Celebi sees the Turks’ relationship with Arabic calligraphy as a matter of faith: their love of calligraphy is connected to their love of Islam.
With help from his close students, the teacher, now in his eighties, continues to teach Arabic calligraphy without payment, using the traditional method passed down for hundreds of years. A student needs only to demonstrate patience and love for the art. Of more than 500 students he has taught, only 100 have received his authorization in Arabic calligraphy, he says.
He begins teaching students with the phrase: “My Lord, make it easy and do not make it difficult; my Lord, bring it to a good conclusion.” Granting a calligraphy authorization may take more than seven years, he adds.
The program also met Algerian calligrapher Abdelhamid Djoumbi, who received his authorization from Celebi twenty years ago. He did not return to Algeria but remained in Istanbul, which he describes as the destination and capital of calligraphers. Djoumbi says the old Ottoman calligraphers created and developed new scripts, including the tughra style, from which a logo was derived.
Turkish calligraphers in the Ottoman era played a major role in developing Arabic calligraphy and bringing it to a peak of beauty and creativity. They also established many schools to teach the art, until Istanbul became a destination for lovers of Arabic calligraphy worldwide.
Some of these schools still adhere to traditional teaching methods, while others have begun using approaches that could be considered revolutionary and unconventional, according to Al Jazeera Net’s “Al Jazeera Correspondents” program.
The program visited Istanbul and highlighted an old saying that Turks have repeated with pride through the years: “The Holy Quran was revealed in Mecca, recited in Egypt, and written in Istanbul.” Over the centuries, they created new forms and styles of Arabic calligraphy filled with beauty and life.