From Form to Meaning: Recovering Philosophical Thought in Islamic Art through Perspectives of Identity, Silence, and Light

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a philosophical re-engagement with Islamic art by shifting the analytical focus from formal aesthetics to the recovery of embedded metaphysical thought. Moving beyond conventional interpretations centered on geometry, ornamentation, or historical development, it argues that Islamic artistic forms particularly in architecture and calligraphy function as epistemic and ontological texts that articulate profound philosophical doctrines concerning identity, divine presence, and the nature of reality. Drawing on the illuminationist metaphysics of Suhrawardi, the existential cosmology of Ibn Arabi, and the substantial motion of Mulla Sadra, the study examines how concepts such as Barzakh (intermediacy), Nur (divine light), and Tawhid (unity) are materially enacted in spatial design, negative space, and symbolic abstraction. A hermeneutic-phenomenological approach, informed by Heidegger’s critique of representationalism and Corbin’s concept of the Mundus Imaginalis, is employed to interpret these forms not as passive objects but as active sites of spiritual and intellectual revelation. Through case studies of key structures, including the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, the Taj Mahal, and the Alhambra Palace, the paper demonstrates how silence, invisibility, and restraint serve as ethical and aesthetic principles that guide the viewer from sensory perception toward metaphysical contemplation. By integrating non-Western epistemologies with Western phenomenological frameworks, this research contributes to a decolonial methodology in art history, advocating for a holistic understanding of Islamic art as a dynamic medium for recovering lost philosophical discourse.