Salah: A Journey of Spiritual Elevation

Rana Abd El Moti Mohamed

Description of Installation:

Many of us spend our lifetime in search of a path that will lead us to inner peace, a quest that is highly emphasized in the teachings of Islam. The struggle to attain ultimate peace lies in the complex nature of man, created of both physical and non physical qualities, as described in Islam one can only achieve true inner peace once they are able to fulfill both their forms. Allow me to invite you to experience, first hand an installation that inter-operates the experience of Prayer Salah (meaning to connect in Arabic) as described and symbolized in the Sunnah and Hadith of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). Through the filming of nature, the core symbolic imagery described in the Hadith, the visuals have then been altered to reflect an alternate reality, to bring alive another layer of stunning predominant Islamic art form, which is the use of abstract and geometric art. I have chosen to alter the imagery to reflect this unique and intricate form of art that is recognised by Islamic artists to free the mind of the forms of the physical world, allowing one to contemplate on the metaphysical realities that are described in Islam, ultimately elevating one’s spiritual conscious. Please step on the mat, to embark on a journey of great peace and beauty. This is the spiritual journey of Salah.

Why prayer in Islam?
Prayer is a journey all on its own, from the moment the Adan prayer call is made, which under it all Muslim people are unified regardless of their age, gender, social class, or nationality. All are requested to answer to their Lord. To begin the prayer one must go through the process of both physical and spiritual cleansing, as they preform Prayer is a journey all on its own, from the moment the Adan prayer call is made. After one is cleaned the worshipers gather side by side, shoulder to shoulder, united, all facing the same direction, with the words Allah Akbar (God is Great), recited once more to begin the prayer, just as it started the Call dropping the titles of every man, and pulling them out of the physical world, to stand in between the Divine hands of their creator.

Peace in Prayer?
Nevertheless, peace in prayer does not only lie in the physical or observable qualities that can be comprehended by the human mind instead, it lies in what the mind cannot comprehend or witness, and that is secret journey that one embarks on, as they preform this act of worship. A secret journey that can only be revealed through the Sunnah and Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH). In the Hadith imagery and symbolism are used to describe this experience, using elements of nature which are of great purity and beauty, furthermore, these elements that according to the teachings of Islam await mankind in Paradise in its most extravagant forms. Depicting the act of prayer as a journey that one makes several times a day to Paradise, in their fully conscious state. As the description of prayer is strongly connected with that of nature, one should being to feel a greater sense of unity and harmony with the universe as a whole.

How does this Art Form represent the concept?
I had first intended to put together a short a film with the actual visual imagery that I had captured that was derived from the Hadith (using river, trees and mountains), but as I began putting the film together, I lacked any sense of elevation or spiritual awakening with in me, thinking to myself here I am representing a journey that is hard for the human mind to comprehend yet, I am using visuals that are fairly common to see and understand. I wanted to capture the eyes of the people, and elevate their spirits, freeing their mind of the physical world, and allowing them to create their own interpretations of the metaphysical reality that is still guarded by the core representations of Hadith. Struggling, I turned to our class material for answers, only to be reminded of the image of Kabaa and the pilgrims engaged in prayer. Only to grasp that through prayer amazingly patterns, shapes and symmetry are created, so why not incorporate this element into the film! Using the foundation of Geometric and Arabesque art that we have been introduced to in class, I have altered the imagery to represent the shapes that symbolize Islamic concepts, like the Octagon=Paradise, Circle=God, Square= connection between earth and heaven. To elaborate on the harmony and the infinite patterns the shapes create, representing the nature of Divine God. Despite how beautiful the descriptions of Prayer may be to the Muslim, the experience of standing in front of the the all Mighty is not intended to be easy and therefore, I wanted to translate the essence of fear, as we wander together in an alternate reality.

