Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, Ottoman, and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Chapman, Caroline (2012). ''Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture'', It is known in

as ''khatt Arabi'' (), which translates into Arabic line, design, or construction. The development of Islamic calligraphy is strongly tied to the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

; chapters and excerpts from the Qur'an are a common and almost universal text upon which Islamic calligraphy is based. Although artistic depictions of people and animals are not explicitly forbidden by the Qur'an, pictures have traditionally been limited in Islamic books in order to avoid idolatry. Although some scholars dispute this, Kufic script was supposedly developed around the end of the 7th century in

Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...

, Iraq, from which it takes its name. The style later developed into several varieties, including floral, foliated, plaited or interlaced, bordered, and square kufic. In the ancient world, though, artists would often get around this prohibition by using strands of tiny writing to construct lines and images. Calligraphy was a valued art form, even as a moral good. An ancient Arabic proverb illustrates this point by emphatically stating that "Purity of writing is purity of the soul." However, Islamic calligraphy is not limited to strictly religious subjects, objects, or spaces. Like all

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...

, it encompasses a diverse array of works created in a wide variety of contexts. The prevalence of calligraphy in Islamic art is not directly related to its non-figural tradition; rather, it reflects the centrality of the notion of writing and written text in Islam. For instance, the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

is related to have said: "The first thing God created was the pen."Roxburgh, David J. (2008). ""The Eye is Favored for Seeing the Writing's Form": On the Sensual and the Sensuous in Islamic Calligraphy". ''Muqarnas''. 25: 275–298 – via JSTOR. Islamic calligraphy developed from two major styles:

Kufic Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

and Naskh. There are several variations of each, as well as regionally specific styles. Arabic or Persian calligraphy has also been incorporated into modern art, beginning with the post-colonial period in the Middle East, as well as the more recent style of

calligraffiti Calligraffiti is an art form that combines calligraphy, typography, and graffiti. It can be classified as either abstract expressionism or abstract vandalism. It is defined as a visual art that integrates letters into compositions that attempt to ...

Instruments and media

The traditional instrument of the Islamic calligrapher is the

kalam ''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...

, a

pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

normally made of dried

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

or bamboo. The ink is often in colour and chosen so that its intensity can vary greatly, creating dynamism and movement in the letter forms. Some styles are often written using a metallic-tip pen. Niebuhr Beschreibung von Arabien Tab XIII

Niebuhr Beschreibung von Arabien Tab XIII

Islamic calligraphy can be applied to a wide range of decorative mediums other than paper, such as tiles, vessels, carpets, and stone. Before the advent of paper, papyrus and parchment were used for writing. During the 9th century, an influx of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

from China revolutionized calligraphy. While monasteries in Europe treasured a few dozen volumes, libraries in the

Muslim world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...

regularly contained hundreds and even thousands of books. For centuries, the art of writing has fulfilled a central iconographic function in Islamic art. Although the academic tradition of Islamic calligraphy began in Baghdad, the centre of the Islamic empire during much of its early history, it eventually spread as far as India and Spain. Coins were another support for calligraphy. Beginning in 692, the Islamic caliphate reformed the coinage of the Near East by replacing Byzantine Christian imagery with Islamic phrases inscribed in Arabic. This was especially true for

dinars The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread. The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin o ...

, or gold coins of high value. Generally, the coins were inscribed with quotes from the Qur'an. By the tenth century, the Persians, who had converted to Islam, began weaving inscriptions onto elaborately patterned silks. So precious were textiles featuring Arabic text that Crusaders brought them to Europe as prized possessions. A notable example is the Suaire de Saint-Josse, used to wrap the bones of St. Josse in the Abbey of St. Josse-sur-Mer, near Caen in north-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. As Islamic calligraphy is highly venerated, most works follow examples set by well-established calligraphers, with the exception of secular or contemporary works. In the Islamic tradition, calligraphers underwent extensive training in three stages, including the study of their teacher's models, in order to be granted certification.

Styles

A section of the Koran - Google Art Project

Kufic

The

style emphasizes rigid and angular strokes, it developed alongside the Naskh script in the 7th century. Although some scholars dispute this, Kufic script was supposedly developed around the end of the 7th century in Kufa, Iraq, from which it takes its name. The style later developed into several varieties, including floral, foliated, plaited or interlaced, bordered, and square kufic. Due to its straight and orderly style of lettering, Kufic was frequently used in ornamental stone carving as well as on coins. It was the main script used to copy the Qur'an from the 8th to 10th century and went out of general use in the 12th century when the flowing naskh style become more practical. However, it continued to be used as a decorative element to contrast superseding styles. There was no set rules of using the Kufic script; the only common feature is the angular, linear shapes of the characters. Due to the lack of standardization of early Kufic, the script differs widely between regions, ranging from very square and rigid forms to flowery and decorative ones. Common varieties include square Kufic, a technique known as ''

banna'i In Iranian architecture, banna'i ( fa, بنائی, "builder's technique" in Persian) is an architectural decorative art in which glazed tiles are alternated with plain bricks to create geometric patterns over the surface of a wall or to spell ou ...

