GENERAL INFORMATION

This is a semester-long course (36 weeks long) that immerses the student in the classical way of learning Arabic calligraphy, as taught in the Osmanli (Ottoman) tradition for over five hundred years.

DISCLAIMER:

Due to Haji Noor Deen’s extensive travel schedule, classes may be taught by his master students or corrections will be done in an offline setting.

• Subject: Introduction to Thuluth & Naskh
• Course Format: Online
• Duration: 36 Weeks
• Instructor: Haji Noor Deen Hoca
• Scholarship Application Due June 20, 2024 [click to access]
• Price:  $999
• Due to limited seating, we request that you cancel by July 10, 2024, to receive a full refund.
• Installment plans available through PayPal and customer’s credit card.

Option 1:
Dates: Sep 21- Dec 15, 2024
[Break]
Jan 5 – Feb 16, 2025
[Break]
April 6 – May 18, 2025
[Break]
June 8 – July 27, 2025
Time: 12 PM UTC | Sundays

Option 4:
Dates: Sep 19 – Dec 19, 2024
[Break]
Jan 9 – Feb 20, 2025
[Break]
April 10 – May 22, 2025
[Break]
June 12 – July 31, 2025
Time:1:15 AM UTC | Thursdays

ABOUT THE COURSE

This semester-long course immerses the student in the classical way of learning Arabic calligraphy (Thuluth and Naskh scripts), taught in the Osmanli (Ottoman) tradition for over five hundred years. Our teacher Haji Noor Deen Hoca is a master calligrapher of the Thuluth and Naskh scripts. Therefore, access to feedback and corrections by a master calligrapher is crucial to this class. This ensures that your practice is corrected and refined in real time by the teacher.

The Thuluth script is a beautiful, cursive script often used in Islamic architecture. The Naskh script is one of the first scripts in Islamic calligraphy and is often used in copies of the Qur’an.

The Divinely inspired purpose of calligraphy is to learn the mechanics of writing the letters, which are based on philosophical and spiritual understandings and are also a means of disciplining the nafs. “Patience is Beautiful” is a message Haji Noor Deen Hoca often repeats to his students. Arabic Calligraphy is considered an Islamic science (akin to fiqh and Tafseer) because it preserves the written Word of Allah, and it is a means of purification of the nafs.

There are many texts on the subject written by present and past scholars. Understanding the intentions of the scholars who developed and preserved this Islamic science helps refine one’s intention before embarking on the calligraphic path—May Allah Grant Tawfiq to all of your endeavors.

• Bamboo/reed qalam in sizes 2mm and 3mm.
• Felt or leather pad for under your paper
• Arabic calligraphy paper ( alternative: glossy laser printer paper)
• Ink, lika, and inkwell
• Leather handrest (other materials are also acceptable)
• Knife for sharpening the qalam (kalem terash, Olfa cutters, or Olfa heavy-duty cutters)
• Maqta’: for cutting the nib of the qalam. Scissors can be used as well.
• Fine sandpaper (1200-2000 grade)
• In your first class with Haji Noor Hoca, he will discuss the history of Islamic calligraphy, materials, and how to prepare your homework.

Students are expected to allocate a minimum of 10 hours per week to attend live online classes, practice, and prepare their lessons for submission.

Once you have joined the class, you will be initiated into the Şeyh Hamdulllah Calligraphy Apprenticeship Program. Apprenticeship is defined as “the method or process of gaining knowledge of a trade, art, or profession from the instruction of a master.” In this case, calligraphy is the trade, art, profession, and devotional act, and the master is Haji Noor Hoca.

Students will travel together on this path, supporting and learning from one another, creating community and camaraderie, and moving from semester to semester to master the skills according to their Hoca’s instruction. Apprenticeships will continue until Ijaza (certificates of mastery) are granted by the master to the apprentice.

Click here to learn more about the Şeyh Hamdulllah Calligraphy Apprenticeship Program.

Due to limited seating, we request that you cancel by February 28, 2024, to receive a full refund.

ABOUT OUR INSTRUCTOR

Haji Noor Deen

Haji Noor Deen 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 studying the calligraphic arts there for over ten years.

In 2017, after a period of study in Istanbul with Ottoman calligraphic master Hasan Celebi, Haji Noor Deen was honored with an Ijazah in the Ottoman Arabic Thuluth and Nasikh scripts, again becoming the first-ever Chinese person to do so.

His work focuses on writing Arabic using a combination of traditional Chinese calligraphic tools and techniques to fuse the Chinese and Arabic visual arts uniquely. Haji Noor Deen is also responsible for the formal codification of the ancient Arabic writing system in the Chinese tradition.

In 2019 for the first time in China, he honored 30 students with an Ijaza in Arabic Calligraphy in the Chinese style.

His work has been displayed in galleries and museums worldwide, including the British Museum, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the National Museum of Scotland, and the Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) at Harvard University.

He was also awarded the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Center 2016 Islamic Economy Award in the category of Islamic Arts.