Hadith
Nature Element:
1. Flowing Water
In the hadith narrated of the authority of Abd Huraira the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) is reported to have said. while in the hadith narrated by Bakr (the words are like this) : He heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying: just see, can anything of his filthiness remain (on the body of) any one of you if there were a river at his door in which he washed himself five times daily? They, said: Nothing of his filthiness will remain (on his body). He said: That is like the five prayers by which Allah obliterates sins. or Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The similitude of five prayers is like an overflowing river passing by the gate of one of you in which he washes five times daily Hasan said: No filthiness can remain on him.
2. The Tree
Also used as a reference to prayer. I visited the Prophet during his ailments and he was suffering from a high fever. I said, "You have a high fever. Is it because you will have a double reward for it?" He said, "Yes, for no Muslim is afflicted with any harm but that Allah will remove his sins as the leaves of a tree fall down.”
3. The Mountains
Described symbolically with the form of a mountain in other versions of the Hadith “When the worshiper stands up in prayer, all his sins are brought and placed upon his head and shoulders, so whenever he bows and prostrates, they fall from him." [Bahyaqi, Tabaraani, authenticated by Al-AlBaanee]
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References
• Dr Pamela class material (Blackboard)
• http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=the-search-forunity-
8211-geometric-patterns-in-islam-2010-07-16
• http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263513000216
• http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/teachers-resource-maths-and-islamic-art-anddesign/
• http://www.alartemag.be/en/en-art/the-crucial-role-of-geometry-in-islamic-art/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/art/art_1.shtml

Pray for Muslims

By Samer Arwani

I called my piece of art “Pray for Muslims” following whatever we had to see on Facebook after Paris terrorist attack on the 13^th of November 2015. We all feel sorry about that bloody Friday that broke our hearts especially the ones who visited Paris before and they do have unforgettable memories over there. On the other hand, at that day I personally got offended seeing “Pray for Paris” everywhere while my country, Syria, is being bombed every day since five years. Over these five years, I did not see this much attention toward the people who are getting killed there with no mercy. Over these five years I did not see a lot of people posting about Syria and about the misery life Syrian people are living over there. This paper is dedicated to describe my piece of art “Pray for Muslims” explaining my ideas and thoughts about the influence of media on the Islamic world.

            The message behind the piece of art “Pray for Muslims” is to represent the contradiction of the global media whether its social or visual media. I personally believe that the global media is redirected to serve the desires of a selected class of people who really want to destroy the peaceful image of Muslims. This controversy starts with including all Muslim countries in the list of what is known as the “third world” countries which means the poor and backward countries; however, we can clearly see that most of the Muslim countries do have an acceptable, if not a good, economical level which other “first world” countries do not have. For the sack of this argument, let us assume that we are “third world” countries. Does not this mean that we need special care from the rest of the world? Is not this a part of the equality the world is pretending to follow? Equality does not only mean to treat all people in the same way instead, it means that we should treat each person according to his or her needs in order to ensure that all people are at the same level. “Pray for Muslims” piece of art represents how the global media focuses on the smallest terrorist attack that was POSSIBLY done by Muslims and pays a huge attention toward it, while on the other hand, hundreds of Muslims are getting killed every day in different regions either because of a terrorist attack or because of army forces bombing them. I am not saying that whatever happens in the western world is something easy, and I am not saying that the number of people getting killed over there is relatively small so I do not care; I am trying to deliver the message that the value of a human soul worth too much there compared to the value of a Muslim soul getting killed over here in the region. The global media is influencing the public opinion by focusing and exaggerating the news of 30 or 40 people getting killed in the western world, while on the other hand, the media barely focuses on the hundreds of people getting killed every day in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, and other Muslim countries. Now while I am writing this paper on Microsoft Office Word I just realized that Islam and Muslims in not even a world in the dictionary of Microsoft Office. I believe this is an insult to Muslims and it is a shame for Humanity.           

            describing the piece of art “Pray for Muslims”, the piece of art is a Photoshop picture that was created by taking some pictures from the internet and combining them all in one frame in order to deliver my message. The board is an A3 board (594mm X 420mm) and it was printed using the Matt technique. The reason behind choosing the Matt technique is that it provides a better visual representation especially for dark colors which were used intensively to represent the destructed building on the right side of the board. An A3 size was chosen to ensure the best quality in terms of printing to prevent any pixelated pictures. Concerning the colors choice, I intended to choose dark colors on the right side of the board to better represent the destruction and the misery lives Muslims are living in their countries. In addition, bright colors were used on the left side of the board to represent the luxurious life that does not really need to be focused on its limited needs. The left side also shows a camera lens showing how the global media is focusing on the single bomb coming toward the western world, while ignoring tens of bombs destroying cities on the right side of the board. Another message I tried to show is the fact that all the bombs in the picture (on the Eiffel tower and on the Buildings on the right side) are all coming from one direction which is the direction of the common enemy of the world who is the enemy of peace. Finally, I hope that the piece of art “Pray for Muslims” would make a difference and would make people look at the issue from a different perspective.