''. Contemporary calligraphy using this style is also popular in modern decorations. Decorative Kufic inscriptions are often imitated into

pseudo-kufic Pseudo-Kufic, or Kufesque, also sometimes Pseudo-Arabic, is a style of decoration used during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,Encyclopaedia BritannicaBeautiful Gibberish: Fake Arabic in Medieval and Renaissance Art/ref> consisting of imitation ...

s in Middle age and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

Europe. Pseudo-kufics is especially common in

depictions of people from the Holy Land. The exact reason for the incorporation of pseudo-Kufic is unclear. It seems that Westerners mistakenly associated 13th-14th century Middle Eastern scripts with systems of writing used during the time of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, and thus found it natural to represent early Christians in association with them.

Naskh

The use of cursive scripts coexisted with Kufic, and historically cursive was commonly used for informal purposes. Naskh first appeared within the first century of the Islamic calendar. Naskh translates to "copying," as it became the standard for transcribing books and manuscripts. The script is the most ubiquitous among other styles, used in the Qur'an, official decrees, and private correspondence. It became the basis of modern Arabic print.

is commonly believed to predate naskh, but historians have traced the two scripts as coexisting long before their codification by ibn Muqla, as the two served different purposes. Kufi was used primarily in decoration, while Naskh served for everyday scribal use.

Thuluth ''Thuluth'' ( ar, ثُلُث, ' or ar, خَطُّ الثُّلُثِ, '; fa, ثلث, ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new s ...

Thuluth ''Thuluth'' ( ar, ثُلُث, ' or ar, خَطُّ الثُّلُثِ, '; fa, ثلث, ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new s ...

was developed during the 15th century and slowly refined by Ottoman Calligraphers including

Mustafa Râkim Mustafa Râkim ( ota, مصطفى رآقم; Modern Turkish: ''Mustafa Râkım'') (1757–1826), was an Ottoman calligrapher. He extended and reformed Hâfiz Osman's style, placing greater emphasis on technical perfection, which broadened the cal ...

, Shaykh Hamdallah, and others, till it became what it is today. Letters in this script have long vertical lines with broad spacing. The name, meaning "one third", may possibly be a reference to the x-height, which is one-third of the 'alif, or to the fact that the pen used to write the vowels and ornaments is one third the width of that used in writing the letters.

Reqa'

Reqa' is a handwriting style similar to thuluth. It first appeared in the 10th century. The shape is simple with short strokes and small flourishes. Yaqut al-Musta'simi was one of the calligraphers who employed this style. The Arab,

Ibn al-Bawwab Ibn al-Bawwāb (), also known as Ali ibn-Hilal, Abu'l-Hasan, and Ibn al-Sitri, was an Arabic calligrapher and illuminator who lived in Baghdad. He is the figure most associated with the adoption of round script to transcribe the Qur'an. He most ...

is actually believed to have created this script.

Muhaqqaq Muhaqqaq is one of the main six types of calligraphic script in Arabic.John F. A. Sawyer, J. M. Y. Simpson, R. E. Asher (eds.), ''Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion'', Elsevier, New York 2001, , p. 253. The Arabic word ''muḥaqqaq'' () ...

Muhaqqaq Muhaqqaq is one of the main six types of calligraphic script in Arabic.John F. A. Sawyer, J. M. Y. Simpson, R. E. Asher (eds.), ''Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion'', Elsevier, New York 2001, , p. 253. The Arabic word ''muḥaqqaq'' () ...

is a majestic style used by accomplished calligraphers, and is a variation of thuluth. Along with thuluth, it was considered one of the most beautiful scripts, as well as one of the most difficult to execute. Muhaqqaq was commonly used during the Mamluk era, but its use became largely restricted to short phrases, such as the

basmallah The ''Basmala'' ( ar, بَسْمَلَة, ; also known by its incipit ; , "In the name of Allah"), or Tasmiyyah (Arabic: ), is the titular name of the Islamic phrase "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" (Arabic: , ). ...

, from the 18th century onward.

