The talented artist Abu l-Hassan Ali Ibn Hilal was better known by the name Ibn al-Bawwab. Employed in Baghdad and Shiraz during the late 10th and early 11th centuries, Ibn al-Bawwab founded a calligraphy school that was active until the time of Yaqut in the 13th century. Later credited with the invention of both the Muhaqqaq and Rayhani scripts, Ibn al- Bawwab broadened the principles and beautified the products of Ibn Muqlah's system. Famed for their consistent elegance and harmony, Ibn al-Bawwab's scripts fetched high prices even during his lifetime. He perfected and beautified all the Six Styles, especially the Naskh and Muhaqqaq scripts which ideally suited his genius and which remain unsurpassed.

Ibn al-Bawwab brought grace and elegance to Ibn Muqlah's way and added art to scientific method. Although he is reported to have written 64 Qur'ans and a large number of secular works, only one of his Qur'ans and fragments of his secular work remain in the present time.

Ibn Muqlah is known as a prophet in the field of handwriting. It has been said that writing was poured upon his hand, even as it was revealed to the bees to make their honey cells hexagonal. To some later Muslim writers, the high individuality and sometime obfuscation of the early period's calligraphic arts implied disorder. These writers regarded Ibn Muqlah (886-940 AD) as a figure of heroic stature who laid the basis for a great art upon firm principles and who created the Six Styles of writing. The first of a triad of geniuses, he was followed by Ibn al-Bawwab 11th century) and Yaqut al-Musta'simi (late 13th century). The latter two men built upon Ibn Muqlah's achievements so well that to scribes, connoisseurs, and literati from the 14th through the 18th centuries, these three calligraphers appeared to be the sole creators of the 'modern styles," and the three men assumed the roles of semi-legendary figures personifying the developments that took place over many centuries by a number of scribes. Each of the three men came to be viewed as an exemplar of certain admirable personal characteristics or as a model for necessary calligraphic skills.

Ibn Muqlah's achievement represented the adoption of sound geometric principles for calligraphy, and his life exemplified devotion to his art despite great person suffering. Like many calligraphers, Ibn Muqlah also was a state official. The two roles are intimately connected since good writing was an indispensable tool for anyone aspiring to high governmental rank. Ibn Muqlah's career was stormy, in part as the result of his own actions. At the age of 22, he was already serving in important posts where he not only practiced his skills as a scribe but also engaged in heady infighting and intrigue. Three times vizier under the Abbasaid caliph in Baghdad, Ibn Muqlah and his struggle against court enigmas and political disintegration ultimately were unsuccessful. After his political disgrace and replacement in 936 AD, his property was confiscated and he was cruelly imprisoned. Subsequently, his right hand was cut off, a dreadful punishment in itself but particularly horrible for a celebrated master of the word. After still more maltreatment, he died in the summer of 940 AD.

While Ibn Muqlah often was credited with the invention of the cursive scripts like Nasta'liq and other sitta styles, it can be said with fair certainty that he invented no script styles at all. Instead, he applied to the whole available art of calligraphy specific reformist canons which amounted to a new method for transcribing already familiar scripts. He provided the means for replacing more individual calligraphic inclinations with styles based on ordered, objective, and universally applicable rules. Thus, his khatt al-mansub (proportioned script) offered for the first time in Islamic calligraphy a fixed unit of measurement -- the rhomboid point of ink lift by the pressure of the reed pen in one spot. The upright vertical stroke of the alif was to be measured in its terms -- some scripts made alifs of three points in height, other, five or even seven. Curving letters,c like the nun which formed a half circle, had diameters the size of their script's alif; and every letter stood in fixed relation to the alif or the rhomboid point. Script was now regulated on geometric principles, and the passion for mathematics and musical harmony that characterized so much of medieval Islamic culture found another outlet in this central Muslim art.

Unfortunately, no authentic work in Ibn Muqlah's hand is known to exist, but his principles are clear. They rapidly became influential but apparently were viewed as too strictly governed by mathematical certainties for two generations later Ibn al-Bawwab was credited with bringing artistry to Ibn Muqlah's rules.

Arabic word derived from the Latin "Africa". The geographical limits of the area known as Ifriqiya are somewhat blurred, but originally the term applied to the territory between Tangier and Tripoli.

