Calligraphy
"beautiful writing”
• The Muslims respected calligraphy as the highest art form because the
Qur'an was written in Arabic and it represented the word of God
• Writing was not only an artistic but a religious expression as well
• Calligraphy decorated the mosques and holy books of Islam
• This was all the more important considering that Islam does not allow
iconography, to protect people from worshipping images instead of God
Styles
Over the centuries Arabic calligraphy expanded to include different styles of
writing. Just like in English where there are many kinds of handwriting
(printing, cursive, "graffiti style"), many writing styles in Arabic developed.
21st century
aerosol Arabic
12th century Quranic
manuscript