Two Capetonian women and a woman from Durban are the first South African calligraphers to have mastered the Thuluth and Naskh scripts via an online course from their homes.
The Deen Arts Foundation South Africa (DAFSA) hosted the second annual Islamic Calligraphy graduation ceremony at Islamia College auditorium in Lansdowne, on Saturday, March 28.
Widad Sirkhotte, from Rondebosch East, Zulfar Tofie Samodien, from Zeekoevlei, and Suhaifa Abubakir, from Durban, were celebrated along with eight other Maghrebi script calligraphy graduates at the ceremony.
Calligraphy is a handwriting skill with origins in ancient times, predating Greece, Egypt, and China.
Islamic calligraphy specifically stems from the Prophet Muhammad to document the Quran, which was revealed to him orally in the seventh century.
Calligraphers use specialised tools like brush pens or dip pens and express themselves in various scripts. Muslim calligraphers serve to preserve the Quran in a visual written form.
"This is a big milestone for SA, as previously one had to move abroad to study this knowledge. It is sacred Islamic or Quranic visual knowledge linked to Quran preservation... Just like learning hifz (memorisation), this is learning to write the Quran beautifully and accurately," said Ms Sirkhotte.
She also graduated with the Maghrebi script.
Students and teachers lamented that to learn this art form, they would have to go abroad, as local opportunities were slim or non-existent.
The three women completed an online course with master calligrapher Haji Noor Deen, from China, including weekly classes at 1am South African time.
In 2020, he invited a small international group to study online. Ms Tofie Samodien said they were connected across continents by the qalam (pen).
"The journey required thousands of hours of writing, repetition, patience, and discipline. It demanded presence, and for that process, it brought something deeper - stillness, clarity, and tranquility," she said.
She said the opportunity to learn from a master while pursuing a love planted in childhood kept her going.
The event celebrated the achievements of the first cohort of South African students to receive traditional ijāzahs (licenses) in the challenging Thuluth and Naskh scripts, alongside students completing the Maghrebi script programme.
It marked the culmination of years of rigorous study and dedication for the graduates.
This licence, a sacred tradition passed down through generations of masters, affirms their mastery and grants them permission to teach and transmit the art form.
The ijāzahs were conferred by renowned international masters, including Haji Noor Deen from China and Sheikh Ahmet Kutluhan from Turkey.
Adding to the local significance, the certificates were also endorsed by Sheikh Muhammad Hobe, the first South African to receive an ijāzah in these scripts back in 2013, highlighting the growing lineage of this art locally.
Ms Sirkhotte and eight other students also received certificates of completion for the Maghrebi script, a North African style taught by Ustaadh Badr Essahi, from Morocco.
Their final projects demonstrate the beauty and diversity of Islamic script being cultivated in the country.
Fatima Moolla, executive director of DAFSA, emphasised the importance of this event.
"This graduation is a triumph for the preservation of sacred Islamic arts in South Africa. It marks the beginning of a self-sustaining tradition where local masters will now guide the next generation," she said.
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