chapter of Mathnavi ,two hundred years later.
Gajzali’s thought is important in this research because although he has been influenced by philosophers that live before him, like Avacina and Farabi , but he with his anti philosophy approach has attempt to adapt most of his researches to Islamic and Quaranic bases. His tendency to “taste” faculty, increases the important of his arguments in art theoretical principles.
The final purpose of this essay is research about two basic and important concepts in Islamic philosophy of art: first, the levels of Universe in Islamic philosophers’ view and its place in theoretical principle of Islamic art. second, discussing meaning and place of imagination and taste in Ghazali’s view emphasizing its artistic function.