Celebrating Eid Alfitr
Today is Eid Alfitr (19.08) , a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. ”Eid” is an Arabic word meaning “holiday, festival or festivity”, while “Fitr” means “breaking the fast” (Arabic: عيد الفطر). On this day, Muslims gather early in the morning in outdoor locations or mosques to perform the Eid prayer. Later, they visit various family and friends, give gifts and gathering involve cooking and eating.
Women are commonly given special gifts by their loved ones and children are normally given new clothes. They also receive a “Eid-ey-yah“ from their adult relatives, a small sum of money that the children receive and is used to spend on all their activities throughout the Eid.
On this holiday, Muslims need to give as much charity as is possible. Before the day of Eid, Muslim family gives a determined amount as a donation to the poor, to ensure that the needy can have a holiday meal and participate in the celebration.
Eid Alfitr is an occasion of showing gratitude to God and remembering him, but it’s also an occasion of entertainment. It is celebrated for one, two or three days and in most Muslim countries, the entire 3-day period is a public holiday.
I would like to wish all Muslims Happy Eid!! Eid Mubarak!! (Arabic: عيد مبارك= Blessed Holiday)
Don’t worry, I didn’t forget that my blog is about architecture. 
The subject of today’s post is “The art of Islamic calligraphy and its role in Islamic architecture”.
This is a greeting cards, depicts the phrase “Eid Mubarak”.
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting, or calligraphy in the lands sharing a common Islamic cultural heritage. From the Greek word for “beautiful writing” (κάλλος kallos ”beauty” + γραφή graphẽ ”writing”), calligraphy was considered the highest art form in Islam, for several reasons. For one, Muslims believe that Allah used the Arabic language to recite the Qur’an to Muhammad, and for that reason, it has a spiritual meaning for Muslims. Also, they used it to represent God because they denied representing God with images.
Calligraphy adorn architecture, decorative arts, coins, jewellery, textiles, weapons, tools, paintings, and manuscripts. 
Brass bowl |1346-1347 A.D| Syria or Egypt
Lamp| 15th century | Syria or Egypt
Dish | 900-1000 | Iran or Uzbekistan
Tile fragment | about 1359 | Bukhara
Tile | about 1230 | Iran
Detail from wooden panel | 1150-1250 |Spain or Morocco 
Window | 1800-80 | Egypt
There were many Muslim regions, of course, in which Arabic was not the native language. Persian was the major non-Arabic language spoken in the Islamic world, and in the 7th century it had its own script. As Islam spread through the areas where Persian and other languages were spoken, however, the Arabic script was adopted. The Persian language, also known as Farsi, added four letters to the Arabic script to represent sounds that existed in Persian, but not in Arabic. The Turks later also added another letter to render a distinctly Turkish sound, although modern Turkish no longer uses the Arabic script. The Arabic script is still used to write the Kazakh, Uzbek, and Tajik languages in Central Asia, as well as Urdu in present-day Pakistan. via ucalgary.ca
A poem by the Iranian poet Omar Khayyam
The word “death” in Ottoman - ölüm
Born in the 7th century A.D., Islamic calligraphy continues to evolve into the present time.
The Emirates logo is written in traditional Arabic calligraphy
Aljazeera logo
Calligraphy by Hassan Massoudy
Islamic Mosque calligraphy is calligraphy that can be found in and out of a mosque, typically in combination with Arabesque motifs. Arabesque is a form of Islamic art known for its repetitive geometric forms creating beautiful decorations. The subject of these writings can be derived from different sources in Islam. It can be derived from the written words of the Qur’an or from the oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of Islamic Prophet Muhammad.
The Room of Sultan Muhammad Khodabandeh Uljeitu in the Jameh Mosque (Isfahan, Iran)
Herat Musjid, Afganistan 
Zahir Mosque in Kedah, MalaysiaB.jpg)
B.jpg)
Divriği Ulucami and Şifahane (Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital) in Sivas Province, Turkey
Sources: wikipedia, islamic-arts, ucalgary.ca
Pictures: 1.muslimtoysanddolls 2.naveedafsar1983 3,4. islamic-arts 5,6,7,8,9. islamic-arts 10.P30Carl 11.illiyun 12.wikipedia 13.wikipedia 14,15,16.Hassan Massoudy 17,18,19.islamic-arts 20,21.© jeromestarkey 22.© Mark Schlegel 23.© anickue 24.© akupunyahal 25,26.© Mimarlık Müzesi
As a non-religious person with a visual vocabulary radically different than that of the Muslim world, I still find these images stunningly beautiful, some of them hauntingly so. Thanks, Nadia, for sharing.
18/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
I almost forgot, happy Eid Alfitr.
18/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Thank you
18/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Eid Mubarak .Happy Efttar.
18/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Thanks, Jalal
18/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
I thoroughly enjoyed reading, Nadia – even before I got to the architecture
I’ve always found Islamic architecture just beautiful, and you’ve reminded me that Islamic calligraphy is just as gorgeous. Thank you for a fabulous post!
19/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
You are welcome, Sid!
19/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
I’ve had a couple of Muslim friends throughout my life, and knew about Ramadan. Only now I know even more about the history of it, how they celebrate the end of it. Thank you for this lovely history lesson! I absolutely love the calligraphy – such a gorgeous language to read even if I can’t read it! Georgian, or Burmese, is also one of the most gorgeous languages written!
19/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
You are welcome
21/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
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Eid Mubarak to you and your family Nadia
20/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Eid Mubarak to you too, Rasha! Hope you had a great Eid
Big thanks for reblogging my post!!
21/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
Anytime xoxo
23/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
Reblogged this on Leanova designs Blog and commented:
Since we just got back from our 2 months trip, I didn’t have the time to post about Eid. Thanks to Nadia for a great post and Eid Mubarak to all of you celebrating
20/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Very nice post.. Happy Eid Nadia.
20/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Thank you, Nina!!
21/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
Eid Mubarak Nadia!!
Thanks for posting such beautiful works on your site. These are great examples of calligraphy and design – most of which I will never get to see. Thank you so much for sharing them here for us to enjoy. I trust you will have a blessed and happy holiday.
22/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
You are welcome!! Thanks for the nice words!
22/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
Reblogged this on The Sacred Cave and commented:
A beautiful collection of architecture, design and calligraphy here from Nadia over at AlzBlog. I love the flowing forms of Isalmic calligraphy and the geometric patterns found in so many decorative arts. These are examples from all over the world and I’ll probably never get to see them in person. Thanks Nadia for sharing a wonderful collection with us – they are very beautiful.
22/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
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Stunning post!
Happy Eid Nadia and to all of people celebrating this wonderful holiday .
Aida
22/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
Thank you, Aida!!
22/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug
Eid Mubarak to you and your loved ones Nadia!
And thank you for showcasing such gorgeous Islamic art!
22/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Thank you, Madhu!
22/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Magnificent, I love Islamic art and have many photos of calligraphy that unfortunately I don’t understand. Thank you for this amazing post and I know its a bit late but Eid Mubarak as well.
22/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
May I say that your language is very creative ans seems to me almost musical. Happy holiday to you Your country and your people!
23/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Thank you, darling
26/08/2012 at 12:41 PMAug
Beautiful Stuff Nadia
Happy Eid Alfitr
DJ-
27/08/2012 at 12:41 AMAug