In the eyes of Muslims

By Ghazal Salah

Biography

My name is Ghazal Salah, majoring in Journalism at the American University in Dubai. I love art because I can get the chance to share ideas and information through it. Furthermore, I love art because it is a universal language and there is no barrier when it comes to it.

The description

The title of my project is “In The Eyes of Muslims”.  It is an eye that has the 99 names of God in order to show how God is seen by Muslims as Ghafoor, Raheem, Kareem, Al Salam, Al Mumin, and many other names that reflect God’s traits. I drew it on a PowerPoint and printed it on a big poster. I made sure that the names look like a whirlpool and the eye is three dimensional. Furthermore, I chose the words to be in green since it symbolizes safety and paradise, and the word Allah in red since it symbolizes love.

The message:

Zain Bhikha once said:

Give thanks to Allah,

For the moon and the stars

Praise Him all day

For what is and what was.

Take hold of your Eeman

Don't give in to Shaitan

O you who believe please give thanks to Allah.

Allah is Ghafoor,

Allah is Raheem,

Allah is the one who loves the Mohsineen,

He is a creator,

He is a sustainer,

and He is the one who has power over all.

 

The 99 names of God show and prove that Islam is not the way it is perceived as a religion of terrorism. However, when people look deeply at the meaning of each and every name, he or she will realize that it is a religion of peace. All names come together to form one meaning that is the core of Islam is peace. Moreover, the root of the word Islam means peace.  The world has come to a time where Muslims are the first suspected to cause terrorist acts, and this has converged the thoughts of communities towards despising Muslims and having the desire to band them from living in their own society. These societies are missing the bigger picture and are not familiar with the true meaning of Islam. From these names we can understand Islam more. Islam teaches us to forgive each other, to be generous, to help each other, to be merciful, and many other lessons. Islam aims to build a society full of peace, serenity, justice, and friendship.

When we think deeply of the each and every meaning of the 99 names of Allah, we find that there is no one name that stands for force and violence. Rahman and Rahim are the first two names of Allah that are compassionate and merciful. These two primary names of Allah specifically deal with Mercy. These two names frequently occur together in the Qur’an. Furthermore, they signify a flood of mercy that covers us and that is endless. They are both derived from the same root word rahmah which means mercy and also has elements of sympathy, kindness, gentleness, compassion and love intertwined with it. The mercy we see in this world which Allah has put among His Creation is just a hundredth of all His Mercy. Therefore, Allah manifests these qualities to the most perfect level with His Creation.

Some other Names of Allah that are related to His Mercy are Al-Karim (the Generous), Al-Halim (the Forbearing), Al-Barr (the Generous), Al-Jawwad (the Bestower of Good), Al-Rauf (the Kind) and Al-Wahhab (the Bestower). Examples of mercy that we see in His creation includes the love a mother has for her child (or love towards each other), the eyes with which we are able to see, the food which we are provided to consume, the generosity and kindness we show to others.

The artist who influenced me

I was influenced by a Libyan student at the American University in Dubai, Mowada Arifi. Her painting had a sentence which is “Allah Kareem yohebo al karam”. Her message was to show God’s trait which is generosity, and to show that generosity and Islam lead to peace. As for my artwork, I did not want to specify one trait. Therefore, I included the 99 names of God that reflect his traits.

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References

http://www.justmuslim.org/articles/5-pillars/75-the-names-and-attributes-of-allah

http://peaceartdubai.blogspot.ae

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/z/zain+bhikha/give+thanks+to+allah_20756525.html

http://www.whyislam.org/god/names-and-attributes-of-allah/

When you are angry, be silent

By Dana Kachlan

Hello, meet Dana Kachlan. A Lebanese girl who is always up for a little adventure and experiencing the new. And that is one of the reasons why she chose to major in Creative Advertising at the American University in Dubai. She saw that through her projects, she’d never fall into a routine since one idea is completely different than the other. Dana has two principles that she follows in her work and life practice. First, she credits that details are the foundation of everything. She believes that we are a detail in society, and based on that, she created an entire campaign called “Al Tafseel Al Fasel” or “The Defining Detail.” Second, she believes that the filtering of words could save lives. When angry, she stays silent, revises her thoughts and words, and then speaks. Those two principles helped her stay focused, organized, and sane at all times. Who knew it was that easy? Since Dana is always up to try new activities, over the years she grasped a couple of interests such as: Law, Calculus, Philosophy, Psychology, and Event planning. Interesting fact about Dana: In school, Dana would always excel in Calculus but failed to impress in Geometry. Weird right? As for her hobbies, she enjoys photography, basketball, fitness, drawing, and music.

