Final answer:
Islamic ornamental patterns typically avoid depicting humans or animals due to religious beliefs. They focus on geometric and vegetal motifs, but secular Islamic art may include figurative elements influenced by earlier regional styles.
Step-by-step explanation:
Islamic ornamental patterns typically do not include representations of humans or animals. This is largely due to the belief by many Muslims that the depiction of the human form is considred idolatry and thus forbidden. However, in secular contexts of Islamic art, human and animal figures do sometimes appear. In religious contexts, artists relied on geometric and vegetal motifs to decorate mosques and sacred manuscripts, focusing on intricate patterns and arabesques to avoid depictions of living beings.
Geometric figures, including elaborate stars and polygons, along with vegetal patterns and calligraphic inscriptions, were used to embellish sacred spaces. Whereas, secular Islamic art, such as the decoration of private residences, sometimes included figurative elements. Noteworthy is that Islamic art was influenced by pre-Islamic traditions, such as the Coptic, Sassanian, and Byzantine styles, adapting their vegetative scrolls and geometric motifs.