            I was asked to mention the artist who influenced me; however, I really had no one influencing me except Facebook pages that are full of pictures that can be of a great influence without us knowing. I do remember that I have seen something similar to my piece of art over the internet; however, I tried my best to look for it but I could not.

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            I also was asked to write a short biography about myself and I would say: my name is Samer Arwani and I am a Civil Engineering Syrian Student who is studying at the American University in Dubai. I am Currently in my last year and I will be graduating in May 2016. My fields of interest include reading political and historical books and articles especially those related to my country Syria.          

The Other’s Others

Conceptual photography series by Rasha Al Shaar

            “Orientalism” is a way of looking at the differences between Arabs and their culture and the Western countries such as Europe and the United States of America. During the European Enlightenment and colonization of the Arab World, when “Orientalism” came about, it was artistically depicted with imagery that emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts reality of the Arab word in order to portray it as a world that is so different or unusual. This act or perspective is described as “othering”. “Othering” is when characteristics are fixed to a certain group of people that are different. I related this movement in history to modern day human behavior and judgment in the Arab world internally. My final artwork represents this concept of “othering” from a different perspective. Rather than “othering” a society or culture outside of your own in order to compare the two, I portrayed the “others” within my Kuwaiti community that has been labeled as “the other” by the West. With my conceptual photographic series, “The Other’s Other”, I show the different “others” within the Kuwaiti society specifically in regard to marriage or romantic relations.

            Although I believe that “Othering” and “Orientalism” lead to several negative misconceptions and stereotypes that were far from the realities of the Arab world, I believe that “othering” is a great example of natural human behavior. As an Arab, learning about Orientalism in history was upsetting, as it explains a lot of current misconceptions, it also puts several different acts of “othering” into perspective, both in religious or secular settings. Technically, “othering” is something we do everyday. As human beings, it is in our nature to judge what we see that is different than what we perceive as acceptable or normal. What usually happens when we see or perceive something of this sort is we tent to share, and when we tend to share we tend to exaggerate in order to tell an interesting or persuasive story. A discipline that they do this often in is advertising. Similarly, in the history of “Orientalism”, French entrepreneurs advertised the region through the production of postcards. Although they were meant to depict women in their every day lives, the scenes were set up in a studio. This form of advertising or propaganda that circulated France were published in Malek Alloula’s book, The Colonial Harem. As a Creative Advertising student with a love for psychology and human behavior, this was very interesting to me.

            As a student in the Visual Communications department, the effect that visuals have and the messages that they communicate attracted me to the visual representation of the Arab world in “Orientalism”. What pushed this interest further was my interest in human behavior, which is evident in most of my social awareness campaigns that aim to make a positive change in the community regarding both social and psychological issues. Lastly, the fact that I am an amateur conceptual photographer, I was motivated to show a different perspective to “othering” using the same exaggeration that is evident in my personal artistic style.

            “The Other’s Other” is a piece that looks at one community and shows that even in an Arab community, which is labeled the “other” among many other countries in the region, in one community itself there are many “others”. The same way the region was looked at and judged in a specific way for its differences, I decided to look at those sub groups of different or judged people in Kuwait. So I asked myself, what topic or situation is there the most controversy in Kuwait that leads to judgment and forming subgroups that go against the norm from the older generation, in this case “the others”. This led me to the concept of relationships/ marriage. As a Lebanese Kuwaiti born in Thailand with some Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, and Palestinian heritage, I never felt like I belonged to one country, nationality, or mentality. Growing up in Kuwait I witnessed how the traditional mentality lead to expectations and criteria that society needs to follow in order to be accepted by “the rest” (or those who have not been “othered”). I thought that it would be interesting to portray the most common different or unacceptable decisions that go against the norm regarding marriage or relationships that separates our community. This piece shows the reasons people are excluded and indirectly labeled as the “other” when it comes to marriage, and the different ways “the rest” of the Kuwaiti community judge them.

            Considering the visual style of “Orientalism” as well as my personal style in the arts, “The Other’s Other” photography series plays with exaggeration in its social satire or commentary on the Kuwaiti society to communicate a strong message about “othering”. The photographs were taken with a Canon D550 outdoors with natural light in a secluded and isolated area. Another consistent theme of my creative work other than exaggeration that I felt fit this project well is the use of mixed media, or specifically the use of text and image. After shooting, I added the layer of text into the images using Adobe Illustrator. Each sentence is written in the modern Arabic English keyboard in the Kuwaiti dialect and written from the voice of “the rest” of the Kuwaiti society who are judging these common unacceptable or different behaviors.  