"When you are angry, be silent,” a Hadith said by Prophet Mohammed PBUH. We create war and blame the consequences on each other. We live our lives in constant fear of not knowing when the next war is about to happen. Or even sadder, we live in war zones or even hear about them over the news on a daily basis. War happens to be the norm now a day, as peace comes once every now and then. If only people knew how to communicate, maybe we could be living in a better world today and everyday. It is

said that humans have it in them to promote war but if only we read and searched more we would know that the Prophet himself asked us not to hurt each other, not only through weapons but not even with words. Then we have Jesus who promotes peace and love through the bible and his sayings. If our religions tell us to make peace, love one another, and understand each other, then where are we going wrong? What is it that is making us fall back to war repeatedly. To bring the attention to the topic of War and peace, I thought the hadith "When you are angry, be silent" said by the Prophet Mohammed PBUH best illustrates the matter. This Hadith inspires me to be a better person today and everyday. It makes me think twice before I communicate. It teaches me how to be a nicer person. What really made me want to bring attention to this Hadith are two factors. The first is the fact that I am a great believer of the filtering of words. During an argument, I usually practice revising my words before throwing them out to avoid making a mountain out of a molehill or even to avoid hurting the other person. Both ways, we end up feeling guilt when having said something unkind or despicable so why not take the time to amend and filter the words before saying them? I also realized that the whole process of modifying the words said help a person become more tolerant, patient, and in control. I truly think any relationship would be better if barely anything mean was to come out of anyone's mouth. If we revise our words, we get to explain them in a sensible and an understandable way, which would lead to a mature conversation rather than an argument or a fight. The second factor is that the entire Hadith is not meant to spread peace in Islam only but it is also meant to be shared among all religions and races around the world. We aren't put in this world to fight each other. We aren't meant to despise each other. The least we can do is be at peace if we don't want to love one another.

 As for the artwork itself, I created an A2 sized canvas that has the Hadith mentioned above written on it using both styles of pop art and Kufic calligraphy. The entire artwork is drawn by the use of basics such as a black marker for the words outlines, colored markers to fill in the words, and paper, which is wrinkled to get the message across. So I wouldn’t call the artwork a painting, instead, it is a drawing that encounters specific styles to help get the message of War and peace across. Each and every stylistic choice will be explained in the next few lines. So first, let’s begin by discussing the Kufic script. I decided to choose it not only because I was inspired by it after the MEST class workshop and wanted to explore it further more, but also I thought it emphasized how long ago the quote has been there for the people to acknowledge and be inspired by. The Kufic style is one of the earliest forms of calligraphy and hence I thought writing the Hadith in that style would estimate the age of its existence.

Second, as for the aesthetic choice of wrinkling the paper, it was not an option that I thought of first, but as I was mounting the paper onto the board, I saw that it would make far more sense if the paper was wrinkled since it conveyed destruction which meant war while the Hadith itself spoke peace. That way we have war and peace conveyed through one artwork yet peace wins since it comes on top of the war (Hadith over the wrinkled paper.) Every stylistic style has a reason behind it, which makes the entire artwork have representations that are both realistic and a metaphorical. Third, stylistically I wanted to bring out a style that I very much admire and usually apply to most of my art, which is pop art. First, I wouldn't say an artist influenced me, but rather by the entire movement, which helped me create this artwork along with many that, I have previously done. I realized whenever the subject is very dear to me, I tend to use pop art as my style and hence since this topic is something I truly follow I wanted to manage and make it work with the pop art style. I thought the use of colors brings life to any topic, turning a sad subject into something less harsh or at least gets a message across in a more subtle way. Second, usually each color on its own represents an emotion. But for this project I wanted to unite all emotions on one canvas to portray the idea of peace. In a way that turns peace into an emotion. The unification of almost all the colors on one canvas could also mean the emergence of all religions and all races. Whether it was the Kufic style that was used to emphasize how long the hadith has been around for, or the wrinkly paper to show that peace dominates war, or the use of vibrant, happy colors to bring joy to the idea of unification, all aspects were meant to lead to the idea of peace and that nothing but peace has the power to make us all live in a better world. Now that I introduced myself, the artwork title, description, media, technique, style, influence, why I chose it, and what it means to me along with my statement, time to remind you of one thing: Always filter and revise your words before saying them. An argument could turn into a conversation through reasoning. Communicate peace always.

