Deen Arts Foundation is dedicated to the traditional pedagogy of the Ijaza system, which has preserved the Islamic sciences for the past 1400 years. In this context, the master-apprentice relationship in the Islamic sacred arts ensures that the highest level of mastery is retained, as knowledge passes to the next generation. The master calligraphers, tezhip artists, geometers, and munshids Deen Arts Foundation works with have learned through the Ijaza system, and teach in this way as well.
Haji Noor Deen Mi Guang Jiang is a renowned master of Arabic calligraphy. He was born in Yucheng, in the Shandong Province of China in 1963. In 1997, he became the first individual from China to be awarded the Certificate of Arabic Calligrapher in Egypt, after having studied the calligraphic arts there for over ten years.
Shahryanshah Sirajuddin was born in Sangkulirang, Indonesia (b.1986) and graduated from faculty of islamic Law of Al-Azhar University-Egypt in 2009 and received his ijaza (license) for Rik’a, Diwani and Diwani scipts from Sheikh Belaid Hamidi in Egypt.
Fatma was born in Istanbul (b.1988) and graduated from the European Islamic University Faculty of Islamic Sciences in 2012 and graduated from Anadolu University Open Education Faculty of Theology in 2016.
Ahmet Kutluhan Hoca began his studies in Hüsn-i Hat (the Art of Calligraphy) in high school, learning Rik'a from Rafet Küllüoğlu in Kastamonu. When he came to Istanbul in 1992 for university, he began studying Thuluth and Nasikh from the internationally renowned calligrapher Hasan Çelebi.
Soufiane Abbadi is a Moroccan artist with a masters in pure mathematics. His approach to Islamic geometry was presented to experts in the US, France, Germany, and Morocco. In March 2018, Ustadh Soufiane’s exhibits were held in Paris at the Maison Soufie and in Morocco at the King Hassan II Mosque Library.
He is an imam, a munshid, a teacher, and a professional translator. He learned the art of inshad/singing under well-known munshids in Syria such as Mutasim al-Asli, Muhammad Khalid Zayn al-Abidin, and Mustafa Karim. He has a diploma/ijaza in the ten variant recitations of the Quran as well as in the memorization of the Quran from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Turkey.
Betul Kutluhan Hoca was born in 1977 in Ankara. She graduated from Tosya Religious Vocational High School in Kastamonu. She began her Tezhip studies with her teacher Mustafa Celebi in 2000. After a period of two years, she continued to study with Tezhip artist Sumeyra Gol for 4 years and received her authorization to teach. She participated in many exhibitions both in Turkey and abroad.
Serap Ekizler Sönmez was born in Germany in 1973. She completed her undergraduate degree at Marmara University Faculty of Literature and Sciences Department of Chemistry. She continued her painting education, which she took up at university, within master artists’ studios for 14 years. She opened her own studio in 2003. She took part in a number of group and personal exhibitions.