            An artist who had an influence on this photographic series is Shirin Neshat. Shirin is an Iranian artist who works with photography, film, and video. The subject of her work reflect on the contrast between Islam and the West, femininity and masculinity, public life and private life, and antiquity and modernity. One of her specific photographic series photographed by Cynthia Preston that highly interested me is "Women of Allah". It examines the complexities of women’s identities in the Middle East as it is continuously changing. One of the obvious similarities between our works is the representation of Muslims in the modern world through photography. Another one is the use of text and image. I found the way Shirin Neshat merged text into the image very interesting. She overlapped the text on the women’s skin as if it were engraved or tattooed on.

            “The Other’s Other” communicates that  “othering” or judgment within a community only separates us. In an Islamic country or society one should not only put efforts in stressing globally that this is a religion that represents peace in order to deconstruct the stereotype of terrorism and violence; but more importantly it represents peace internally within the community. Peace is about non-violence as much as it is about the unity and brotherhood.

Works Cited

Chrabieh, Dr. Pamela. "What Is Orientalism?" MEST 329 Islamic Art and Architecture       (2016): 1. Print.

Chrabieh, Dr. Pamela. "Introduction to Islam and the Arts." MEST 329 Islamic Art and     Architecture (2016): 23. Print.

"Gladstone Gallery." Gladstone Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

LeMoon, Kim. "Shirin Neshat." Signs Journal of Women in Culture and Society. N.p., 10   Oct. 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

"Shirin Neshat." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

سَلَامٌ قَوْلًا مِن رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ

By Nouran Abdelrahman

سَلَامٌ قَوْلًا مِن رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ “Peace, a word from a Merciful Lord”, one of the most soothing and harmonious phrases in the Quran. It has no intention but to transmit the main message of Islam: Peace and Love. And when I read this verse the first thing that came into my head was enlightenment, light, white, and pure.

Through the thought of these words, an image of what could express these beautiful terms within Islamic context appeared. The product of this image was a combination of ‘Islamic architecture’ features, and lighting effects. One of the most prominent contemporary artists, who influenced this art project, and also used lighting, was Julien Breton. Julien Breton is known for creating marvelous art pieces through a mix of light, photography, choreography and calligraphy. Breton, even though influenced by the Islamic calligraphy, implemented this technique to produce latin phrases. Similarly, I have decided to approach this art piece the same way. It was a mix of arabesque pattern, lighting adjustment, and mashrabiyya effect.

First, I drew the pattern and the verse digitally so that it would be later on cut. Second, after it was cut and stuck, I created a small raised platform in order to insert the light source properly. Third, the cube was mounted on the platform, and a black background was at the back that reflects the light, which is an image of the patterns. The room in which the pictures in was darkened in order to get the maximum amount of light and dark contrast.

  

The end result of this project displayed my portrayal of the Islam and peace symbolism. I chose the shape of the cube, because it is pure and clean. It also represents the most important worship place for Muslims, the Kaaba. The arabesque pattern played a great role in the light reflection. This penetration of light to the blunt and eminent darkness of humanity (outside) is saved by the pure and beautiful light if Islam. The verse also glimmers through dark and enlightens the hearts and paths of those who need to be guided through god’s path. The verse is a tranquil message that shows how beautiful, peaceful and artistic Islam is.

The purpose of this art production is mainly to spread and elaborate on a message that has been on and on repeated. Islam is neither terrorizing nor discriminating, in fact, no religion is. However, this false consensus that Islam is no peace religion has been reemphasized by the Western world. No religion is ever harmful; in fact, it’s a way to guide you to peace, love, respect and, of course, life. Hence, those who harm in the name of religion do not belong to it.  As a person that experienced multicultural societies throughout the years, people are not virtuous from their religion but because of whom they are.

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My name is Nouran Yehia, and I am Egyptian. I am a third year architecture student and currently 19 of age. I have lived in Dubai for nearly 16 years, and I absolutely love it.

