Critique of Ernst Kuhnel's Views about Islamic Calligraphy According to the Traditional Philosophy of Calligraphy Art and Calligraphic Treatises

By studying Islamic wisdom texts and the prefaces of calligraphy treatises, one can understand that within the tradition of Islamic calligraphy education and training, individuals fundamentally regard art and every human profession and action as a pathway to achieving human perfection.
In Islamic wisdom, the correlation between thought and action illustrates that knowledge derived from thought not only exists as a conceptual idea in the mind of a Muslim, but, when put into practice, it leads to the personal elevation and perfection of the individual. Thus, it differentiates knowledge from useless science, and action based on knowledge becomes the way for an individual's existential transformation towards perfection. However, in the Western world, particularly following the beginning of the Renaissance, wisdom was relegated to the realm of common rationality among humans. Consequently, the domain of rationality has been fragmented into separate unites. According to Kant's scientific tradition, the three faculties of knowledge, the feelings of pleasure and pain, and the faculty of will were respectively attributed to pure reason, judgment power, and practical reason. According to this view, art is arisen of feeling and is cognition with power judgment.
In return, the foundations of traditional wisdom and its resurgence in the perennial contemporary philosophy’s school, is based in tradition, sacred knowledge, and spirituality. Viewed from this vantage point, the development of Islamic art and calligraphy, guided by non-historical and non-temporal principles, is influenced by the truth of religion and the essence of Islam. The prefaces and treatises on calligraphy education left by traditional calligraphers serve as evidence of this wisdom and spirituality. The art of calligraphy holds a special place among the numerous branches of art in the Islamic world. In the early 20th century, German researcher, Ernst Kuhnel, raised certain issues about Islamic calligraphy. It is necessary to analyze and critique his view with a different approach in order to separate the correct viewpoints from the incorrect ones, while avoiding the prevailing spirit of his thoughts. This can be done by explaining his thought in an organized framework. The purpose of this study is to analyze and to conduct explanatory critique of the position and importance of Islamic calligraphy from the views of Ernst Kuhnel. This study’s questions are that how has Kuhnel explained the relation between Islam, art, and the theoretical foundations of calligraphy? Furthermore, what are the differences and similarities between his views and what is mentioned in the treatises of various calligraphy periods?
The research method is descriptive-analytical-critical. The method of gathering data is using library and documentary sources. The set works of the German Orientalist Ernst Kuhnel that specifically are his views about Islamic calligraphy have been gathered. Since some of Kuhnel's explanations about Islamic art include calligraphy, as a subcategory of Islamic art, his views about Islamic art are also to be discussed. Kuhnel's views about the meaning and spiritual nature of Islamic art and calligraphy have been analyzed and critiqued  with  critical view to the subject based on the prevalent insight of this research, the traditional wisdom of contemporary traditional philosophers. It is placed in the tables for comparison. Regarding the traditional critique, both the typical method of this attitude, and the treatises and educational prefaces of calligraphers are used as testimonies and justifications of the criticisms. The research finding indicates Kuhnel's views as a positivist researcher. Although he regards the art of Islamic calligraphy as being based on the Book of Revelation, the Holy Quran, he believes that Islam has limiting role on figurative art, consequently stimulating the growth of calligraphic art to prominence. He claims that the function of calligraphy primarily revolves around serving the power and preferences of rulers, under the influence of Islamic ideology. In return, in traditional philosophy’s view, while religious teachings may impose certain limitations on art, attributing ideology to Islam is considered a fallacy and serves as the source of other misconceptions in the interpretation of knowledge and art derived from its texts. Islam possesses a holistic nature and cannot be equated with human beliefs and solutions, nor can its precepts be extended to encompass those beliefs and solutions. The spiritual wisdom of Islam is manifested in the form and essence of calligraphic art. Unfortunately, due to the reduction of religion to the level of ideology, this crucial aspect has often been overlooked. It is evident from the treatises on calligraphy that the components of calligraphic art harbor a spiritual dimension, and its function is symbolic. The artist, through calligraphy, attains knowledge, pursues perfection, and embodies it within the art itself. Regrettably, this particular aspect seems to have been eluded in Kuhnel's studies, as he has overlooked the explicit emphasis on Islamic spirituality in the treatises of calligraphy.