WRITING OF THE GLORIOUS MUSHAF

BY THE OTTOMAN CALLIGRAPHERS

Idham Muhammad Hanash

Abstract

          This historical research presents the efforts and works of Ottoman calligraphers in the field of writing the Glorious Mushaf. It studies the writing styles, the methodologies and rules adopted by these calligraphers with a view to discovering their methodology in writing the Glorious Mushaf.

          Hamdullah al-Amasi is considered to be the founder of this methodology. Some other Ottoman calligraphers such as Darwish Ali and al-Hafiz Uthman had a distinctive role in its development and spread amongst most of the calligraphers who were engaged in writing the Mushaf.

          The research was able to infer that the major characteristics of the Ottoman methodology in writing the Mushaf are:

1. Writing with clarity and beauty, which enhances readability of the Glorious Qur’an.
2. Relying on the Naskh style of writing as the main style for writing the Glorious Qur’an.
3. A good arrangement of the pages and the distribution of words in them, which helps easy continuity in the recitation and memorization of the Qur’an. This was as a result of peculiar scientific and professional rules in writing the Glorious Mushaf.

The order of lines in a page should be odd in number such that the lines in a page are eleven or thirteen or fifteen or seventeen in number.

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