Abstract
Although it could be considered an insignificant part of society, Islamic calligraphy is crucial to its culture because of its role in religion and architecture, and its help in creating unity among Muslims. Calligraphy's function in religion is mainly due to the Muslim forbiddance of the "representation of living beings" (Schimmel, Islamic 11) in art. In architecture calligraphy is used to decorate the interior and exterior of buildings to help remind citizens of the purpose of the architecture: to glorify God. Lastly, calligraphy helps to unite Muslims because everyone must learn the Arabic language to participate in prayers and recitations.
Introduction
Islamic calligraphy is considered to have developed into an art during the time of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph and the son-in-law of Muhammad (Schimmel, Islamic 3). Not only a religious leader, Ali ibn Abi Talib was a great calligrapher and artist. The use and importance of Islamic calligraphy grew rapidly after his extensive development of the art. Muslims are cautioned against producing illustrations of living beings, therefore much of Islamic art is calligraphic. Although it is not seriously considered a real art form by many western societies, Islamic calligraphy is essential to its own culture because of its crucial role in religion, architecture, and creating unity among Muslims.
Background
Islamic calligraphy is unique in several distinct traditions. The letters of the alphabet can be written in different forms, making the writings difficult to read (Piotrosky 27). It is considered a noble art form, and has its own rhythm and harmony (Khan 7). It is written from right to left and lacks capitalization and punctuation marks (11). Each o...
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While the medium of calligraphy has commonly been ink on paper, contemporary artists continuously stretch and challenge the boundaries this traditional art. Two artists in particular represent such efforts to provide new shape and life to calligraphy: Hassan Massoudy and Mattar bin Lahej. Transforming calligraphy from a static art, Iraqi artist Hassan Massoudy introduces theatrically-inspired form and movement to his letters, while Emirati artist Mattar bin Lahej transitions calligraphy to the third dimension by his sculptures. Despite the visual differences between these two artists’ works, both reflect to re-explore the expressive capacities of the word.
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The United States Constitution says in the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech” (qtd. in Murphy) which means that any material in any medium; art, music, literature, spoken, cannot be altered by the government in any way. The people of the United States of America are free to express their opinion in any way, shape, or form without fear of repercussions from the government or others. Therefore, censorship is a violation of an American’s First Amendment rights.
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