Imam Ali was first founder of Quranic calligraphy in Islamic world, Iraqi calligrapher says

The Iraqi calligrapher and researcher in Islamic arts, Ali Hayder Al-Hasani, affirmed that Imam Ali, peace be upon him, was the first to establish the script of the Noble Quran in the Islamic world.

Al-Hasani’s statement came during a lecture at a symposium titled “The Status of the Holy Quran in the Contemporary Arab World” in the presence of the Kuwaiti artist and former president of the Kuwait Center for Islamic Arts, Fareed Abdul Rahim Al-Ali, and the Saudi calligrapher Ahmed Hassan Abusharif.

The Iraqi researcher stated that Kufic script is one of the oldest scripts in the world and it originated in Kufa during the time of Imam Ali, peace be upon him.

Al-Hasani described Iraq as the capital of calligraphy for the Arab world, explaining, “Imam Ali, peace be upon him, was the first to start calligraphy in the Islamic world, and the script of the Noble Quran began from Kufa, then to Baghdad, and from there it spread worldwide.”

He mentioned the stages of development of Arabic calligraphy, saying: “There is an influence of the Timurid rule and also the Fatimid rule in the development of the Quranic calligraphy, and in this field, there was also a significant role played by the Ottoman rule.”

He added: “The first association of Quranic calligraphers in the Arab world was established in Iraq in 1974, and there are centers affiliated with the holy Alawite and Abbasid shrines that oversee this field.”