Islamic calligraphy is certainly the most recognizable virtual expression of Islam. According to Islamic tradition, the very Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) gave directions on how to write. There is a history that Muhammad (Pbuh) told his son-in-law, Alija ibn Ebi Talib: “Alija, narrow your letters, make a spacing between the lines, and sharpen your pen.” All great masters of calligraphy are connected with the calligraphic chain of scribes and copyists launched in the 7th century, with Alija.
The art of beautiful writing and aesthetics that accompanies it is not unique to Islamic civilization, because extraordinary achievements of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy are renowned as well. However, it seems that, due to the particularity and love for rewriting the sacred text, the God’s word – the Qur’an – calligraphy in Islam took precedence over all the other arts.
Monographs on the history of Ottoman calligraphy, in addition to presenting biographies of artists with analysis of their works, are often spiced with anecdotes from the life of calligraphers. We will single out one from the life of the famous Ottoman calligrapher Hafiz Osman (1642-1698), which perhaps best describes the respect that these artists enjoyed. It is narrated that the sultan Mustafa (1695-1703), who was a calligraphy student of Hafiz Osman, held the inkwell for the great master while the latter was writing the letters.
It is assumed that the first manuscripts written in Arabic script in Bosnia and Herzegovina date from the first half of the 15th century. With the opening of maktabs, mosques and madrassas, the first libraries begin to operate as well. Books originally arrived in Bosnia from the East through purchase, but it did not take before the first authors who created in Arabic, Turkish and Persian came forward. Books spread by the means of transcribing and, along with that, penmanship i.e. Islamic calligraphy began spreading as well.
Art historians, but also historians of culture, believe that Hajji Hafiz Husein Rakim Effendi Islamović (1839-1895) is probably the best calligrapher in Bosnia in the late 19th century. Islamović began studying calligraphy in Sarajevo and continued in Istanbul, from where he returned with four degrees in calligraphy that are now kept in the Museum of the Gazi Husrev-Bey’s Library.
Latest research shows that at least five Bosniaks learned calligraphy from Hajji Hafiz Rakim Effendi Islamović, namely: Behaudin Effendi Sikirić, Akif Effendi Hadžihusejinović Muvekit, Hafiz Sulejman Effendi Čučak, Hajji Hafiz Mustafa Effendi Čadordžija and Hafiz Abdullah Ajni- Effendi Bušatlić. Each of these calligraphers had his own students.
In the 20th century, there has been some decline in interest in Islamic calligraphy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not surprising when we consider the circumstances in which the entire culture of Islam was inherited. Major credit for the preservation of this centuries-old tradition during Yugoslavia goes to Ešref Effendi Kovacevic (1924-1996). As much as it is known, this B&H calligrapher is the most ubiquitous calligrapher not only in Bosnia, but also in the entire Yugoslavia.
On one occasion, while he was in Istanbul, as Kovačević was telling himself, he went to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (The Blue Mosque). During the prayer, he noticed that the lamp to the right of the mihrab writes in Arabic: “There is no God, there is no Allah.” After pointing out this error to the Imam and scholars who happened to be in the mosque, he offered to correct it.
(Source: factor.ba)
