By : Alekhya Ravi and Kinza Ahmed  

Calligraphy in the Islamic WorldBy:

Alekhya Ravi and

Kinza Ahmed

Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Calli1. Introduction

2. Calligraphy3. Different styles of writing in Islamic

Calligraphy4. Equipment for Arabic Calligraphy5. What was written in this Art?6. Kana E Kaba7. Where are these arts found in the Islamic

World?8. Who Started it?9. How this art spread out across the world?10.Pictures11.Questionnaire12.Bibliography13.The End

Table of Contents

 There are different types of cultural calligraphy, but we are going to talk about the Islamic or Arabic Calligraphy. Islamic Calligraphy is actually found in the holly book of Muslims , called the “Quran”. Calligraphy for Muslims is the highest level of all arts. Each character drawn in the picture represents something maybe like, harmony, melody or beauty.  We will also learn about how, when and where it got started. It is a beautiful art which is hand drawn using special equipment. You will then be given a worksheet which is related to this PowerPoint. If you have any questions please ask us after our presentation.

Introduction

  

 

Islamic Calligraphy is the art of writing Arabic scripts using Arabic alphabets. Calligraphy means “ Beautiful Writing”, in Greek. Arabic Calligraphy writing looks almost similar to normal Arabic writing, but it is written in decorative ways. It is decorated on coins, weapons, tiles, buildings and manuscripts. This Calligraphy started in the stone age because it finds its origins in cave paintings. It was used form all over the world. In Islamic Calligraphy, proverbs and full paragraphs, from the Qur'an, are still active for Islamic Culture. There are also different styles of Arabic Calligraphy which will be discussed in the

next slide.   

Calligraphy

There

There are twenty styles of calligraphy. The 'kufic or Kufi script' is the most popular type because it was mostly used in the Qur’an and it became popular in the 10th century. People knew about this script before but it wasn't developed properly. Some other styles are Nash or Naskihi, Tulut,Tawqi, Riqa, Muhaqqaq, Rihani or Rayhani , Diwani and more. Calligraphy can be done on different mediums. Mediums are the type of flat surfaces you will use to write on and based on that you can choose the size, and the stronger qalam.

Different styles in Islamic Calligraphy

  The Calligraphy uses a reed pen called a qalam in Arabic. It is pointed with a cut on an angle. That provides a thick down stroke and a thin upstroke while writing. Calligraphy was written on parchment or papyrus, a type of paper from Egypt. This type of paper was cheaper , more abundant and it was easy to cut and the color would stay better. The calligraphy ink is mostly found in different colors. Most of the colors are waterproof. But ink should not be used in a fountain pen. The best reed pens came from the Persian Gulf region, and that was one of the valued trading objects in the Islamic World.

Equipment for this Art

•Sayings about Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H)•Poetry•Proverbs•Royal announcements•Court documents•Stories•Salutations•Hadith•In Arabic and Persian calligraphy letters are sometimes arranged in the form of plants or animals. The writing can be written vertical or horizontal.

What is written in the Calligraphy

 

The wonderful work of Calligraphy can be seen on Gilaf - E- Khana – Kaaba. Nowadays they just call it Khana Ka’aba. Khana-E-Kaba has six Surah-e-Ikhlas which are quranic Aayats, which are written separately on square shapes in Islamic Calligraphy. They used gold in the writing of Calligraphy. It is located in Makkah. 

Calligraphy is mostly found in Ottoman and Turkey. They both ruled over the Islamic empire, which played an important task in the improvement of Calligraphic art. Most valuable and creative work was produced or written on mosques, schools, shops and other public places which are still alive and visible. It exists in different attractive forms of Arabic calligraphy and shows strong support of art to the religion.

Where are these arts found in the Islamic World?

The six cursive scripts, al-qalam-al- sitha, were made or written by Ibn Muqla . It was then developed and was made in an advanced form by his inheritor Ibn al- Bawwab and Yaqut al Mustacsimi. We exactly don’t know who started Arabic Calligraphy because it was used in the stone age and of course that’s a long time ago. These are just some of the writers who made few of the Arabic styles but there are lots more and we don’t know who made it ? It’s unknown!

The spread of this amazing art all followed by the death of  Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) which was shown in an artistic method. This variety of art spread into countries were ever Islamic belief existed and was alive. It spread from Africa to Egypt and then from Spain to Persia, and that’s how the power of the art got stronger every time it spread. Islamic calligraphy then developed slowly with a single merge of assorted art from the Byzantines, Copts, Romans, and the Persians.

How this art spread out across the world?

 

Questionnaire1.Have you learned anything new??

2. What are the tools used to write calligraphy?

3. Is there a difference between calligraphy writing and normal Arabic writing? Explain.

4. What is written in the calligraphy?

5.Calligraphy is mostly found in and

.

Questionnaire Cont.6. Who was Ibn Muqla?7. True or False. The best reed pens came

from Turkey and was not good for trading.

8. What is this called and where is it located?9. When did this art begin?10. True or False. The art spread out from

Africa to Egypt and then from Spain to Persia.

• http://ezinearticles.com/?Islamic-Art---How-Did-it-Begin?&id=2970612

•http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/learning/calligraphy.html

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qalam• •http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calligraphy

•http://www.islamic-artist.co.uk/islamic-calligraphy.php

Bibliography

The End