BY MOWADA ARIFI
My artwork is entitled Karam, which
means Generosity. Although it is a word of three letters in the Arabic alphabet, it has a
great and deep meaning for Muslims. It is considered to be the basic element of
life for Muslims. Islam has an obvious relation to peace because the ideal
behavior that God asks people to follow is based on generosity, peace, and
humility.
Muslims believe that everything on earth
originated from god and will return to him even their souls. Thus, people have
to behave as all of what they possess belongs to God and they have to protect,
preserve, and share with others in order to satisfy God and have peace.
Many people attack
Islam and describe it as a religion of terrorism. They claim that Islam teaches
people to be aggressive and not to help others. However, the main approaches of
Islam are generosity and forgiveness that are considered the main principles of
peace. Those people have to study and look at the history of Islam and the
ideal behavior of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Islam asks Muslims
to forgive others even if they hurt them. Islam asks Muslims to forgive and not
hurt their enemies. For instance, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) asked
Muslims to not kill or hurt the people (his enemies) who the Muslims captured
in one of the battles, and he freed them after he asked them to teach Muslims
how to read and write.
Islam is the religion that asks people and
encourages them to be generous and kind to others without expecting anything
back from them. Thus, to be a true Muslim, people have to help others and give
and support them freely. Being generous and kind in Islam is not about just
giving money to others, but it is more about helping and supporting others by
giving them advice, money, and knowledge. In addition, the concept of
generosity in Islam includes treating other people nicely and smiling in front
of them. The concept of generosity in Islam is not about giving others
things that people do not want anymore, but it is about sharing what they have
and love with others. As Ibn Abbas said that he heard the Prophet Muhammad
(Peace Be Upon Him) saying, “the believer is not the one who eats when his
neighbor beside him is hungry”. Also, according to another companion who heard the
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) saying, “the believer is simple and generous, but the
wicked person is deceitful and ignoble”.
Therefore, peace is not a small part of
Islam, but it is the main core of Islam. All of what God asks Muslims to do
has a good impact on them. He rewards Muslims who adopt generosity as their
main characteristic by offering them good life and promises them paradise.
God says in the Qur'an that he will reward the generosity of a believer. “And
whatever you spend in good, it will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not
be wronged.” (Al-Baqarah 2:272). That is why one of the names of God in Islam
is Al Kareem, The generous. In addition, the best example of generosity is the
Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) is famous
for his ideal behavior and characteristic of being generous and kind. He was
the most generous of people especially in Ramadan.
The impacts of
being generous on Muslims’ lives are great. It helps them get rid of being selfish.
The more they give to others, the better they feel. It gives them a feeling of
unity and equality. They all care about each other, and there are no differences
between rich and poor or white and black. Moreover, Islam guides people toward peace
by asking them to be generous in term of knowledge. Muslims who are
well-educated have to help others and declare the wrong concepts of life for
them. Generosity in Islam is not limited to the relation between human
themselves, but it also includes the good behavior of treating animals and the
environment around them nicely because it is gift from god, so people should
protect and preserve it.
Furthermore, generosity
was one of the factors that helped in spreading the Islam in early times. There
were a lot of people, who were fighting against Islam, and became part of it after
they saw the generosity and simplicity of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon
Him). He was kind to non-Muslims as well and that was what softened their
hearts and made them convert to Islam.
Therefore, that is
how peace engages in the religion of Islam. Islam is the religion of justice.
Muslims do not have to be taught the concept of peace in schools because it is
already inherited inside them by their Islamic attitudes. Non-Muslims should
not attack Islam and say it threatens the peace of the world due to some Muslims’
wrong behavior. Therefore, my message is that being kind to others enables
people to love, respect, and care about each other. Thus, if people adopt the
ideal characteristics of Islam that God asks them to follow, peace will be all
around them.
I came up with the
idea of generosity and Islam that leads to peace because I was inspired by the
Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and his ideal behavior that attracted most
of people to Islam. Then, I did a research on the subject of Islam and peace
along with generosity. I found out that many scholars have discussed the
relation between generosity and Islam in what they believe Islam is all about
peace. As Shaikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah states, “It is certain that the Qur'an insists
against murder, the Qur'an equalizes the injustice on one soul to the whole of
humanity. Islam prohibits the intimidation of others, even in a joking manner.
A Muslim relationship with others is one of friendship and companionship.” (Bin
Bayyah). He believed that the relation between people in Islam that is based on
justice and kindness is the ideal approach of peace. Also, there are many
scholars mentioned that the good deeds and generosity of people make others
remember them more than their high position or wealth. Moreover, the
relation between generosity and peace is adopted in people’s hearts. For
example, Warren Buffet, who is one of the richest men in the world, gave 85%
of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help the
foundation pursue its longstanding goal of curing the globe's most fatal
diseases and improving American education. Thus, this shows how the generosity
can make people’s lives better and leads them to peace.
For my artwork, I chose to have the
word Allah written in Arabic with calligraphy style of Salman Khattak because
Al-Kareem (the Generous) is one of the ninety-nine names of Allah. The
calligraphy is written on A3 cardboard to give a rough surface that help the
colors to stand out. Then, the colors I chose symbolize nature that was created
by God. The white color symbolizes purity and peace. The green color symbolizes
paradise, and the red color symbolizes passion. The blue color symbolizes
heaven for me where the sky and God dwell. Also, I added small pieces of
crystals on the calligraphy part to reflect the purity and beauty of Islam. In
addition, I added a text that refers to God's generosity and God who loves
generosity to emphasize my message that is about the main concept of generosity
in Islam.
In
addition, I was influenced by Salman Khattak, a contemporary artist who is famous for the combination of
the Arabic calligraphy and texts of the names of God and verses from the Qur'an.
He is skilled in scripts ranging from copperplate to italic to Gothic styles.
He is also interested in Arabic and Western calligraphy.
Furthermore, I am Libyan. I have lived in
different countries, but now I am staying in Dubai. I am a student at the American University in Dubai, and
I am majoring in Interior Design. I am interested in studying Islamic history,
calligraphy, architecture, Design, and art. I believe that Islamic art is one
of the most interesting subjects to study due to its deep meanings.
In conclusion, Islam is all about peace
due to the precious values and characteristics that Allah and the Prophet
(Peace Be Upon Him) ask Muslims to have.