Regional styles

With the spread of Islam, the Arabic script was established in a vast geographic area with many regions developing their own unique style. From the 14th century onward, other cursive styles began to develop in Turkey, Persia, and China. # Maghrebi scripts developed from

letters in the Maghreb (North Africa) and al-Andalus ( Iberia), Maghrebi scripts are traditionally written with a pointed tip (القلم المذبب), producing a line of even thickness. Within the Maghrebi family, there are different styles including the cursive ''mujawher'' and the ceremonial ''mabsut.'' ## Sudani scripts developed in ''Biled as-Sudan'' (the

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

n Sahel) and can be considered a subcategory of Maghrebi scripts # Diwani is a cursive style of Arabic calligraphy developed during the reign of the early Ottoman Turks in the 16th and early 17th centuries. It was invented by Housam Roumi, and reached its height of popularity under Süleyman I the Magnificent (1520–1566). Spaces between letters are often narrow, and lines ascend upwards from right to left. Larger variations called ''djali'' are filled with dense decorations of dots and diacritical marks in the space between, giving it a compact appearance. Diwani is difficult to read and write due to its heavy stylization and became the ideal script for writing court documents as it ensured confidentiality and prevented forgery. # Nasta'liq is a cursive style originally devised to write the

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken a ...

for literary and non-Qur'anic works. Nasta'liq is thought to be a later development of the naskh and the earlier ta'liq script used in Iran. Quite rapidly gaining popularity as a script in South Asia. The name ''ta'liq'' means "hanging," and refers to the slightly sloped quality of lines of text in this script. Letters have short vertical strokes with broad and sweeping horizontal strokes. The shapes are deep, hook-like, and have high contrast. A variant called '' Shikasteh'' was developed in the 17th century for more formal contexts. # Sini is a style developed in China. The shape is greatly influenced by

Chinese calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high este ...

, using a horsehair brush instead of the standard reed pen. A famous modern calligrapher in this tradition is

Hajji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since i ...

Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang Haji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang (born 1963) is an expert in Islamic calligraphy, specializing in the Sini style which originated from the Chinese Muslim tradition. Born in the province of Shandong, he is a lecturer at the Islamic College at Zhengz ...

Modern

In the post-colonial era, artists working in North Africa and the Middle East transformed Arabic calligraphy into a modern art movement, known as the '' Hurufiyya movement''.Flood, Necipoğlu (2017)
A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture
Volume II. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1294. . OCLC 1006377297. Artists working in this style use calligraphy as a graphic element within contemporary artwork. The term, ''hurufiyya'' is derived from the Arabic term, ''harf'' for letter. Traditionally, the term was charged with Sufi intellectual and esoteric meaning. It is an explicit reference to a medieval system of teaching involving political theology and lettrism. In this theology, letters were seen as primordial signifiers and manipulators of the cosmos. Hurufiyya artists blended Western art concepts with an artistic identity and sensibility drawn from their own culture and heritage. These artists integrated Islamic visual traditions, especially calligraphy, and elements of modern art into syncretic contemporary compositions. Although hurufiyyah artists struggled to find their own individual dialogue within the context of nationalism, they also worked towards an aesthetic that transcended national boundaries and represented a broader affiliation with an Islamic identity. The hurufiyya artistic style as a movement most likely began in North Africa around 1955 with the work of Ibrahim el-Salahi. However, the use of calligraphy in modern artworks appears to have emerged independently in various Islamic states. Artists working in this were often unaware of other hurufiyya artists's works, allowing for different manifestations of the style to emerge in different regions. In Sudan, for instance, artworks include both Islamic calligraphy and West African motifs. Ceiling of Frere Hall

The hurufiyya art movement was not confined to painters and included artists working in a variety of media. One example is the Jordanian ceramicist, Mahmoud Taha who combined the traditional aesthetics of calligraphy with skilled craftsmanship. Although not affiliated with the hurufiyya movement, the contemporary artist

Shirin Neshat Shirin Neshat ( fa, شیرین نشاط; born March 26, 1957 in Qazvin) is an Iranian visual artist who lives in New York City, known primarily for her work in film, video and photography. Her artwork centers on the contrasts between Islam and th ...

integrates Arabic text into her black-and-white photography, creating contrast and duality. In Iraq, the movement was known as ''Al Bu'd al Wahad'' (or the One Dimension Group)", and in Iran, it was known as the Saqqa-Khaneh movement. Western art has influenced Arabic calligraphy in other ways, with forms such as

, which is the use of calligraphy in public art to make politico-social messages or to ornament public buildings and spaces. Notable Islamic calligraffiti artists include: Yazan Halwani active in Lebanon, el Seed working in France and Tunisia, and Caiand

A1one A1one (pronounced ''alone''; fa, تنها, Tanhâ) is the pseudonym of Karan Reshad, an Iranian visual artist who pioneered graffiti and street art in Iran. His career as a street artist began in his hometown Tehran. Life and career A1one ...

in Tehran. In 2017 the Sultanate of Oman unveiled the ''Mushaf Muscat'', an interactive calligraphic Quran following supervision and support from the Omani Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, a voting member of the

Unicode Consortium The Unicode Consortium (legally Unicode, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated and based in Mountain View, California. Its primary purpose is to maintain and publish the Unicode Standard which was developed with the intentio ...