References:

·         "Julien Breton – Kaalam | Art of Calligraphy Calligraphie, Light Painting, Calligraphe, Graff, Graffiti, Performance, Live." Julien Breton – Kaalam | Art of Calligraphy Calligraphie, Light Painting, Calligraphe, Graff, Graffiti, Performance, Live. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

·         "Stunning Arabic Light Calligraphy by Julien Breton." Colossal. N.p., 23 July 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

By Mariam Ghanawi

The idea is to represent the reality of how some Muslim people represent their religion in a aggressive way. Although the base of Islam  is to treat people not depending on the religion they practice but depending on their personality. The idea of Islam and other religions is  how to behave as a human, The aim of religion is to have  rules in order to apply justice for people to reach peace, but people unfortunately think that whoever oppose their beliefs is an enemy.

People don’t understand that diversity is what makes the world a better place.  God is the most Merciful. God encourages people to be understandable, humble, and  respectful.

What Peace is all About

By Majd Al Achkar

This is my illustration of what peace is all about, it is about standing for what is right and not wrong, it is about speaking the truth and not lies, and it is about forming unity and not conflict. Peace is the one bright light that shines through all dark days. It is a must to have in everyone’s heart, that it may one day heal a persons troubled conflicts. What I tried to show in my art, is that peace is a strong message and it takes one person to make a difference, that is why I illustrated an arm holding on to peace, while the surrounding conflicts doesn’t agree. The rest with evil intent are against peace, and will obviously silence them, but it takes more than one person to suppress peace, as shown there are four hand figures against one. This shows the strength of peace against unimaginable odds against it, yet it still stands for what is right and truthful. The hand figure is used instead of a human figure because I want to show that it can be anonymous to fight for peace, and be any person with that way of thinking.

A spark of hope

By Lana Hammade

I.                   Description of Art Work

-          Title: A Spark of Hope

-          Dimensions: 4243 x 2829

-          Media: Camera Canon EOS 650D, editor: Pixlr on iPhone

-          Technique and Style: I took a photo outdoors of a guy’s hands and another one in the mosque of a girl’s hands; both performing Du’a. I edited and darkened both photos then used the photo outdoors as the base, and I overlaid the other photo on top and faded it out. I also darkened the resulted photo. I used different settings to emphasize on the fact that Du’a can be done anywhere and used different genders to show that it can be done by both males and females. I chose photography because it is the art form that I am good at, and then I edited the photos. I darkened the photos because I felt like dark colors work well with the kind of message I am trying to convey.

II.                Statement (Message)

Du’a or supplication literally means “calling” upon God. God says in the Qur’an: "When My servants ask about Me, I am indeed close to them.  I listen to the prayer of every supplicant, when he calls on Me.  Let them also, with a will, listen to My call, and believe in Me, so that they may walk in the right way" (Qur'an 2:186).

When I think of Du’a, I think of calling to God for myself. Call upon God to forgive my sins, to guide me to the right path, to help me be a better person, to provide me with the will to achieve my goals and the requests go on. That is what most people call upon God for; people call upon God to help them in their own dealings.

However, most of us do not look at Du’a from a different perspective. Very few people think of calling upon God for someone else. Very few people sit down for the sole purpose of asking God for His help to guide a friend, or help the less fortunate ones, the strangers, or even the whole community.

We hear about and see in the news all the people who suffer from war, famine, and terrible environmental conditions; people who live in warzones and cannot escape their fate. It is extraordinarily distressing. Yet, we always seem to perform Du’a for ourselves first.

Du’a is a simple act that one can do wherever they are, whenever they can. It could be done in a one’s journey, when one is sick, late at night before sleeping, and even when one is performing daily tasks such as walking or driving from one place to another. This small task, however, carries so much weight when it is done for someone else.

Imagine an Angel performing Du’a for you; this is how glorifying it is to perform a Du’a for someone other than ourselves. God assigned a task for Angels to perform Du’a for the ones who do it for people other than themselves.

According to the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “The supplication of a Muslim for his brother in his absence will certainly be answered. Every time he makes a supplication for good for his brother, the angel appointed for this particular task says: `Ameen! May it be for you, too’.” [Muslim]

The same way the person you are performing Du’a for is absent from you, you are absent from the Angel who performs Du’a for you. For this reason, I highly believe that we, as humans, should not forget or neglect our sense of humanity. There are people out there who are suffering from tragedies beyond our abilities to physically aid them; the simple act of Du’a can not only benefit the unfortunate souls, but also those who are living in better conditions and are able to perform it. This is why Islam is the religion of peace. It is a self-less religion that encourages people to stand together, not necessarily physically, but spiritually.  

