Hilya

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A ḥilya by Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698), who established the standard format for this calligraphic art form

The term ḥilya ( Arabic حِلْيَة 'Jewelry, ornament, ornament'; Pl .حلى / ḥilan, ḥulan ) or hilye (as a loan word in Turkish, Pl. hilyeler ), in the context of Islamic calligraphy and Islamic literature, denotes a genre of text and pictorial design in which the internal and external characteristics of the Prophet Mohammed are described based on written and religiously transmitted information and represented ornamentally or figuratively. In the 17th century, these ḥilyas in the Ottoman Empire formed the basis for a new calligraphic art form with a standard geometric format . Such works then found regional distribution as wall decorations, for example.

Texts

A ḥilya-i šarīfa , often simply called ḥilya , is a calligraphic description of the external and internal qualities of the Prophet. The basis for this are traditional statements about Muhammad's physical appearance and character traits. A famous example is a description traced back to Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib ; Another much-quoted description is traced back to a woman named Umm Maʿbad, whom Mohammed once met.

Executed in very small Nashi script, devout Muslims carried them in a breast pocket. Traditional descriptions of Muhammad were later combined and processed into poems, of which the more than 700 verse Hilye-i Şerif by the Turkish poet Ḫāqānī Meḥmed (died 1606-07) , written in 1599, is the best known.

Art form

In the Ottoman Empire, based on the calligraphy of Hâfız Osman (1642–1698), an art form (Turkish " hilye ") that presented descriptions of Muhammad's figure in a visually appealing form developed. Such calligraphic works were often framed and hung as wall decorations in houses, mosques and shrines . They thus fulfilled a function similar to that of depictions of Jesus in the Christian tradition. As ornamental handwriting, they represented an aesthetically pleasing symbolic representation of the prophet without violating the Islamic prohibition of images , which is controversial within Islam .

At the center of ḥilyas is a description that highlights the beauty of Muhammad's appearance and character. But they contain a verbal description of Muhammad's appearance, leaving it to the imagination of the reader, put them into an internal image of the prophet. This corresponds to the prevailing ideal of non-pictorial forms of representation in Islamic jurisprudence. In Iran , however, a portrait of Mohammed or Ali was often included.

Standard format

Ḥilya by Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi (1801–1876)

Hâfiz Osman developed the standard format of the Ottoman hilye , which consists of the following elements:

  • Baş makam : the header with a basmala .
  • Göbek (navel): a circular field containing the first part of the main text written in Naschī script.
  • Hilâl (crescent moon): without text and often in gold; together, the navel and crescent moon also symbolize the sun and moon.
  • Kösheler (corners): usually four rounded elements surrounding the navel and containing the names of the four rightly guided caliphs ( al-ḫulafāʾ ar-rāšidūn ). The order of their naming corresponds to the Sunni doctrine, ie the historical chronology of their rule, without priority ( tafḍīl ) of the fourth caliph ʿAlī. From right to left: Abū Bakr , ʿUmar , ʿUthmān , ʿAlī , always associated with the tarḍiya "God be pleased with him."
Ḥilya as a wall decoration. Above: the prophet's name with blessings; below: Allah with his surnames and supplication. The dividing line is filled in with sura 21 verse 107.
  • Ayet (verse): Field below the navel and the crescent moon with a Koranic verse, usually sura 21 , verse 107: "And we have only sent you (with the revelation) to show mercy to the people in all the world." Sometimes also sura 68, verse 4: “And you are a weighty personality”, or sura 48, verse 28–29: “God is enough as a witness. Mohammed is the Messenger of God ”.
  • Etek (the "skirt" or lower section): this is the continuation of the main text contained in the navel, a short prayer and the artist's signature.
  • Koltuklar ("armpits"): two fields on either side of the lower section, which usually only serve as decorative elements and do not contain any text. Sometimes there are also names of companions of the prophets , especially the names of those six other companions whom, in addition to the first four caliphs, Mohammed is said to have promised paradise (al-mubaššarūn al-ʿašara).
  • Iç or dış pervaz (inner and outer frame): decorative frames that surround the text.

Thuluth script is usually used in the verse and corners , while the Basmala in the header is in Muḥaqqaq or Thuluth . These are the standard elements, but there are occasional deviations from the standard model. The creation of at least one ḥilya with the three fonts Muḥaqqaq , Nasch and Thuluth has been an obligatory exercise for every Turkish calligrapher since Osman.

distribution

The geographical distribution of ḥilya calligraphy is essentially limited to Turkey, Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean ; However, there are also artists outside of these regions who create ḥilyas , such as the Pakistani calligrapher Rasheed Butt (* 1944) and the American calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya (* 1942).

Examples

  • Ḥilya by Hâfiz Osman

  • Ḥilya by Hâfiz Osman

  • Ḥilya by Hâfiz Osman

  • Ḥilya by Mehmed Tahir Efendi

  • Ḥilya by Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bakker, 209
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Derman et al., 36
  3. ↑ Brockopp, 130, 274-276
  4. ↑ a b Gruber, 131-133
  5. ^ Digitized version of the 1898 edition at archive.org
  6. ↑ To this: Yakup Poyraz: Hâkim Seyyid Mehmed Efendi'nin “Nazire-i Hilye-i Hâkanî” Adlı Eseri. In: Turkish Studies 2/3 (2007), 449–484 ( online ; PDF; 407 kB).
  7. ↑ Beinhauer-Köhler et al., 58
  8. ↑ a b c Ernst, 103-104
  9. ↑ a b c d Peters, 160-161
  10. ↑ Schimmel, 200
  11. ^ Safi, 276
  12. ^ Safi, 273-274
  13. ↑ a b c d e f Osborn, 236-239
  14. ↑ AJ Wensinck, JH Kramers: Short dictionary of Islam. Brill, Leiden 1943, pp. 57-58; there the wrong lemma (Al-ʿĀshara (sic) ʾL-Mubashshara) has to be corrected
  15. ↑ a b Ali, 8
  16. ↑ Mansour, 187, 189.

literature

Web links

Commons : Hilye  - album with pictures, videos and audio files