Islam

In the Saint’s Lamp, we introduced to a traditional village in Egypt. The villagers seemed to place high religious regard to a lamp that is said to belong to “Zainab” (also known as Umm Hashim) the prophet’s grand daughter. Any oil from that lamp is said to be holy and a cure to any disease. The oil is said to be blessed, but where does this blessing come from? If we look at the religion of Islam, it is noticeable that the family of the Prophet is highly regarded amongst Muslims. Even in our prayers, we pray for the Prophet’s family. So, it only seems logical for people to believe that items associated with the Prophet’s family would be blessed to. The second question that arises is why this particular object? Why a lamp? Again, looking back in time, the Prophets sent by God were a source of guidance to humanity. In a way, you could even say they are using light given to them by God to guide humanity. A lamp is an object that gives out light and was often carried around by people to light their way. So, if Prophet Mohamad PBUH was one source of light, his descendants must also carry some of that light within them. Hence, Zainab, who carries some of that light within her, is represented by the lamp.

In this piece, I decided to paint my own lamp. The lamp is filled with arabic calligraphy as it is usually linked to Islam. The words are mainly some of the names of Allah, the Prophet’s name and some of the women in his life. The main focus of the painting is the word “Zainab” which is at the center of the lamp and the only upright word just to highlight that this is a representation of her lamp.