In this program, art critic Waldemar Januszczak travels through the heart of the Middle East and beyond to study a wide range of Islamic architecture, decoration, and art objects. Providing helpful historical background on the faith—with an eye on the explosive spread of early Islamic culture—the program examines the pristine beauty of India’s Taj Mahal as well as one of the world’s oldest surviving mosques, and what may be its most spectacular: the Great Mosque in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Dispelling the myth that Islam forbids all pictorial images, Januszczak analyzes mosaics commissioned by Umayyad caliphs Al-Walid I and II—including one uninhabited cityscape that seems to depict heavenly paradise. (60 minutes)