We believe in Peace! Islam and Peace Art Workshop

Islam and Peace Art Workshop with my MEST 329 Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Dubai, April 2017.

Women & Islam

By NOORA ARJOMAND

Dimensions: 40 inches x 60 inches

Media: Canvas, acrylic paint, chalk pastel, ink, paper, aluminum.
Technique & Style:-
Painting with a background collage that is done by layering pictures in a way that they overlap each other but still show. The painting was done with smooth touches of a rough brush giving the cloth effect. The skin/flesh was done with mixing a combination of colors (red, brown, yellow, white) in specific ratios/proportions to give different tones of the flesh color and when painting playing with the shades as to where the light hits the face depending on the angle where the light is placed. Orange and blue ink were put at the top and were let to dribble towards the bottom of the painting to add a more artistic feel to it – in a way, more life to it. Some words and quotes were added diagonally to help understand the message and blend with the concept of the collage.

Statement (message):

There are no restrictions in the Islamic law that prohibits a woman from working or having a profession. In fact, by definition, in a truly Islamic society, there must be women physicians, women nurses, women teachers, -because it's preferable- also to separate teenagers in the volatile years in high school education. If she chooses to work, or if she's married with the consent of her husband, she's entitled to an equal pay, not for equal work, but for work of equal worth.

Artists who influenced this piece:-

The main artists that inspired, influenced and made me want to incorporate collage into my piece were Kurt Schwitters, Raoul Hausmann and Nick Gentry. Each of them has his own touch to their work that I thought maybe I could pick up a thing or two from each and make it my own way representing my views and the reality that the world isn’t aware of due to the major role that the media plays misrepresenting women in Islam who are the leaders of this world.

References:-

Wikipedia, Google, Twitter.

Piece description with the messages behind it:

To the foreign world, Women in Islam are misinterpreted and their rights as to what the other side of the world believes are none existent. Little do they know that women in Islam have got rights and are equal men. I chose to work with the field of women and their rights to work in Islam and included Muslim successful women who shape this world and help generate a better generation after all, they are the ones with a strong willpower that has overcame many painful experiences, first of them is the miracle of giving birth. The piece featured a women that was painted in the middle who I take as a women who represents me that is influenced and amazed by the women that are surrounding the painting (collage) as I do hope someday I will make it as big as they are right now and help influence the younger coming generations. To the collage, I added a few words of empowerment to show everyone how women in Islam are being misrepresented and in some parts of the world mistreated due to the false belief that women are less than men when in reality women aren’t and Islam made that clear several times in many Qura’anayat and hadith’s. This piece is to every Muslim woman out there who has been mistreated by the uneducated world whether it is for what she is wearing or for what she believes in. You are strong and you have already achieved enough and have come far. 

The Tree of Islam

By Aisha Buhari Abdullahi

My artwork or idea was not inspired by any artist or public figure. I looked at the project theme and asked myself what I think are the major problem with the world and Islam. I asked myself many questions like: what did we do to non-Muslims? What is it that makes us different? Do we fit to be on this planet? Are we less of humans in others’ eyes? But then I realized my mum always said, “Fix the monster in you before you start pointing at other monsters”.

Whatever unrest between Muslims and non-Muslims cannot be fixed until we fix what is within our walls.  This theory inspired my project. I inclusive, we tend to think one Muslim is better than another or the ways of one Muslim is wrong just because it is not like ours or an Arabian Muslim is better than the African Muslim and many other absurd beliefs.

            I also went forward to ask myself, “On a normal circumstance, can a mango grow on apple tree? Obviously not, we would wait eternally to see it grow.” The tree I drew represents Islam as a religion. The flags represent the countries in the world from a random selection as the fruits of Islam. We can never see ourselves as the same until we start to view every Muslim as a part of tree trying to wait for destiny or end reward. One person has no right to criticize or judge another’s lifestyle unless it directly affects him or her.

