High School
newspapers, books, magazines, and
calligraphy incorporated into other
art forms. The art form that lends
itself to an interesting lesson is
writing letters of the English alphabet with their corresponding letters
in Arabic.
Students can use calligraphy
nibs to do this exercise, followed
by making a chart to categorize art
forms that are religious, sacred,
secular, and profane. This is a useful way of integrating technology to
research knowledge. It also enables
students to select what is essential
from the vast array of information
that is on the World Wide Web.
Understanding the
Art of Islam
Themina Kader
I find it useful to take calligraphy
a step further. By examining the
works of Jasper Johns, students can
see how letters can be turned into
works of art by the simple method
of repetition. Since repetition creates patterns and pattern is a hallmark of the art of Islam, students
can create artworks using letters of
both the Arabic and English alphabets. Illuminated letters have a rich
history in both Christian religious
art and the art of Islam. Painting,
carving, embroidery, computer
graphics, and printmaking are some
art forms that could be put to very
effective use in creating calligraphic
works.
Since September 11, 2001,
the interest in learning
more about Islam, Muslims,
and Islamic culture and
society has expanded in a variety
of ways. The purpose of this brief
narrative is to create a sense of curiosity and anticipation to learning
more about how Islamic art contributes to the art world.
culture. This conversation leads
students to see the variety of opinions held by different people. Next,
students examine how Islam is portrayed in the print media.
Representational Art
With this article I hope to help
dispel stereotypes about Islam and,
more importantly, enable art teachers to teach about Islamic art on an
interdisciplinary platform.
The Importance of Calligraphy
In the second lesson, I introduce
the concepts of
the religious and
sacred, both of
which are closely
related to calligraphy. Muslims
believe that the
Qur’an, written in Arabic, is the
direct word of Allah transmitted
through Muhammad the Prophet.
If the written word is so exalted,
then why is the human figure not?
I discuss the commonly misunder-
stood concept of representational
art. In the context of Islam, repre-
sentational art refers to the deliber-
ate and conscious
attempt to depict
a living form such
as a human being
or an animal.
Why are human
figures not found
These artworks feature
calligraphy—the
highest manifestation
of art in Islam.
For Muslims, Islam is a way of
life. However, that fact should not
deter one from conducting a meaningful dialogue about it. The first
lesson is an exploratory exercise in
which students write down their
knowledge of, thoughts about, and
any other fact or fiction they may
have heard or seen regarding Islamic
in mosques?
Thus calligraphy is the highest
manifestation of art in Islam.
I show students examples of different types of Qur’ans and different
forms of Arabic calligraphy from
It is fairly well-documented that
Islam prohibits the use of human
forms in its mosques. Pre-Islamic
Arabia was a predominantly idolatry
society so that when Muhammad
preached Islam, he was guided by
the Words of Allah through the
Qur’an. Islam believes in the One-
