Meet Bhatkal man whose Calligraphic work were displayed at Islamic Calligraphy exhibition in Japan
Bhatkal 15 December 2018: (Bhatkallys News Bureau) Muhib Kola, a young man from Bhatkal had keen interest in arts like Calligraphy and others right since his childhood, but as he grew up he says, he was disconnected with it, only to reignite the flames in 2015, which eventually led to his interest in Islamic cultural arts during his stay in Bengaluru.
Ever since then, for past three years, his interest and stature as an calligraphy artist has grown stronger and stronger day in and day out, so much so that his Islamic calligraphy work were displayed at the “The third Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition” held at Kansai between 20-24 September 2017.
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Muhib's work that was displayed at Japan's third Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition in September 2017[/caption]
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A visitor click picture of Muhib's work displayed at the Japan's third Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition[/caption]
"The more I explored, the more I learned that It takes a genius to create something like this and that is how I came
to know about Arabic Calligraphy" Muhib recently settled back to Bhatkal from Bengaluru, says while speaking exclusively to Bhatkallys.com
The role of Calligraphy in the history of Islam is touted as one of the most important roles in the preservation of the religious scriptures as the companions of Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) used calligraphy as the tool to write down and preserve the verses of holy Quran when and where it were revealed.
"No calligraphy developed as much as Arabic calligraphy. The reason being this simple, in Islam drawing of animate beings is prohibited , so the Muslim artists respecting the law of Allah, poured all their creativity in beautifying the Arabic letters , where others focused on learning other categories of Art" Muhib adds.
[caption id="attachment_184018" align="alignnone" width="1200"]
A still as Muhib practices his calligraphy, at his home in Bhatkal[/caption]
"Arabic Calligraphy is one of the highest form of human creativity. Not only is it pleasing to watch, but it honors the person who learns it and inculcates a person with qualities like Patience, creativity, balance, focus,humility and much more" he further adds.
When Muhib made up his mind to learn Islamic calligraphy, he researched and found out that there was only one trained Calligraphy master across India who had learned calligraphy of the international standards from internationally acclaimed calligraphy masters or what they calligraphy students call as 'Ustaad', meaning teacher in Urdu.
"His name was Ustad Muqtar Ahmed and fortunately for me, he was based in Bengaluru where even I was settled back then. He learned his art from internationally acclaimed calligraphy masters in Turkey, namely Ustad Hasan
Celebi and Ustad Dwaood Bektash of Turkey. I was fortunate that he agreed to teach me the art of calligraphy and accepted me as his student" a thankful Muhib say while recalling his early days.
"Over these three years, I have learned a lot from Ustaad, he has advised me to visit Turkey once and spend some time under the guidance of the masters there".
[caption id="attachment_184016" align="alignnone" width="1200"]
Muhib poses for Bhatkallys.com with one of his recent work[/caption]
Asked about his plans and his future course into this field, Muhib adds "I want to take this art forward and teach as
many people as I can. I want to let people know the importance of Arabic calligraphy, people in India are unaware of this whereas in other countries it has immense value. I also plan to start taking classes for students here in Bhatkal who are interested".
[caption id="attachment_184020" align="alignnone" width="1200"]
Muhib's collection of tools and pens used in calligraphy[/caption]
"Even at this age of advancement, the Mushaf which we use now are originally hand written by the present calligraphers , as the art of hand can’t be replicated, whatever a calligrapher practices or whatever he writes , he writes in the state of Wud’hu , no machine can do that"Muhib elaborates.
"I now intend to teach Arabic calligraphy in Bhatkal, and make people aware of what correct Arabic calligraphy is In sha Allah, it can’t be self thought , It has to be learned under the guidance of a teacher , like every other respected knowledge, no one can self learn calligraphy" he concludes.
(Bhatkallys Special News Bureau/ Ismail Zaorez)
Muhib's work that was displayed at Japan's third Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition in September 2017[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_184025" align="alignnone" width="838"] A visitor click picture of Muhib's work displayed at the Japan's third Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition[/caption]
"The more I explored, the more I learned that It takes a genius to create something like this and that is how I came
to know about Arabic Calligraphy" Muhib recently settled back to Bhatkal from Bengaluru, says while speaking exclusively to Bhatkallys.com
The role of Calligraphy in the history of Islam is touted as one of the most important roles in the preservation of the religious scriptures as the companions of Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) used calligraphy as the tool to write down and preserve the verses of holy Quran when and where it were revealed.
"No calligraphy developed as much as Arabic calligraphy. The reason being this simple, in Islam drawing of animate beings is prohibited , so the Muslim artists respecting the law of Allah, poured all their creativity in beautifying the Arabic letters , where others focused on learning other categories of Art" Muhib adds.
[caption id="attachment_184018" align="alignnone" width="1200"] A still as Muhib practices his calligraphy, at his home in Bhatkal[/caption]
"Arabic Calligraphy is one of the highest form of human creativity. Not only is it pleasing to watch, but it honors the person who learns it and inculcates a person with qualities like Patience, creativity, balance, focus,humility and much more" he further adds.
When Muhib made up his mind to learn Islamic calligraphy, he researched and found out that there was only one trained Calligraphy master across India who had learned calligraphy of the international standards from internationally acclaimed calligraphy masters or what they calligraphy students call as 'Ustaad', meaning teacher in Urdu.
"His name was Ustad Muqtar Ahmed and fortunately for me, he was based in Bengaluru where even I was settled back then. He learned his art from internationally acclaimed calligraphy masters in Turkey, namely Ustad Hasan
Celebi and Ustad Dwaood Bektash of Turkey. I was fortunate that he agreed to teach me the art of calligraphy and accepted me as his student" a thankful Muhib say while recalling his early days.
"Over these three years, I have learned a lot from Ustaad, he has advised me to visit Turkey once and spend some time under the guidance of the masters there".
[caption id="attachment_184016" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Muhib poses for Bhatkallys.com with one of his recent work[/caption]
Asked about his plans and his future course into this field, Muhib adds "I want to take this art forward and teach as
many people as I can. I want to let people know the importance of Arabic calligraphy, people in India are unaware of this whereas in other countries it has immense value. I also plan to start taking classes for students here in Bhatkal who are interested".
[caption id="attachment_184020" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Muhib's collection of tools and pens used in calligraphy[/caption]
"Even at this age of advancement, the Mushaf which we use now are originally hand written by the present calligraphers , as the art of hand can’t be replicated, whatever a calligrapher practices or whatever he writes , he writes in the state of Wud’hu , no machine can do that"Muhib elaborates.
"I now intend to teach Arabic calligraphy in Bhatkal, and make people aware of what correct Arabic calligraphy is In sha Allah, it can’t be self thought , It has to be learned under the guidance of a teacher , like every other respected knowledge, no one can self learn calligraphy" he concludes.
(Bhatkallys Special News Bureau/ Ismail Zaorez)
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