COLOURS OF ISLAM

By Muhammad Fauzan bin Abu Bakar

Introduction
Islam is a religion that does not have any particular symbols associated with it
since its advent in this world. Most symbolism and visual representations were only
started during the reign of the Ottoman Empire after the death of the Prophet
Muhammad S.A.W. The only symbolism associated to Islam that had existed during
the period of the Prophets lifetime is in the usage of colours.
Symbolism is the product of civilization progress and developments. Thus
depending on the region for which the civilization was originated, each colour has its
own various and different meanings in different country and religion. According to a
review article by Sedef Piker (Color in Islamic art and culture, 2012), the subject of
colour is presented as a cultural phenomenon, where different societies recognize
colours according to their particular language and culture. These idiosyncrasies
range from number of colours identified in the rainbow to the modern scientific
understanding of colour in term of depth, contrast, hue/saturation and type of colour
mixing.
In the Quran there are five type of colours that have been mention. These
colours, namely black, white, red, yellow and green colour, which have been
mentioned repeated in the Quran have various meaning. Moreover, it were also the
basic colours of pre-Islamic Arabic language (Piker, 2012) (Arief, 2013). It is also
noted that with expansion of the Islamic empire in the previous era, as well as the
spread of Islam and Arabic culture to different parts of the world, elements such as
the pre-existing local and regional traditions, its common and scientific knowledge,
and the regions civil characteristics, influenced the new Islamic Civilization and were
incorporated into the Islamic culture. Thus, it affects the meaning associated with
colours (Piker, 2012). These assimilation of cultural elements is one of the wonderful
things that happens during a clash of civilization, where it allows the civilization to
further flourish, progress and develop.

The Colours in Islamic Culture

The Sacred of Green Colour
Among the many colours attributed to Islamic culture, the green colour is the
most prominent one for it has become the most important colour during the lifetime
of the Prophet. There are many speculations on the origins of the association of the
colour to Islam. In fact, during the time of the Crusades, it is said that there is a time
during which the European Crusaders avoided using green colour in their coats of
arms to avoid being mistaken for Muslims during battles. (Davies-Stofka, n.d.)

Figure 1: Green turban that worn by the Prophet Muhammad

There were some of those who believed that the green colour was the colour
of the Prophet Muhammads tribe, the Quraysh1. Others believed that green was the
Prophets favourite colour. In fact, it is said that the Prophet always wore a green
turban. There are also those who associated the colour with a hadith2 attributed to
the Prophet, which says that Three things of this world are acceptable: water,
greenery and a beautiful face. Even in the Quran, the colour is given a special
status (Davies-Stofka, n.d.).

Quraysh is the dominant tribe in Mecca during the period of The Prophet Muhammad
Hadith is a saying or and act or tacit approval and disapproval ascribed either validly or
invalidly to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad
2

As for such, theirs will be Gardens of Eden, wherein rivers

flow beneath them; therein they will be given armlets of gold and will
wear green robes of finest silk and gold embroidery, reclining upon
throne therein. Blest the reward, and fair the resting-place! (Surah
Al-Kahf, verse 31)
Green colour can be associated with other natural or environment that fit for
Islam as well as the Middle East, the birthplace of Islam. Being located in the dry
desert, the colour gives an important meaning which symbolizes nature and life.
There are also author who speculated that the connection between green colour
being the middle colour of the colour spectrum and the Prophets preach for
moderation complement each other (Beam, 2009).
In Islam, theres also the mention of a revered figure called Al-Khidr3, the socalled the Green One, which some attributed it to Immortality. In the Encyclopaedia
of Islam, he is described as His name means the green one, which gave rise to
attempts to explain why a man would be associated with this colour. Some accounts
say it derives from belief that his colour was a result of having gained immortality by
drinking water from the miraculous spring of life. They also associated his colour with
plant life and fertility (Campo, 2009). Theres also many accounts of him in the
Quran and the Hadith.
Some scholars does seems to claim that green is an Islamic colour because
Islam does not recognized a priesthood set apart. Instead in Islam clerical functions
are discharged by the Ulama4 scholars, in which their insignia is the imamah5. In
addition, green turban has been associated with people that are from the direct
decedent of the prophet Muhammad, denoted a Sharif6. (Feisner, 2006, p. 125)
In other accounts, the Islamic world have regard green as the colour of
fertility, foliage and it has been known as the colour for the Fatimid dynasty.

Al-Khidr may have been an inspiration for the Arthurian character of the Green Knight, who in
one story is described as worshipping The Prophet Muhammad (Beam, 2009).
4 Ulama is refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields
of Islamic studies
5 Imamah is a scarf or turban that the Muslim men wear during prayer or in their daily life
6 Sharif is a traditional Arab title in origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn".

