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The exhibition presents the basic concepts of understanding Islamic art through the various eras. This is the only area of the museum that is not based on a chronological design. It houses rare exhibits that convey the development of the artistic idiom that is unique to Islamic art, and incorporates sound and light elements. The visitors enter the hall are greeted by a movie which describes the ritual of walking round the Kaaba, and they encounter a Mihrab prayer niche made of Armenian designed ceramic tiles.
The two principal elements in the exhibition are: an artistic section in a religious context, and a part that focuses on the contribution of Islam to the world relating to the sciences, technology music and other areas.
The first part features the figure of the prophet Mohammed and the Sunni–Shi’a division that occurred following his death, the Koran and Arabic writing - prayer, Sufism (Arabic mysticism) etc.
The public will learn about Islam’s contribution to the world by playing chess, which the Moslems made popular throughout Europe, the influence of Islamic musical instruments on European musical cultures, the contribution of Arabic science by virtue of the translations of the scientific heritage of Greece and Rome, and we will learn about the role Arabs played in pharmacy and medicine. In the field of mathematics the West inherited from the Arabs the decimal system, algebra and the concept of zero. The Arabs observed the celestial bodies and developed the astrolabe, which helps to measure the inclined position of the stars.
The exhibition includes a rare and unique Harari Hoard which includes 12th century silver vessels decorated with inscriptions, arabesques and niello. The hoard was found in a jar in west Iran and is exhibited almost in its entirety at the museum. This is an important and rare example of silver vessels from this era.
