Hajj Certificate with Kufi Squares

Wow, no posts in 2010. Sorry, been busy!

During a recent visit to the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar I came across "hajj certificate"

The "Hajj Certificate" has kufi squares.

Given my interest in Kufi Squares and my work with Tabung Haji (Malaysian Hajj Pilgrimage Fund) it was a wonderful combination!

Algerian Dinar has Kufi Square!

During a recent trip to Algiers, Algeria , I changed some Euro for local Algerian Dinars.

Only after a few days did I notice that the currency note had Kufi Squares!

Algerian currency is not freely convertible and a black market above the official rate is about 20 to 30 %.

When you leave Algeria, you cannot exchange your Dinars back to foreign currency!

The Top Kufi Square reads "bank Algiers" and the bottom square reads "X00 Dinar"

This is the first time I know of any currency of any country having a Kufi Square!

Paint a tile

Our local primary school, where 4 of the Munchkin5 attended each for six years, had a Paint a tile fundraising day.

Students, alumni and teachers bought a six by six inch white tile for Rm10 each.

They provided special ceramic colour paints for us to draw anything we liked.

It was a real fun day.

I was so impressed by the creativity and artistry of many of the young kids. I hope they will retain these skills as they grow.

As a family we bought twenty tiles and each of the kids painted a pair. We decided to paint the Munchkin5 kufi square together with the legend / guide / translations.

Iran Flag has square kufic

The Flag of Iran has square kufic script.

From wikipedia:

"...writing on the borders between the white, and the green and red bands reading, Allahu Akbar ("God is great") in a stylized version of the Kufic script used for the Qur'an. There are 22 (2×11) copies of this inscription, symbolic of the 22nd day of the 11th month (Bahman) in the Persian calendar—the date of the Islamic revolution (22 Bahman 1357 = February 11, 1979) over the Pahlavi dynasty. The addition of this writing renders the flag non-reversible.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_flag


Source:
Flagspot.net

88 Jalan Perdana

Rushdan alerted me last week to a kufi brickwork at 88 Jalan Perdana. This is a building behind the Islamic Art Museum in Kuala Lumpur. The security guard told me that both buildings were owned by the same person.

It is made of rectangular marble slates. The slates have wavy grooves. I expect water pours down and creates an optical effect.

How it all started

I have always been interested in squares. Geotude comes from that interest. I have never been very good at reading Arabic script fast. One day in the late 1980's while i was working for the Arab-Malaysian Group of Companies, headed by Tan Sri Azman Hashim, a passionate art collector, I sat in a meeting room and there was a framed songket weaving. When i read it, I was immediately able to read the entire verse, Al-Ikhlas. That surprised me. About ten years later I came across a similiar pieces at the Art Gallery at the Hyatt in Johor Bahru. I bought it and some other pieces and still have them till today. I hope you enjoy the collection.

Kufi Squares Presentation