Moral Judgment of Contemporary Art: An Islamic Approach

This research is an attempt to explore the existent Western theories regarding the moral judgment of art. It is an endeavor to pioneer the area of the moral judgment of Contemporary Art practices in order to pave the way for forming future theories based on the opinions of some contemporary Muslim scholars. The research will study two controversial art practices: the use of human bodies and animals, alive or dead, in art making. It will adopt the works of Gunther Von Hagens, Marina Abramovic, Marc Quinn, Damien Hirst, and Guillermo Vargas as case studies. The research will first attempt to explore the different aspects of these practices based on the aforementioned Western ethical theories. Second, it will try to explore the compatibility of these art practices with the opinions of some selected Muslim scholars regarding the criteria of practicing art in general. Finally, the study will attempt to analyze the essence of these art practices from a fiqhī perspective, and explore some of the justifications used by fuqahā for the judgment of these essences to ultimately reach conclusions about the rulings of such practices.