THE HILYAH-I SHARIF IN ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHY Print

M. Ugur Derman, PhD

The Islamic faith discourages the making of depictions of a person who could be idolized. Thus, other than a few miniatures, no one made portraits of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Instead of having an image of the Prophet, as exists for Christ within the Christian world, Muslims learn about the characteristics of the Prophet of Islam from the hilyah; with the help of these accurate accounts each believer is able to conceive of the Prophet in way that is more conducive to devotion within the hearts. This is naturally a more reasonable approach for a faith that abolished idols.
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PROPHET MUHAMMAD IN CALLIGRAPHY Print
Image Hilal Kazan, PhD

The Arabic script was not greatly developed in the pre-Islamic era; it was not used much at this time because the Arabs usually committed things to memory. For this reason, the development of the Arabic script started with the advent Islam, when the Quran began to be revealed, and with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asking his scribes to register everything they heard from him. Thus, the Arabic script evolved and became improved over time, leading to the creation of one of the most original Islamic arts, Islamic calligraphy.

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PROPHET MUHAMMED (PBUH) IN MINIATURE Print

Hilal Kazan, PhD

In the Islamic religion, painting is a sensitive issue about which debates have been going on and the final verdict has not been reached. Based on this sensitivity, Muslims have been careful about not painting a picture of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and think that it should not be done. However, throughout history some of his miracles have been depicted in miniatures (illuminated manuscripts), including first and foremost the Mi’raj event where he ascended to heavens from Jerusalem and conversed with God, and his splitting of the moon into two parts.

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ISLAM'S UNDERSTANDING OF ART AND THE PROHIBITION OF IMAGES IN LIGHT OF SACRED SCRIPTURE Print

Aziz Doganay, PhD

In order to correctly perceive and interpret Islam’s view of art, first we have to arrive at a common decision regarding what art is. However, this subject is a long matter that goes beyond the scope of this article. It is necessary to point out that art is not just making pictures and statues. Art is a work of discovering details, understanding and portraying profound feelings, and living and sharing through experiencing feelings. Art is a universal language of emotion. Images and musical notes only comprise alphabets of this language.
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