Week 2: Calligraphy and Nur Muhammad
One of the main themes of the course has been Muhammad as a light for Muslims. The Nur Muhammad is a central idea of Islam, and is used heavily in many forms of Islamic art. The Prophet, as told in the Qur’an, carries a small piece of light from that Allah took from himself and sent to the realm of mankind. The analogy from the qur’an places Muhammad as the lamp which shines the light of Allah.
That is what I tried to capture is this mixed-media piece. I lit a candle and let it burn for about an hour so that as much wax as possible might become hot and liguid. Then I spilled the contents onto a piece of paper. I let the spilled wax cool then \ used an assortment of pens and knives to slowly carve into the wax. I carved the Arabic calligraphy for “Muhammad” into the red wax. We have studied often the import of calligraphy in Islamic religious adherence, so I tried to carve in a fluid and beautiful style, putting emphasis on the aesthetic value rather than making it as legible as possible.
A candle cannot burn steadily unless there is significant wax. It cannot shed long-lasting light without it. The analogy I am trying to represent is that Muhammad is the wax–the eternal fuel–for the wick and flame that is the light of Allah. Through the fuel that is Muhammad, this light is shed upon the Muslims. The tipped-over, spilled candle is meant to reveal this truth.