            Islam does not accommodate racism or stereotyping or gender maltreatment or maltreatment of any being so why should we adopt it as a lifestyle and call it Islam? We can only fix our issues when we practice the religion the way it was brought from Allah and the way Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). After all, the Prophets mentioned the Qur’an all came from different parts of the world, which proves equality. Other people cannot see the religion as a beautiful religion that promotes peace if we don’t show them through our actions and attitudes.

            Children have to be educated from a young age that we are all humans and the same. They also need to be told that people have little insignificant differences due to cultural and geographical differences and only Allah knows why he made us all that way.

With Mercy and Peace, Islam is Spread

BY YASMINE ABOU GHAZALE

This statement contradicts the stereotype that Islam is a religion that encourages violence and terrorism, rather it's a religion based on peace and serenity. This is proved through the greetings among Muslims which is "Assalamu Alaikom", meaning peace be upon you. Despite all the media outlets portraying this profound religion as violent and abusive, its own people disagree with what is going on around the world nowadays. Islam means no harm, and encourages love and tolerance. In addition, the word “Islam” refers to making peace, being in a mutually peaceful environment, greetings, finding peace, keeping away from troubles and disasters

Every religion has a distinctive virtue, and the distinctive virtue of Islam is modesty -words of The Prophet Muhammad -peace and blessings upon him

I used the kufic calligraphy since it inspires me. Kufic is one of the oldest calligraphic forms of various Arabic scripts. It developed around the end of the 7^th century in Kufa, Iraq. Until about the 11^th century it was the main script used to copy the Qur’an. The current flag of Iraq uses Kufic script to write God is the greatest

Kūfic script, in calligraphy earliest extant Islamic style of handwritten 

alphabet that was used by early Muslims to record the Qurʾān  I chose to do mine in the kufic calligraphy since it has to do with Islam and usually, most of the artists use calligraphy when it comes to religion and they use it in Islamic architecture

So many artists influenced me such as the famous Arabic calligrapher Uday Al Arji who lives in Dubai and is astonishing everyone around him with his astonishing work. His calligraphy is definitely done handmade, most of his work talk or send a message about peace. His work is mostly from the Qur'an and Hadeeth: 

I also was influenced by the female Arabic calligrapher Lubna Shaikh. She has been doing work that could be called “Islamic Art” for more than 10 years. She inspired me because nowadays we don’t have much female calligraphers. So she has opened the doors to all the females with her work. She started with craving calligraphy into candles (wax). Not long after, she started with mirror and glass (painting and etching), block printing, woodwork, pain and embroidery. Her calligraphy was inspired by the verse from the Qur’an “Without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest”. She is inspired by Islam’s artistic history; calligraphers of the past who made connection with their hearts, bodies, and minds, who lifted their pens with the daunting task of creating script beautiful enough to carry the words of Allah

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     For my calligraphy, I used 15ln X 20l white board.   I used several colors such as light blue, dark blue, orange, red, pink, and yellow. I got these different paper colors and cut them into small squares.

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References-

http://www.muslimness.com/2011/03/muslim-women-in-arts-interview-with.html

http://www.peaceandislam.com/

http://sufism.org/foundations/hadith/peacehadith-2

http://global.britannica.com/art/Kufic-script

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufic

 

Islam, War and Peace

 

 By HOUDA ALKHATIB

 

My art work describes the topic of War and Peace in Islam. It is a 75x117 cm piece. It is a photo collage produced digitally of many photographs by known and unknown photographers describing War and Islam. Originally, I wanted to take my own photographs but due to the many circumstances, I was not able to. I used the contrast of colors in the background to differentiate between the corruption of the war and hope. In my opinion, when I think of Islam, the first word related to it is Peace. 

 

In the foreground of the photo collage, people are represented as victims of the war that has been affecting the Middle East for the past few years and lead to become refugees.I tried to portray the power that is found in people. This power is them believing in God  watching over them and trying to get them out of their misery. A person with no hope does not live. As my collage shows, all age groups and genders are fighting to cross that part in their lives (War) by praying and hoping it will get better.

