The Culture of Prayer, Therapeutic and Healing Beliefs and its Reflection in Islamic art

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Iran University of Art

10.22077/nia.2025.8629.1907

Abstract

Early man attributed all his illnesses or misfortunes to evil spirits, jinn, and supernatural forces. As time passed, and even his awareness of the causes of some natural and ordinary events, his fear of evil spirits did not decrease. For this reason, he developed a strong desire to use amulets, talismans, and charms. This led to the creation of a culture that was based on the need for treatment and healing, answering prayers, warding off disasters and evil, and attracting good and positive forces, which has continued to exist to this day. The purpose of this research is to examine the importance of made artistic tools and objects and their use in the ritual and religious culture of praying, healing, and warding off disasters, and to reveal the two-way existential dependence between this culture and the containers and objects of art. In fact, the culture of praying, healing, and warding off disasters led to the creation of related works of art, and on the other hand, the manufacture of these objects led to a tangible belief in the effectiveness of this culture among believers. The use of amulets and talismans is actually a magical act, and in a magical worldview, the need for a magical act increases when an illness or disaster occurs, or, with a positive outlook, a good purpose such as healing is urgently needed in its use. Therefore, amulets, talismans and talismans can have three main uses: warding off calamity and evil; attracting positive and good forces; fulfilling human needs and desires. On the one hand, these objects are considered blessed and sacred objects because they have verses of the Quran, divine names, the names of the Prophet (PBUH), the infallible Imams (AS), prayers and sacred symbols engraved on them. On the other hand, the sanctity of these objects can be due to the belief that they are intermediaries between the supplicant and God or the prophets and Imams (AS), and for this reason, from the perspective of those who believe in this attitude and belief, the term blessed and sacred objects can be applied to them. The sanctity of these objects was not only prevalent among the common people, but rulers and nobles also turned to these objects for their needs, and this and court orders led to the production of luxurious artistic objects during the Islamic era.

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References

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Negarineh Islamic Art
Volume 11, Issue 28
March 2025
Pages 77-96

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History

  • Receive Date: 24 December 2024
  • Revise Date: 18 January 2025
  • Accept Date: 21 January 2025

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