Joy's Response Blog

One of the asma al-husna, the ninety-nine beautiful names of God, says God is al-Nur, or the Light. God is a shining Light that illuminates the sirat al-mustaqim path of righteousness and leads the way, a Light that is radiating with jamal beauty and jalal majesty, a Light that shines hope into the darkness. In my project, I handle the concept of light and darkness literally.

I started with a cutout of a standard calligraphic representation of Allah. This representation was cut out of white paper to illustrate the purity of God as al-Mutahhir The Purifier and al-Mubayyin The Clarifier. However, shining various colors and angles of light challenged the purity of the white. Though the believers are cut from the same fabric as God and are intrinsically pure, they are often colored by their earthly experiences, making them forget their origins and their God.

Just as muslims submit to God, the project submitted to the varying angles and brilliances of the lights. Some of the more interesting pieces include the red light illuminating an long shadow and highlighting the middle of the calligraphy, creating a fiery effect. An interpretation of this image is the reference of the prophet as siraj munir, radiant Lamp or seeing Allah as a fire in the source of light, of passion. This coloring could be misinterpreted as devilish, demonstrating how an image can be seen in very different light by different people. Other interesting pieces include the ones in the box, where the light shining on the calligraphic representation result in reverberating shadows, as the name of Allah echoes as the believers profess their faith with the shahada. And the ones with a mix of colors in the box demonstrate how fairly diverse sentiments do not always have to clash, rather, can work together and coexist, as encouraged by God and the Prophet.

The project demonstrates the contrasts between the Light of God and the darkness that may pervade from sin, forgetfulness, earthly desires, despair. Ultimately, the Light shines and dispels the darkness, as God and the Prophet Muhammad bring the people from darkness to Light.