 

I was influenced by many War Photographers as they show you a scene in war but with a message behind. Some names such as Javier Manzano, James Nachtwey, Paul Hansen, Walter Astreda, and Manu Brabo. These modern war photographers inspired me with their use of simplicity in explaining something.

 

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My name is Houda Alkhatib, I am currently a junior studying Architecture in the American University in Dubai. I am from Syria, and for the past 5 years, I have not lost hope that someday Syria will be back better than it was before. It is our generation that will build and restore beautiful Syria.

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References:

Reza, Hasnain. Please. 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. 

<https://500px.com/photo/30661925/please-by-hasnain-raza>.

"Islam Times - Muslims Arrested for Praying in America." Islam Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://islamtimes.org/en/doc/news/21501/>.

 

N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fthemetapicture.com%2Fpage%2F3%2F>.

"Facebook Logo." Drive for Syrian Refugees. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <https://www.facebook.com/events/1506952399621528/>.

Muslim Women Do Not Look the Same

By Sara Dougman

Islam and women is a very controversial topic and can be analyzed from many different perspectives. It is the topic I chose with the hope of trying to convey a simple message through my art project. Because of my basic skills in art as it is not my area of study, I chose to use the collage method as it was easy for me to do and at the same time encouraged me to think creatively when trying to use the right images for my project. Using the art collage from Arabic magazines, I began to be inspired by the amount of Muslim Middle Eastern entrepreneurs that I came across. Therefore I chose a few of them who were all Muslims yet some covered whilst other weren’t in order to stress that Muslim women don’t necessarily all look the same and they are becoming more and more important in the fashion industry.

            There is a typical stereotype that Muslim women are oppressed and hence never get to follow their dreams and that the fashion industry in particular is “haram”. With just a little research on the new coming Muslim women and designers/bloggers we can see that this is in fact not true.  Muslim women both covered and non covered are entering the fashion world with fresh ideas that are grabbing much attention. The pictures I added to my collage were chosen selectively as I wanted to portray successful Muslim woman who have made it in the fashion world yet also I wanted to show the contrast of they were they dress. For example, a few of the pictures were of Muslim women who wore a headscarf. Then to contrast it, there were women uncovered wearing very fashionable clothes. Also I wanted to show the new alternatives to the “hijab” now as the turban is becoming more popular and therefore I added an image of a Muslim lady looking extremely fashionable yet modest with a turban hijab. All of these women are available on social media as well and have a platform of fans, also breaking the stereotype that Muslim women can’t be exposed to the world in such a way.  It also breaks the stereotype that Mulsim women are restricted to their homes and their duty not exceeding that of her husband and kids. This is becoming increasingly false as religion is no longer a reason as to why women can’t follow their dreams, not making it less important however it is something personal. It was also interesting to see one of the Emarati designers design dresses and very fashionable clothes for her line that targets the elderly generation. This was even a surprise to myself as I would have thought being an Emarati and completely covered she would lean towards designing abaya’s however I was proven wrong. This also shows that covering oneself is something personal and does not have to affect your ideas or work you wish to produce. Fashion designers are also collaborating with one another with one of them covered whilst the other isn’t and it does not in any way affect their relationship or how they deal with each other.

            In conclusion, what I wanted to stress in my project in the topic art and Islam is that Muslim women do not all look the same and they do not all aspire to be the same. Like everyone else they dress differently and similarly have different goals. Religion will always be close to the hearts of Muslim ladies however in an increasingly globalized world they are able to keep their religion as something close to their heart and not let it stop them from achieving their goals. Whether a Muslim lady wears hijab, a turban or even a short dress it does not affect their work ethic and their endless ability to achieve. In fact they work together in harmony and unlike what many think, they are not oppressed and are able to express their creativity in their work.