ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHY

Andrew Ang
Abdul Rasyid
CALLIGRAPHY: A HISTORY
Calligraphy was a way of life,
dating back to ancient times.
When man learned to use
brushes to capture spirituality
in the form of language.
However, the difference Islam
has set
Itself as an ideology far from
calligraphical traits of other
cultures is the prohibition of
likenesses of any living thing
as an art; iconography.

Early Muslim artists, abiding to the

belief system, cannot go against the
prohibition, so they express
themselves instead through simply
beautifying words.
TOOLS OF THE
CALLIGRAPHER
Calligraphy came to embody a
calligrapher’s moral character
structure and not only a perfected
practice that was achieved through
patience and discipline.

Every detail, movement, and feel of the

tool used gives the calligrapher an
experience of another magnitude
altogether. The artistry and
luxuriousness of calligraphers’ tools
testify to the pervasive reverence for
the written word that characterized
Islamic societies.
The tools also demonstrate in a quite
graphic way the connections that
existed between calligraphers and
Sufi orders.
Muslims travelled and spread the
faith of the Quran. As the Quran was
written in Arabic, in its calligraphic
form, those who read it had to
understand the language and its
visual style. Thus, people from foreign
countries adopted the Arabic language
and learned the practice of Islamic
Calligraphy.

Another reason for adopting Islamic

Calligraphy is that they found it to
have decorative attributes unlike
calligraphy from other countries such
as Japan, Chinese, and Europe.
Other than in print, Islamic
Calligraphy is flexible enough to
decorate everyday objects such as
cutlery, furniture, and clothing.
PERSPECTIVES
 BEFORE
“Before I had a better understanding of
Islamic Calligraphy, I had little thoughts of
why, in my regular visits to the mosques,
there were no other adornments than
carvings and morphed metal Arabic script.”

“I had already known about the taboo of

having paintings and idols in Muslim art and
architecture, but assumed that it was
something to do with tradition, and have
hardly a relation to religion.”
~ Abdul
“When one subscribes to a belief system, he
or she interprets the world according to their
beliefs, so they may express their devotion to
their God. In doing so, the art evolves into
something unique to each culture and region,
from both the texts they abide by, and how
they can get around the prohibitions
innovatively.”
AFTER
“With a more in depth look into
calligraphy of Islam, I had a better
understanding to the prohibitions, the
mentality of the people, the artists
then.”
~ Abdul
“At first glance, I find Islamic Calligraphy to
be a beautiful recording of the language on a
surface. The way the language is written is
smooth and appealing to the eye. Although I
do not understand the language, I guess that
the texts give a spiritual message.”

BEFORE
“What astonishes me even more is
the way the varied texts can take the
form of an animal or the shape of an
object- much like typography. The
text itself has a certain resemblance
to motion and movement, as if the
lines were dancing. Compared to
calligraphy from other races, Islamic
Calligraphy has its own unique
feature from the rest.”~ Andrew ^_^
 “After attaining knowledge on Islamic Calligraphy, I
learn that the art of calligraphy immerses the artist in
AFTER a strong link with spirituality. Calligraphy is a sacred
written form of art which can be flexible but at the
same time have religious limitations to it.”

“Islamic Calligraphy can be used to

decorate many everyday items in beautiful
tessellations, but it cannot take the form of
an animal because of religious reasons.”

“I still find Islamic Calligraphy as a unique

writing form of language compared to
calligraphy from other countries. Islamic
Calligraphy is beautiful but its religious
background shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

~ Andrew ^_^
END