Performing Du’a is not an obligation to Muslims, but when Muslims perform it, they sense closeness to God, an increase in faith and a relief from distress, isolation and helplessness. Helplessness that comes from knowing that we cannot help the oppressed can be washed away from the sole act of asking God to give them glory over their oppressors.

Du’a can be done by both men and women. It can be done anywhere. God simplified this act for humans, but made it carry a lot of purity and radiance. Remember to not only perform Du’a for yourself, but also for the ones who are silently suffering. Perform Du’a for your mother, your father, your sisters and brothers, and for the entire humanity. It all counts not only in this life, but also in the afterlife. Du’a is the spark to initiate hope and peace.

III.             Artists who influenced me

I was introduced to many artists in this course; however, an artist that has always been an influence to me is a photographer called Paolo Raeli who carries his camera everywhere and snaps pictures of his friends in their natural moments.

A Muslim artist that influenced me is Mustafa Davis who is an American Muslim photographer and filmmaker. He worked in the UAE in many channels that are familiar to me, such as MBC and Dubai TV. The reason he is influential to me is because he uses film and photos as a way to express himself. Many of his photos that I have seen are in black and white, which was initially what I wanted to go for, but I prefer color in pictures. Another thing that I like about his work is that it is always showing individuals and their expressions. Usually his models are dressed in traditional Muslim clothing, such as Hijab for women, but also some are dressed according to their culture.

IV.             Short Biography

I am a 20-year-old Lebanese film student who has a passion for photography. I like art and I find photography and film-making a form of art that one can always learn and expand their potential through. I also find ease in expressing myself through film and photography.  

V.                References

http://islam.about.com/cs/prayer/a/dua.htm

https://istighfar.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/angels-making-dua-for-you/

http://islam.ru/en/content/story/what-dua

http://mustafadavis.com/portfolio/

http://brotherdash.com/how-did-i-get-here/

Al Mo'men Mosque

By Lama Al-Kharbouch

Since this art project about peace, I decided to design my own mosque because it is already a peaceful thing, and I thought that I can add more things to show these peacefulness. Actually, my concept for this project is to have some name of God that represent peace such as, Al-Rahman, Al-Raheem, Al-Ghafour, Al-Afou, Al-Ra'ouf, Al-Salam, Al-Haq, and Allah. At the same time, I knew that peace is related to light, so I came up with the shadow’s effect. It is basically about doing windows that have the shape of God’s names and these names (shadows) appear to the mosque in a beautiful way. Since most of people when they pray and talk to God, they look upward, so for this reason, I decided to have these shadows on the top (the ceiling).

Furthermore, since my whole project is about shadow which means sun, I had to think about a specific site that could give me the sun rays to where I exactly want. I had to choose a place where the sun rays at least appear through the four sides.  I did my research and I found a good place where the sun rays could somehow goes through the north side too. So the site is located in the Yunb’a beach, Yunb’a, Saudi Arabia. And this site is also perfect because two stories buildings are not allowed, so nothing will affect the sun rays that I need.

The name of this mosque is Al Mo'men Mosque. I chose this name since peace means Salam in Arabic, and Islam comes from the word Salam, and Muslim people are Mo'men (Belief) in God. So, it is related to peace in somehow. Moreover, Al-Moa'men is one of the God's names.

Regarding the Floor Plan, I did a huge entrance works as a waiting area and seating area. And from the left and the right side I have the w.c for males and females. In addition, I made a huge outdoor praying space (courtyard) and I applied an Islamic texture on the floor, and six water feature on the same space to warm up the outdoor area. Moreover, I did a two pathways from both side and closed them with glass to make it indoor and apply electricity, instead of using the outdoor (praying) space, for people who want to go to the main (mosque) place which has the largest dome. I did the Islamic arches on the inner side of each pathway, which located after the glass. For the entrances, I did three entrances to the mosque, the first one which is the biggest one and two from the main (mosque) place. No entrances from the fourth side (north façade) due to AL-Qiblah.

For the main (mosque) place, at the beginning I made the height of it about 10 meters, but when I did the openings (Names of God) I realized that my concept would not work in this case due to the direction of the shadow. So, since I did not want the shadow to shows or goes to the floor, I came up with the mirror idea. In this case I had to extend the ceiling about 10 meters more, so, the first 10 meter for people and the rest for the effect of the shadows. To do this I had to do a slap under each opening (name) (5 by 7 meters) and its materials are concrete from the bottom (where people can see it) and mirror from the top (which is not visible for them). How this works? Basically, when the sun hits the window and create the shadow, the shadow will goes to the mirror and the mirror will reflect the letters on the ceiling. Since some of the shadow would not appear due to the void of the biggest dome, I also had to make the width larger to let all of the letters appear on the ceiling.