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.

Rumi and Peace

By Ahmet Kaan Akkaya

In my artwork, I chose to focus on calligraphy and 

 Rumi also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī Mawlānā is a very popular person in the history of Islam. He was a 13^th century Sufi mystic, poet and an Islamic scholar. His works have been largely studied by many people throughout centuries all over the world. His spirituality has influenced many nations among which are the Turks, Greeks, Iranians and Muslims of South Asia. His works of poems have been studied and translated into various languages across the globe. He has originally written mostly in Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Greek. His works have also influenced the literature in many cultures such has the Persian, Turkish, the Ottoman, Punjabi, Azerbaijani, Hindi and Urdu.

I chose to include in my artwork, the symbols of Sufi Dervishes which are practicing the active meditation commonly known as Sufi whirling. Sufi whirling is a form of meditation which is active or Sama that the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order still practice today. It is a part of a worship ceremony in which, the dervishes also known as the semazens, aim to reach perfection. During their ceremony they aim to get in touch by god and the music to let go of ones ego or selfish desires. It is done by spinning the body by going round and round in circles, imitating the movements of the planets and how they orbit the sun in our solar system. The semazens practice many different rituals and the most important and main one out of all of them is called the Dhikr. Dhikr means the remembering of Allah. In this practice the semazens recite some devotional Islamic prayers and some physical movements are then added to the practice. Mainly it’s the dancing and the whirling that takes part of the physical aspect of Dhikr to what is believed to be the ascension towards the meditative trance state of the Sufi Dervishes.

            

This practice has originated around the 12^th century by the Sufi fraternities. It was a leadership in which every member would follow a specific discipline in service of a leader. These members were called Persian Dervishes. They were responsible for the organization of Islamic expression of life of religion. It is believed that the Prophet was the original creator of Sufism by whom the study of Sufism has been passed down from.

            

I had a wide range of colors to pick from in the beginning of my project. I chose to go by the color blue because of its appealing meaning to me. Blue is used in the Islamic tradition and history in many ways. It is a color that is mainly used in mosques. There are Blue Mosques in many countries in the Middle East, one of them being in my country, Turkey. The color blue gives the observer a feeling of freedom, hope and heavenly paradise. It is also a commonly used for protection purposes. In my country it is commonly used against what is called the “evil eye”. It is common belief that wearing at least one piece of blue item will keep the “evil eyes” away from a person. For these reasons I chose to include the color blue in my artwork as it adds to the meaning behind my artwork of Peace in Islam.

Mosques and Peace

By Ahmad Jabbour

When we hear about Islam today, we think of scary looking bearded men dressed in black, carrying shot guns and screaming “Allaho Akbar” as they burn down churches or behead people. Mosques are thought to be places where terrorist fanatics join to discuss their next bombing. We can say that the orientalist view point has ruined the reputation of the true Islam. However, we cannot blame orientalism without first analysing the other factors for this popular reputation of Islam. The emerging of terrorist fanatic Islamist groups such as ISIL, AlQaeda, and Jabhet Al Nasra has played a vital role in creating a tag on Muslims as terrorists. However, the truth is that such groups—although seemingly abundant—are a minority, and the kind of Islam that they represent is indeed a false one. The corruption of the international system of knowledge and orientalism print on media and scholarly work in the west only magnify the false belief.

