The Art of Calligraphy with Haji Noor Deen

Venue

Classes will be conducted at the Darul Qasim College Glendale Heights Campus at 550 Regency Dr.

Background

Join Darul Qasim College in collaboration with The Deen Arts Foundation, for two programs with the world-renowned master calligrapher Haji Noor Deen.

The Divinely inspired purpose of calligraphy is to learn the mechanics of writing the letters, which are based on philosophical and spiritual understandings and aims to discipline the nafs. 

“Patience is Beautiful” is a message Haji Noor Deen Hoca often repeats to his students. Arabic Calligraphy is considered an Islamic science (akin to fiqh and Tafsīr) because it preserves the written Word of Allah ﷻ, and it is a means of purification of the nafs. There are many texts on the subject written by present and past scholars. Understanding the intentions of the scholars who developed and preserved this Islamic science helps refine one’s intention before embarking on the calligraphic path—May Allah ﷻ Grant Tawfiq to all of our endeavors.

The Deen Arts Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that strives to inspire and connect individuals and communities to authentic education of the Islamic Sacred Arts. Our higher purpose revolves around the concept of divine beauty and an attempt to create as many mirrors as possible of this divine beauty through the Islamic Sacred Arts. Here is a concise one-minute video that will offer you a comprehensive insight into our organization and the essence of Islamic Sacred Arts.

Meet the Instructor

Our teacher, Haji Noor Deen Hoca, is a renowned master of Arabic calligraphy and is responsible for the formal codification of the ancient Arabic writing system in the Chinese tradition. The Islamic arts are transmitted through the Ijaza (certificates of mastery) system, and this methodology has preserved calligraphy for over 1000 years.

Arabic Calligraphy in the Chinese Style (ACCS), also called Sini Calligraphy, combines traditional Chinese and Arabic calligraphic tools and techniques that uniquely fuse the Chinese and Arabic visual arts. 

Haji Noor Hoca is also a master of the Thuluth and Naskh scripts taught in the Osmanli (Ottoman) tradition for over five hundred years. The Thuluth script is a beautiful, cursive script often used in Islamic architecture. The Naskh script is one of the first scripts in Islamic calligraphy and is often used in copies of the Qur’an. The term “Hoca” (pronounced Hoja) is a Turkish word for “Sheikh” used to address the teacher as a form of respect.

Friday, December 29th at 7:00 PM CST

(Open to Public – No Registration Required)

  • Visual presentation with discussion on the 1000-year history of the Wei Muslims in China
  • Demonstration of Arabic Calligraphy in the Chinese Style, with select audience participation
  • Full audience participation: clipboards, chiseled tip sharpies, and paper will be distributed
  • 18+ event
  • Exhibit with custom artwork available
  • 90 min program

Calligraphy Workshop:

December 30th to January 2nd at 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM CST

Registration Required

Registration Fee: $95

This course is for those students who want to start or continue their path in attaining their Ijaza in ACCS and Thuluth & Naskh.  The most important aspect of this class is the master calligrapher correcting your work to avoid continually copying mistakes in your practice. The Islamic arts are transmitted through the Ijaza system, and this methodology has preserved calligraphy for over 1000 years. Students can continue learning through the Deen Arts Foundation. The foundation has created a platform on which the Islamic sacred arts are taught in-person and online while preserving the traditional teaching methods and the Ijaza process. Students are connected to a master who can instruct them in their discipline.

  • Theoretical and historical foundations of the calligraphic tradition
  • Introduction to ACCS, Riqa, Thuluth & Naskh 
  • 4-day program with 3 hours of class time per day.
  • Limit of 25 students 
  • Suitable for students 18+

An extensive collection of Haji Noor Deen’s work and a complete bio can be found at www.hajinoordeen.com

Notes:

Historical and theoretical topics:

  • Mushafs – Qur’ān – development – features 
  • Typology of Scripts – Manuscripts
  • Etiquette of the Writer and Apprentice 
  • Lives of Calligraphers through biographical dictionaries
  • Abbasid to Ottoman – Ibn al-Bawwab to Hasan Celebi – on overview of the movement of ink in the central lands of Islam

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