And I applied the praying carpet on the floor, and Islamic texture on the walls. But for the ceiling i had to apply dark color to make the shadows show on it. I also placed the Mihrab and the Minbar and they are shown in the interior render very clearly

Regarding the colors, since mosques are very unique and I wanted to take people's attention to the mosque,  I chose the white concrete color for the walls, and gold color for the domes and some part of the minarets. I think these two colors are really valuable and make any building very especial from a far distance.

For this project, I used five tools (programs) to make it completely done. First of all, I used AutoCad to draw the outlines and the whole floor plan of the mosque. Then I exported to Revit to make the 3D Shape of the mosque, which include walls, columns, minarets, doors, window, and arches. Furthermore, it was so difficult to make the domes in Revit, so I made the dome by using 3Dmax then exported to Revit. After that, I used Lumion to apply materials for walls, doors, roof, and floors, and to render the mosque from outside and inside. Finally, I used Photoshop to edit my renders, to make the shadows, and to make my poster.

The Religion of Peace

By Hind Janahi

“Indeed, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others; and giving like kindred; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil, and wrongful transgression. He admonished you that you may take heed.” (Al Quran 16:91)

            Islam and peace meet in the provision of serenity and tranquility, it is not surprising that the word Islam is the same “islam" and “al-salam" letters gathered , and it reflects the proportionality principle and the curriculum God has made “greeting" a Muslim ,so a Muslim should not speak with another before the start of the “salam” where he said Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, « al-salam before the speech ».

            Islam is mostly viewed as hostile. When I searched for “Islam is a peaceful religion” the first thing that popped up was “No, Muslims are savages”. It upsets me how much people view Muslims as terrorists. Islam means peace,  the  holy Qur'an teaches that too. There is no doubt that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, came with peace and mercy for mankind and saved them and removed them from darkness to light, so that people are all up to the highest levels of human morality in all their dealings in life. 

            The idea of islam is formed of ​​peace and safety and established to become the idea of ​​authentic and deep, covering all aspects, both in the universe and man and nature and so on, so that meets the doctrine and laws of Islam. Peace is an integral part of Islam and entrench this act be in the form of behavior and not verbal only. 2:190. “Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah love not transgressors.” War is only permissible in self-defense, and under well-defined limits. When

undertaken, it must be pushed with vigor, but not relentlessly, but only to restore peace and freedom for the worship of God. In any case strict limits must not be transgressed: women, children, old and infirm men should not be molested, nor trees and crops cut down, nor peace withheld when the enemy comes to terms.

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My name is Hind Janahi. I’m a business student studying in the American University in Dubai. My parents raised me to stick to my religion no matter how much the world is changing around us. I love photography. I love capturing beautiful moments. I went to Makkah a week ago and it was packed. I was amazed by how many people were there. I’ve been to Makkah a lot of times but this time it was super crowded.

Drawing with Peace

By Hamad Saleh

My name is Hamad Saleh, I am half Emirati and half Iranian. I am a student in the American University in Dubai and study Digital production and storytelling. My interest in art is usually observing and appreciating the beauty of it. However, I am not capable of making art although I appreciate the hard work put into it.

For my artwork, although I did not have any good experience with drawing, I decided at first that I wanted to draw it in the traditional way because I wanted to experience the ways that people used to draw calligraphy with, but due to many failed attempts, it was very hard to make it look organized and well proportioned. However, at some point I realized that if I added some modernity into it, it would be easier for a beginner.

I used an IPad and a drawing application to draw the calligraphy, I want to show people that even though calligraphers usually draw with paper and pen, there is no harm in trying the modern method to draw calligraphy, because it can help us learn doing it in an easier way.

            The process of doing this calligraphy was very long and hard, I had to draw it at first and it was really messy so I had to repeat it several times until I got the form that I want, but in the end I managed to get the proper form and spent hours on just defining it properly. However, during the whole process of this, including the messing up part, was all very peaceful for me because while drawing it, I found it to be very peaceful because it felt like I was taking a journey with myself, the journey made me feel so relaxed and stress-free, I felt a huge inner peace in which I did not even realize that I spent at least 3-5 hours in just drawing it now.

