Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

CALLIGRAPHY
Calligraphy is the art of fine writing. According to, Encyclopedia Britannica, it may be defined ”as free hand in which the freedom is so nicely reconciled with order that the understanding eye is pleased to contemplate it. Hence, we immediately recognize the beauty resulting from right proportion of the components to the whole of a letter and between the parts to the whole of a word.”
The art of calligraphy in Islam occupies a unique place in the history of the world. It must be remembered that compilation and composition of arts commenced in Islam from the very outset. In fact, it existed in Arabia even in pre-Islamic days. Populous cities like Basra and Hijaz provide us with many examples. The Hamarians composed many books about themselves which were engraved on stones. Balazuri describes in detail how three men Mora Mur bin Murra, Aslam bin Sidra and Amir bin Jadra assembled in Baqqa and
Falbol Rice. P. 168

490 Political mid Cultural History of Islam
invented the script and ho\\ the people of Anbar, Hira, Makkah and Wadi u!-Qura learnt it from these men. After the advent of Islam there were seventeen men in Quraysh who knew the art of writing. The Holy Prophet himself, though considered to be unacquainted with either reading or writing, used to encourage his followers in the art of learning particularly in writing. Thus the Muslims cherished the idea of writing and beautifying their script from the very beginning.
The scripts adopted by the Quraysh originally were of two kinds: a stiffer one with more angular letters and a round, cursive one. The first type of writing is known as Kufic, from the town of Kufa in Mesopotamia which was the religious and intellectual centre of the Arab world. The second type is known as ”Naskh (round script). Both the types were known in the 7th century. ”In the letters of the Holy Prophet written to the kings and heads of States preaching Islam, the Kufic script was used.” But in the beginning there were no Fatah, Zama, Kasrah or dots on the words. In 670 A.D.. Abul Aswad Doiby invented dots or Nuqat but these dots were used only to serve the purpose of Erab. When Islam spread in Egypt the letters similar in shape created great difficulty in the study of the Quran.
Also many differences arose in the perusal of letters and daily writings. To remove the handicap, Abdul Malik ordered Hajjaj, the governor of Iraq, to improve the script. Nasr bin Hakim according to the Hajjaj’s orders invented points (dots) to differentiate the letters. He declared that dotted letters should bear black points (dots) and for Erab, points of purple colour should be used. Khalil bin Ahmad Qruzi invented special shapes of Erab. Due to their simplicity they became very popular in Governmental offices. business affairs, schools and educational institutions. In the meantime many changes and improvements occurred in Kufic script. For about 500 years the Kufic characters existed side by side with the round script and were used almost exclusively for copies of the Holy Quran, inscriptions on stones and coins and for a short time also in official documents especially of legal character. In the eleventh century the use of Kufic script was replaced by Naskh. The cause of its downfall was that in the words of B. Mortiz, ”standing unrelated to the needs of practical life it was artificially cultivated”, and was often found difficult by the scribes, thus leading to its complete extinction. Among the better kno\\n caHigiaphisls of the’
Cultural Activities under Hie Unmyyads
491
Umayyad period were the following: Qutba, the son of Ubaidulla. Khalid, the son of Hajjaj; Salim. the scribe of Caliph Hisham; Hassan Basri: Abdul Hamid, a secretary of Aanvan, the last Umayyad ruler.
MUSIC
Music is the expression of the aspirations, emotions and passions of man through the medium of sound. It is a highly symbolic art. Its very abstract nature makes it best suited to express one’s hidden feelings and urges. It also serves as an outlet to oui religious emotions. This function of music is perhaps the oldest. Music may be divided into two categories; Vocal music and Instrumental music. As far as Vocal music is concerned, we have no hesitation in saying that subject to the general moral qualifications, it is in itself quite permissible. For singing is nothing but a very delicately balanced combination of sweet sound. Silt, harmony and melody, and all these elements are not only permissible and tolerable, but desirable and praiseworthy.9