. Martin Lejeune, 15 June 2017
Oman unveils world’s 1st interactive calligraphic Quran
/ref>

Gallery

Kufic

File:Folio from a Qur’an, sura 91,14-15; sura 92,1-5 (F1929.70).jpg, Kufic script in an 11th-century Qur'an File:Folio Blue Quran Met 2004.88.jpg, Maghrebi Kufic script in the 9th or 10th century Blue Quran File:Jame mosque yazd tilework.jpg, Square kufic tilework in Yazd, Iran File:Cup votive inscriptions MET 40-170-15.jpg, Under-glaze terracotta bowl from the 11th century Nishapur File:Hamdanid gold dinar, Nasir al-Dawla and Sayf al-Dawla.jpg,

Gold dinar The gold dinar ( ar, ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهبي) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Lat ...

from 10th century Syria Image:An example of Kufic Calligraphy.jpg, A Kufic calligraphy in Chota Imambara

Naskh and Thuluth

Image:Qur'anic Manuscript - Mid to Late 15th Century, Turkey.jpg, Muhaqqaq script in a 15th-century Qur'an from Turkey File:Qur'an manuscript Surat al-Nisa'. (1).tif, Muhaqqaq script in a 13th-century Qur'an File:Muhammad ibn Pir Ahmad al-shahir bi-Ibn Arghun al-Shirazi - Text Page with Dedication to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I - Walters W5912A - Full Page.jpg, Naskh script in an early 16th-century Ottoman manuscript dedicated to Selim I File:Ijazah3.jpg, Diploma of competency in calligraphy, written with thuluth and naskh script File:Mausolée de Touman Aka (Shah-i-Zinda, Samarcande) (6009410911).jpg, Thuluth script tile in Samarkand Image:Kalligráfia Hagia Sophia.jpg, Calligraphy of Ali decorating

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

Regional varieties

File:مصحف مخطوط بالخط المغربي المبسوط ٥.jpg, A Moroccan Quran in a ''mabsūt'' Maghrebi script File:Folio Quran Met 42.63.jpg, Surat Az-Zumar in an Andalusi script, from the Nasrid period in Al-Andalus File:سورة الأعراف مكتوبة بالخط السوقي ٣.jpg, ''Surat Al-A'raf'' written in ''Suqi'' script, named after

Essouk Essouk (Arabic: : "the market") is a commune and small village in the Kidal Region of Mali. The village lies 45 km northwest of Kidal in the Adrar des Ifoghas massif. The ruins of the medieval town of Tadmakka (Arabic: ) lie 2 km no ...

File:Bifolium Mushal al-Hadina Quran Met 2007.191.jpg, Mushaf al-Hadina, from the Zirid period in Tunisia, in a Kufic script File:Brooklyn Museum - Sample of Calligraphy in Persian Nasta'liq Script.jpg, 17th century Persian ''Nasta'liq'' script File:Quran with Chinese translation.jpg, Quran in Sini script with Chinese translations

Modern examples

File:Bismillah_2.svg, Bismallah calligraphy. Thuluth Jali File:Muhammad calligraphy.svg,

calligraphy File:Bismillah.svg, Bismallah calligraphy File:Caligrafia arabe pajaro.svg, An example of

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...

calligraphy

Craft

File:Learning Arabic calligraphy.jpg, The instruments and work of a student calligrapher File:Menulis khat.jpg, Islamic calligraphy performed by a Malay Muslim in Malaysia. Calligrapher is making a rough draft.

List of calligraphers

Some classical calligraphers:

References

External links

Islamic Calligraphy Pictures

Mushaf Muscat

mastersofistanbul.com

baradariarts.com

Gallery with much calligraphy in Turkish mosque
{{Islamic studies Islamic art Islamic architectural elements Ottoman culture Islamic arts of the book Islamic illuminated manuscripts Persian calligraphy Arabic calligraphy Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Instruments and media

Styles

Kufic

Naskh

Thuluth ''Thuluth'' ( ar, ثُلُث, ' or ar, خَطُّ الثُّلُثِ, '; fa, ثلث, ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new s ...

Reqa'

Muhaqqaq Muhaqqaq is one of the main six types of calligraphic script in Arabic.John F. A. Sawyer, J. M. Y. Simpson, R. E. Asher (eds.), ''Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion'', Elsevier, New York 2001, , p. 253. The Arabic word ''muḥaqqaq'' () ...

Regional styles

Modern

Gallery

Kufic

Naskh and Thuluth

Regional varieties

Modern examples

Craft

List of calligraphers

See also

References

External links