Islam in Media

By Dima Tarazi

Media is a growing industry. People watch, read and listen to the news all the time to see how their families are doing abroad, to find out what’s happening in the world and sometimes it could be unintentionally playing in the background such as the radio. In addition, since the media is what people all around the world refer to, they tend to believe everything; the true, the false, and the exaggeration. This further allows me to get into my topic, which is the media brainwashing people into believing that Islam encourages terrorism when on the contrary, Islam actually encourages peace.      

Etymology of the word Islam: (Wikipedia 1)

Word	Meaning
Islam	Submission
Salam	Well-being/Peace
(Derivation of) Salama	The stinging of a snake or the tanning of the leather
Saleema	To be saved or to escape from danger (when refering to a female)
Saleem	To be saved or to escape from danger (when refering to a male)
Aslam	To submit
Istaslama	To surrender
Musal	Undisputed
Tasleem	To receive a salutation or becoming submitted

This etymology is an important initial step for everyone to further understand what Islam as a religion is. Islam as a religion should not be the victim of terrorist attacks all over the world because people simply do not know who else to blame. Terrorist groups using Islam as a back bone for the reasons of their attacks allows the media to directly or indirectly say “the Muslims strike again”. People naïve enough to believe that this is the only truth only allows more support to further classify Muslims as ‘outsiders’ or ‘others’ giving into orientalism. Even if people do not believe the news, there’s always the subconscious where information sticks, out of hand. So the next time there is a terrorist attack, or any form of attack, people may link Islam to it automatically but unintentionally.

To some people, it stopped being a shock and started being casual to link Islam with terrorism, and media plays a big role. Media is a trusted source of information, and people can constantly back themselves up by saying “I saw it on the news today” when there would be 100 other sides to the story that are not actually shown on the news.

My art project is mainly about people being brainwashed by the media and, in this case, about Islam being linked to terrorism. My project is a Photoshop illustration of a regular everyday man who could be from anywhere around the world, sitting down watching the news when the media directly states “Muslims strike again” after a terrorist attack. The information travels to his brain and is shredded like any other piece of info which brainwashes him automatically. In addition, it’s to show people how the media operates when it comes to such a sensitive subject.

For all of the above reasons, I chose to do my end of semester art project on Islam in Media, because, in my opinion, media shapes the world and in time, people’s thoughts and this is what I see is happening in the case of a peaceful and beautiful religion such as Islam. Personally, I am tired of such stereotypes, and one of my main goals of this end of semester project is to destroy the link between terrorism and Islam and make it mostly about Islam and the peaceful religion. Moreover, to alert people to learn more before they assume anything at all in order not to make people victims for no reason. 

He is with you wherever you are

By Basant Khairallah

The title for my artwork is “He is with you wherever you are” and I have it printed on an A3, and I used AutoCAD to trace the writing of calligraphy and added a photo that I took of the Sheikh Zayed mosque as the background and using Photoshop I put them together.

The statement I used is related to hope and how it gives a person a peace of mind knowing that no matter what there is someone looking out for them. I used calligraphy writing to relate it to Islam and the main aim of Islam is peace. I used the mosque in the background as well to portray peace. And the image was taken by and I tried capturing the ambiance of peace.

The person that inspired the concept behind my work is calligraphist El SEED. He is a French-Tunisian street artist whose works incorporate traditional Arabic calligraphy. His art was born on the streets of Paris, and now adorns walls across every continent. Incorporating elements of both the graffiti and Arabic calligraphic traditions, EL Seed is known for his unique style of calligraphy, which uses intricate composition to call not only on the words and their meaning, but also on their movement, to lure the viewer into a different state of mind. His work gives people hope and he does a lot of awareness project. In his new project ‘perception’ which he did in the neighborhood of Manshiyat Nasr In Cairo, the community of Zaraeeb Collects the trash of the city for decades and it developed the most efficient and highly profitable recycling system on a global level Still, the place is perceived as dirty, marginalized and segregated.  With the help of his team he managed to bring light to the place by bringing light on this community the peace that he worked on he uses the words of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, a Coptic Bishop from the 3rd century, that said: ‘Anyone who wants to see the sunlight clearly needs to wipe his eye first.

I am an Arab girl born in the UAE but Egyptian by blood I study interior design at the American university in Dubai, I always had an interest in calligraphy.