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GenEd 1134

Moses Mayer

For my project I chose to revisit two core facets: the 99 names of Allah and the way in which Islam is embedded into our world. I decided to have a globe as the underlying platform on which to build my work, and given the way in which the Prophet Muhammad came to Medina and gained authority, I decided to center my snapshot of the globe around Medina (highlighted in yellow). I saw the 99 names of Allah as a way to represent the foundations of Islam, with the word “Allah” overlaid on top in the center of the globe as it represents a central facet/source.

To represent the way in which, by definition of Muslims as submitters, people who do not actively practice Islam can still be a Muslim, I decided that it would be fitting to express that people worldwide are under the shared influence of Islam. Hence, I layered the Arabic text for the 99 names of Allah across land masses visible on the globe with the idea that these represent north stars for citizens of each area. The green text represents land and nature; in itself is a metaphor for life, while the blue color for the overlaying Allah calligram represents water as a source of life. I see this as Allah being omnipresent in all facets of people’s lives, much like how water is analogous to sustenance and is fully present even on land. While the 99 names each have different literal meanings, they represent the same entity: despite our differences based on localized cultures, we are all human, and we all submit to Allah.

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47. Willie Lowry For this project I chose the word “Tawhid”. For “scenery” I used the main symbols associated with all 3 Abrahamic religions and then had Tawhid written into the starry night sky. This night sky could resemble a number of stories associated with all the books. Such as the Isra and Mi’raj which are a part of the night journey where Muhammed ascended to heaven and spoke with God. From the Torah, Jacob, or Yaqub, as known in Islam, wrestled with God under the night sky and that is where he received the name Israel. And in the Bible Jesus, or Isa, was taken away to be crucified late at night. Tawhid is a term that relates to the oneness of God. This idea can be taken literally as God being one entity, and that there are no gods other than God. This phrase can also be related to the unity of God. Unity, as characteristic of God, being uncompromisable and acting as a single being. God as the joining force between all things and people. The idea of God being supreme is, of course, a common trait shared between the Abrahamic religions. Beyond that fact, I chose these symbols along with this word as a representation of the “oneness” of these religions. Despite different ways of practice, different main figures, language barriers, and many other differences, these religions all pray and aim to serve, the same God. I wanted to highlight how they are distinct and yet together by replacing the star associated with the moon with the star of David. Despite the separation there is still an undividable unity between these groups, even if it does not always seem that way.

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MMAYER-Calligram