Preach What You Practice: Muslim Scholar-Calligraphers Bridging Cultural Borders and Pedagogical Boundaries

Abstract: Research on calligraphy has gradually increased in scholarship on Islam and the arts, although it has yet to receive the attention that other manifestations of Islamic visual culture have. Most scholarship has focused on pre-modern masters of the art, manuscripts, and epigraphy, with scant consideration of contemporary practitioners. This is paradoxical given the lacunae in knowledge of the development of the scripts, of calligraphy’s relationship to other Islamic disciplines, and of its functions in Islamic societies—and beyond. Some master calligraphers who hold traditional titles of authority to teach have also obtained advanced degrees from modern universities and have published scholarly studies of the art accessible to a range of audiences. This study introduces two male and two female scholar-calligraphers from Turkey, Iran, Jordan, and China and their publications. The study suggests furthermore that in publishing and publicly demonstrating their art, these scholar-calligraphers, intentionally or not, exercise a de-facto role in Islamic outreach.