Arabic term meaning the leader of ritual prayer. The term is applied to the prayer leader at public prayers, to the spiritual head of a congregation or school, and especially to the leader of the whole Islamic community. For Shiites, the word refers to the spiritual leader of the community. Imam is also an honorific, as in Imam al-Ghazali or Imam ash-Shathili.

According to Cyril Glasse (1989) , Imam is the leader of prayer, for a particular occasion or as a regular function. He leads by standing in front of the rows or worshipers; if only tow people are praying, he stands to the left, and slightly in front, of the other. The basis for the dignity is knowledge, particularly the Holy Qur'an, age or social leadership. In groups of equals, the function may simply be performed by each in turn. Every Mosque has one or more Imams who lead prayers, in whose absence any suitable male may be Imam. A woman may lead the prayer for female members of her household.

Among the Shiites the word Imam has has a special significance of intercessor, unique and predestined to the age, who must be recognized and followed in order to be saved. Imam is the title and spiritual function of Ali Ibn Ibi Talib and his descendants through Fatimah.

In general, the Imam, whose function is called the Imamate, is credited with supernatural knowledge and authority, and with a station of merit which, as it were, is an extension of, and virtually equal with, that of the prophet. For the Twelve Imam Shiites, also called Imams, the Imam is an intermediary between man and Allah. In addition to his spiritual authority, the Imam has an absolute right to civil authority, and one who prevents the Imam from exercising temporal power is an usurper. The Imam is the summit of sanctity for Twelve-Imam Shiites, who hold to the doctrine of the 'cycle of sanctity' (Da'irat al-Wilayah) which follows the closing of the 'cycle of prophecy' by the Prophet Mohammed, who is the 'Seal of the Prophets; (khatam al-Anbiya') for all Muslims. The sects of Shiites known as the Ghulat, or extremists, even consider their Imam to be Divine.

The last of the great historical religions, Islam was preached by the Prophet Mohammed who is known as the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets. It was to Mohammed that, over of period of 20 years (from about 612 AD to Mohammed's death in 632 AD), Allah revealed His Word and His Law. The sacred book of Islam is the Qur'an ('recitation').

Islam is a totally monotheistic religion, well summed up in the formula of the profession of faith, the shahada: 'There is no true God but Allah, and Mohammed is His Ultimate Messenger.' Islam means 'submission to Allah' and regulates the entire life of the Muslim ('one who surrenders' to the faith). The religion affects the totality of the lives of individuals, including political and social, as well as spiritual levels. Islam paved the way for the molding of a theocratic type of state.

The source of Islamic law, the shari'a ('the right path,' 'the beaten path'), is first and foremost the Qur'an. Another source is the Sunnah ('the way to conduct oneself') which is based on sayings and decisions attributed to the Prophet and handed down in the hadith ('tradition').

The core of Islam is based on "five pillars". These pillars are:

1. The profession of faith (shahada: "There in no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His essenger");
2. The ritual prayers (salawat). Prayers are prescribed five times a day as a duty towards Allah. Prayer strengthens and enlivens belief in Allah and inspires man to higher morality. Prayer purifies the heart and controls temptation, wrong-doing, and evil;
3. Fasting in the month of Ramadhan (sawm). This means abstention from food, beverages, and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset, and curbing evil intentions and desires. Fasting teaches love, sincerity, and devotion. Fasting develops a sound social conscience, patience, unselfishness, and willpower;
4. The obligatory payment of alms (zakah). Zakah is a specific contribution collected from the wealth and earnings of of earnings of those above the poverty line and spent on the poor and needy in particular, and the welfare of the society in general. The payment of Zakah symbolically purifies one's income and wealth and helps establish economic and social justice in the society;
5. The pilgrimage to Mekka (hajj). Pilgrimage is prescribed once in life time, provided one has the means to do so.

Member of the Shiite branch called "the Seveners" because they recognized seven imams, the last being Ismail, as opposed to "the Twelvers " who recognized twelve. For both groups, the last imam would be the hidden imam, who would reappear at the end of time after his period of "occultation."

The Ismaili school gave rise to the Fatimid movement of North Africa and Egypt.

A rectangular, usually vaulted room, one of whose sides is entirely open to a forecourt or another hall. This type of structure was adopted by oriental Islam from Parthian or Sassanian architectural sources and is not linked to any particular function. It is found both in secular and sacred buildings.