The Purity of White Colour

For most, white colour have generally been accepted as the colour that is
loved by the God and the Prophet Muhammad. It symbolizes purity and cleanness. It
is a colour that represent the universal peace, brotherhood and harmony and bears a
special place in Islamic ways of life. (QuranReading.com, 2011). Thus it is common
for the Muslim to be wearing white clothing while performing the Friday prayer. In
fact, even during the sacred rites of pilgrimage. (Davies-Stofka, n.d.)
The colour also represents purity, said to bring harmony towards the person
who used it. Moreover, white colour cloth is also used to wrap a Muslim dead bodies
before they were buried as it symbolizes that the Muslim is pure. (Arief, 2013)
Black, the Emanating Holiness
Besides white, black is also known as the symbol of holiness in Islamic point
of view. The Holy Kaabah, which have become the centre of Muslim physical and
spiritual nucleus, a place where Muslim go to perform the pilgrimage and the one
place that is regarded as Gods home on earth, have been covered by black robe
with gold design and motifs. Additionally, there is a black stone, said to be one of the
two jewel of paradise, known as 'Hajre-Aswad present in The Holy Kaabah
(QuranReading.com, 2011) (IslamicLandmarks.com, n.d.)
Although black have been associated with the sacred place of the Holy
Kaabah, black also have been the colour for the Shia7 Community in Islam. The
Shia worn black gowns to allude to the sufferings of Husain, the caliphate Ali sons
that have been martyred at Karbala, in modern Iraq, in 680 C.E (Feisner, 2006, p.
125).
According to Edith Anderson Feisner (2006, p. 125) the dervishes wear black
robe to represent the graves and a tall camels hair hat to represent the headstone.

Shia is the short form of the historic phrase Shatu Al meaning "followers", "faction", or
"party" of Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali, whom the Shia believe to be Muhammad's successor
in the Caliphate
7

As a ritual in their dance, the dervish will wear a white robe underneath to represent
a resurrection after they have thrown away their black robe.

The Restricted Colour in Islam

In Islam, there is no restriction in the usage of colour because each colour
represented the beauty of life that God have created. However, although every
colour is the colour of nature but after passage of time, due to Islamic civilization
development and cultural progress, there are certain restriction that have been
made. In this regard, such restriction in particular is mostly due to the fact that some
region and places considers certain colours as the colour that worship other idols or
deity or its representation. Thus since it is prohibited for a Muslim to worship other
object or entity instead of the one God, thus said colours became prohibited.
(Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i Islam, n.d.)
There are three type of colour that were said to be the colours that were
restricted in Islam and that is red, yellow and saffron. These colour were known as
the colour that have been used during the pagan ceremonies to worship their god
since ancient times. According to an article by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i Islam
(n.d.), it has been known that red, yellow and saffron colour is the primitive colour
that represent primitive community. These primitive community had used these
colour to paint their worship temples which have different kind of idols that had been
worshiped.
Thus, because of this, most mosque that were built since the birth of Islam
have avoided from using these three colour to paint their wall and dome. Even the
Imam that led the prayer have try not to wear saffron colour.
Although these colour have been restricted, there are some communities that
have not accepted the restriction as part of their culture, and thus wore these colour
during prayer. This is because they held to the opinion and believe that since they
only worship the one and only God, the colours are nothing but elements of the
nature that God created. Additionally, one of the companion of the Prophet
Muhammad once want to throw away a red robe as he does not accepted it, but the
Prophet asked him to give it to his wife instead of throwing it away. (Burhan, n.d.)

The Messenger of Allah (saws) saw me. I think I wore a

garment dyed with a reddish yellow colour. He asked: What is this?
So I went and burnt it. The Prophet (saws) said: What have you
done with your garment? I replied: I burnt it. He (saws) said:
Why did you not give it to one of your women to wear? (Sunan of
Abu-Dawood Hadith 4057 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i Islam. (n.d.). Colour Restrictions in Islam. Retrieved
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http://aaiil.org/fiji/articles/jalaluddean/colourrestrictionsinislam.pdf

Arief, I. (2013, February 13). Arti Warna Hitam, Putih, Merah, Kuning, dan Hijau
dalam Islam. Retrieved from IRUL ARIEF: http://irul-arief.mywapblog.com/artiwarna-hitam-putih-merah-kuning-dan.xhtml
Beam, C. (2009, June 9). Islamic Greenwashing: Why is the color green so important
in the Muslim world? Retrieved from Slate Magazine:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/06/islamic_gr
eenwashing.html
Burhan. (n.d.). Is color red Prohibited? Retrieved from Islamhelpline.net:
http://www.islamhelpline.net/node/957
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http://www.patheos.com/Library/Islam/Ritual-Worship-DevotionSymbolism/Symbolism?offset=1&max=1
Feisner, E. A. (2006). Colour Second Edition. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd.
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Their Hue: Color in Islamic art and culture. Retrieved from Three Pipe
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http://www.quranreading.com/blog/islam-religion/exploring-the-colors-of-lifethe-islamic-way/