The truth is that Islam comes from the Arabic root Salam which could mean two things. The first is that a muslim should “yosallem” or surrender himself to the will of God. The other meaning, and the more important one is from the word “Salam” meaning peace. So we can see that Islam’s meaning is peace. The teachings of prophet Mohammad and the Quraan all serve to prove this point. A Muslim is ordered by God and the prophet to be good to others of all religions. He is ordered to give money to the poor, help the weak, and be selfless at all times. Mosques are places of worship, peace, of learning the true teachings of Islam, and of serenity.

I chose to do an art piece inspired by Mosques and peace as the two terms go hand in hand. I hope that by my humble project I can, at least, set one person straight on what Islam truly means and of what purpose mosques truly serve.

Historically, the first mosque that was ever created in Islam as we know it is the Nabawi Mosque in Al Madina. It is the first of the three holy sites of Islam. It was right around the time when Muslims had escaped from the horrors and terrors of Mecca tribes and into Madina’s newly converted Muslims. The migrant Muslims had left their homes, money, and lives back and ran into a new life in Madina—filled with hope. Even the prophet Mohammad did not have a home in Madina. But the people there were generous and hospitable that each person from Madina offered his home to a person from Mecca. After a while, however, it was time for the prophet to build a home of his own. It was also the time to find a place for Muslims to meet, pray, and gather around when something related to the Islamic Ummah comes up. So, hand in hand, Muslims built the mosque brick over brick. It was a simple mosque without any extravagant design. It was the house of Prophet Mohammad and a mosque that holds all the daily prayers. Each of its walls witnessed pious prayers, political meetings, round circles where the prophet would teach Muslims about their religion, and even a place to host visitors asking about this new religion.

Other important mosques around that period were the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Palestine which is said to be the place from which the Prophet’s Miraaj was from and the second of the three most sacred mosques. And the third most holy mosque is the Ummayad Mosque in Syria.  More and more mosques were starting to be built around the Islamic world and with each new mosque and each call for prayer, more and more people were joining the Islamic ummah. After the death of prophet Mohammad and with the following caliphates, Islam spread widely and more money was coming into the Muslim state as new conquests were done. This meant that there was room for extravagant designs in Mosques. Now, mosques were not only places for worship and gathering. They were also forms of art. They have calligraphy on the walls and huge and beautiful insides decorated with the most beautiful tiles and stones. They sometimes have calligraphy drawn in gold. As the Islamic state spread, Muslims were showing off their mosques to the world. The more beautiful the mosques, the more powerful the state is.

Peace - As Salamu Alaykum

 

BY SARAH TABBARA

The title of my artwork is “Peace”. For my project, I will be using three techniques; sketching, calligraphy, and coloring.

At a first glance at the artwork, one can see two hands of two different people greeting each other. Only the hands of these people show (one cannot see who these people are). However one notices that each person has a different skin tone. This part of the artwork is done using the sketching technique. On the top of the page there is written “As-salamu alaykum” in Arabic, using the calligraphy technique. Below the drawing, a translation in English, which is “Peace be upon you”.

The concept of my artwork is the focus on deconstructing the stereotypes about Islam. The world we live in, especially today, views Muslims as terrorists and as backward people, contrary to the true meaning of what being Muslim is. The most common phrase used by Muslims is “As-salamu-alaykum” and this fact itself is enough to prove anyone who thinks Islam is a religion of violence. 

Another issue this drawing tackles is that Islam is a religion that does not know color. Thus the different skin tones I chose.  

The artist who inspired me is El Seed. He is a Tunisian artist who promotes calligraphity. The messages that he conveys and the creative ways in which he conveys them is something worth being inspired from. He produces his artwork on the walls of mosques, and so much more. His international impact is what catches my eye. He has done artwork all over the place! From Melbourne to Toronto to London and to Paris, he is everywhere. This man is someone to look up to because he actually has achieved something only a few can. He integrated the traditional calligraphy with the contemporary graffiti and gives out powerful messages using his technique.

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References:

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As-salamu_alaykum

http://elseed-art.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lTTis3gQEg

http://islamic8.com/peace-be-upon-you-arabic-greeting/