THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WESTERN TRAVELLERS’ CONCEPTION OF THE ARĪM: RESTORING THE CULTURAL COMPLEXITY OF THE IJĀB IN ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

This paper examines 19th   century Western travellers’ understanding of the ḥarīm. Focusing in  particular on visual  depictions,  it  investigates  the  misconception  and  misrepresentation  of  the  ḥarīm  in  Orientalists’ paintings and Western culture, using thework of the artist John Frederick Lewis as a main case study. Arguing that such representations oversimplify and fantasise sacred Islamic cultural experience,  this  paper,  as a counterpoint, restores a detailed understanding of the ḥarīm and defines its wider Islamic implication within Arabic culture. Applying etymology and Islamic scripture to the study of architectural design,  this study explores the centrality of the concept of ḥijāb (veil) to the organisation of physical space for women in the Islamic home. Written from the perspective of an Arabic Muslim  woman, this study seeks to explore the concept of the ḥarīm from the “Others” perspective.

Keyword: Western travellers, Orientalists, Muslim women, ḥarīm, Arabic culture