The History of Islamic Calligraphy & Quranic Art

Calligraphy has deep roots in the religion of Islam. It dates back all the way to the revelation of the Quran by Prophet Muhammad in the blank century. Recording and preserving the Holy Quran became a top priority for Muslims, and people who could read and write had high status as they could read and relay the Holy Quran to others and copy it down preserve the Holy Quran and spread its message. Reading and writing became of utmost importance. Nowadays, calligraphy is not only used for The Holy Quran. Other islamic books, mosques, and even prayer mats are often adorned and decorated using arabic calligraphy. There are many different types of arabic calligraphy, however, there are four major ones; the Kufi, Naskh, Thuluth, and Ruq’ah scripts. Kufi script was developed in Kufah, Iraq, which is where it gets its name. It is characterized by having long, vertical and horizontal, angular strokes that are square or rectangular in nature and geometric in design. It was the earliest form of writing used to record the verses of the Holy Quran, which were often written on animal hide and skin, between the 8th and 10th century. It is also used commonly in architecture. It is the oldest of all the major types of arabic calligraphy. The second major type is Naskh, which literally translates to “to copy”. It became more commonly used than Kufi in the 11th century and gradually replaced it as the script the Holy Quran was copied in, because of its more cursive, thin and round style which made it easier to read and replicate. It is still the most widely used script in physical copies of the Holy Quran today. The Thuluth script, while less common, is a more extravagant type of arabic calligraphy, and is usually used to highlight smaller verses or words rather than writing out whole surah’s from the Quran. It translates roughly to “one-third”, as the script is characterized as being one-third straight and one-third round. It features the harakat, or vowel signs, in the arabic language, while other scripts may opt to forgo them completely for the sake of simplicity. The last major type, is called Ruq’ah. It is characterized by being smaller in size, and having shorter strokes. It was used for faster writing, which was efficient for government scribes in the past. It is one of the simplest scripts. The four major types of arabic calligraphy have contributed greatly to the Islamic art and architecture of today, from Qurans to mosques. The next time you visit your mosque or open your quran, look out for the different types and appreciate the beautiful calligraphy!

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/calligraphy-in-islamic-art/

https://www.rosettatype.com/blog/2016/05/24/Arabic-calligraphic-styles