IslamIslam (ˈɪslɑːm; ۘالِإسْلَام, al-ʾIslām ʔɪsˈlæːm, ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam, called Muslims, number approximately 2 billion globally and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians. Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets such as Adam (believed to be the first man), Ibrahim, Moses, and Isa (Jesus), among others.
Arabic calligraphyArabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy based on the Arabic alphabet. It is known in Arabic as khatt (خط), derived from the word 'line', 'design', or 'construction'. Kufic is the oldest form of the Arabic script. From an artistic point of view, Arabic calligraphy has been known and appreciated for its diversity and great potential for development. In fact, it has been linked in the Arabic culture to various fields such as religion, art, architecture, education and craftsmanship, which in return have played an important role in its advancement.
CalligraphyCalligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner". Modern calligraphy ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable. Classical calligraphy differs from type design and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may practice both.
NastaliqNastaliq (ˌnæstəˈliːk,_ˈnæstəliːk; , næsˈthæʔliːq; nəsˈt̪ɑːliːq), also romanized as Nastaʿlīq or Nastaleeq, is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write the Perso-Arabic script, and it is used for some Indo-Iranian languages, predominantly Classical Persian, Urdu, Kashmiri, Saraiki and Punjabi (Shahmukhi). It is often used also for Ottoman Turkish poetry, but rarely for Arabic. Nastaliq developed in Iran from naskh beginning in the 13th century and remains very widely used in Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan and other countries for written poetry and as a form of art.
Islamic Golden AgeThe Islamic Golden Age was a period of scientific, economic and cultural flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786 to 809) with the inauguration of the House of Wisdom, which saw scholars from all over the Muslim world flock to Baghdad, the world's largest city by then, to translate the known world's classical knowledge into Arabic and Persian.
Arabic scriptThe Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin alphabet), the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the third-most by number of users (after the Latin and Chinese scripts). The script was first used to write texts in Arabic, most notably the Quran, the holy book of Islam.
BasmalaThe Basmala (بَسْمَلَة, ; also known by its incipit ; بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ, "In the name of Allah"), or Tasmiyyah (Arabic: تَسْمِيَّة), is the titular name of the Islamic phrase "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" (Arabic: بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ, ). It is one of the most important phrases in Islam and is used by Muslims mostly before starting "good deeds" (for instance, during daily prayer) as well as beginning of most daily actions.
IstanbulIstanbul (ˌɪstænˈbʊl , USalsoˈɪstænbʊl ; İstanbul isˈtanbuɫ), formerly known as Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις; Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطينيه), is the largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, cultural and historic hub. The city straddles the Bosporus strait, lying in both Europe and Asia, and has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is the most populous European city and the world's 15th-largest city.
Islamic artIslamic 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 range of lands, periods, and genres, Islamic art is a concept used first by Western art historians in the late 19th century. Public Islamic art is traditionally non-representational, except for the widespread use of plant forms, usually in varieties of the spiralling arabesque.
MuraqqaA Muraqqa (Murakka, مورّقة, مُرَقّع) is an album in book form containing Islamic miniature paintings and specimens of Islamic calligraphy, normally from several different sources, and perhaps other matter. The album was popular among collectors in the Islamic world, and by the later 16th century became the predominant format for miniature painting in the Persian Safavid, Mughal and Ottoman empires, greatly affecting the direction taken by the painting traditions of the Persian miniature, Ottoman miniature and Mughal miniature.
