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My Grandmother by anickue

Educating the Youth, by Samee Panda

Mosaic Light, by Salman Jafri

Alhambra, by Summertime

Arabic Calligraphy, By Knahadeem

yellow fire, by Raqeebah Zaman

Visit the MuslimMatters Flickr group to view the other entries…

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Note: all the images presented in our Islamic Art feature are copyrighted to the original producers. Do not reproduce them without seeking their prior consent.

Click on the images below to view the original.

Quran, by Mona Adam

Quran 3:190, by Samee Panda

The story of Surah Jinn, by Mezba. This is the scene where the Jinns are meeting, discussing their latest predicament about eavesdropping on the conversation of angels. Click image for the full story.

By anique zakaria

Visit the MuslimMatters Flickr group to view the other entries…

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Note: all the images presented in our Islamic Art feature are copyrighted to the original producers. Do not reproduce them without seeking their prior consent.

Click on the images below to view the original.

مكة المكرمة by Aisha M. Al-Othman

Dome of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, by Salman Jafri. A handful of predominantly Moorish features remain at the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Amongst them is the view one has of the dome that sits atop the mihrab (prayer chamber). I was able to borrow a friend's wide-angle lens and take this photo during the midday when light was entering through the designs.

By Acizane

Meditate, by hűlya

Dome of the Rock Mosque Exterior, Haram esh-Sharif, Old City, East Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine. By Jodah Jadallah.

By Mansour Ali

my father, by anickue

first light of the day, by Rafy Sugiri

Visit the MuslimMatters Flickr group to view the other entries…

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Note: all the images presented in our Islamic Art feature are copyrighted to the original producers. Do not reproduce them without seeking their prior consent.

Click on the images below to view the original.

Help, by LamZity

Blessings from Above, By Knahadeem

Prayer at Dawn, by Muhammad Rehan. The pleasure in the obedience of Allah is greater than the pleasure in his disobedience.

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Note: all the images presented in our Islamic Art feature are copyrighted to the original producers. Do not reproduce them without seeking their prior consent.

Islamic phrases include:
• 'alayhis salam –
• rahimaha Allah –
• rahimahu Allah –
• rahimahum Allah –
• radiallahu 'anha –
• radiallahu 'anhu –
• radiallahu 'anhum –
• sallalahu 'alayhi wa salam –
• subhanahu wa ta 'ala –

Both black and white versions of each graphic are provided.
Romanized text and the English translation can also be inserted to assist readers who do not know Arabic, as shown below:

Images only - islamic phrase appears upon mouse rollover.

Images with translation - English translation appears in brackets next to image.

Romanized text with translation - a text only option.

Romanized text only

Translation only

Click here to download the plugin for free – please don't forget to rate it. :)

Updates:
• 1st Feb 2012: version 1.1.0 – Options page added under Dashboard > Settings > Islamic Graphics. Now you can choose to display images with or without accompanying text, set the default image height, and default colour.
• 23rd Jan 2012: version 1.0.7 – Alt and title text added. Hover your mouse over an Islamic graphic to see the transliterated version of the phrase, as well as the meaning in English.
• 14th Jan 2012: version 1.0.6 – New images added! Rahimahullah, rahimaha Allah, rahimahum Allah.
• 13th Jan 2012: version 1.0.5 – Changes made to improve image quality. JazakAllah khair Saqib for the recommendations.

Click on the images below to view the original.

Truth (Haq), Mixed medium on canvas - by Samee Panda

Prayer at night - by Muhammad Rehan

Like a father like a son - by Mona Adam

Hope - by LamZity

By bint Sultan

Visit the MuslimMatters Flickr group to view the other entries…

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Note: all the images presented in our Islamic Art feature are copyrighted to the original producers. Do not reproduce them without seeking their prior consent.

Unemployment Series

Being out of a job does not equate to being out of work. There are plenty of opportunities out there to keep yourself busy while you search for a new position, allowing you to gain valuable skills, and even earn yourself some ākhirah points.

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2008 was a very good year and a very bad year for me. It was the year I completed my PhD in Molecular Biology and officially became a 'Dr'. It was also the year I started my 18 month stretch of unemployment.

I wanted to be a scientist since I first learned the meaning of the word. But after four years of stress, tears, and broken dreams, the only conviction my PhD left me with was that nothing on Earth could make me go back to the lab. Job hunting was a major chore, as most Bio-sector openings were for postdoc positions in research. In the end, my period of unemployment was extended by a complete lack of direction; for the first time in my life, I had no idea what to do next.

Depression began to creep in as I felt the weight of societal expectations on my shoulders: that of my parents, my family, my neighbors, and even strangers I met at weddings. It was so embarrassing to admit that after eight years of higher education, I had failed (FAILED in big, bold letters) to do what most school-leavers have achieved: to get a job.

Alḥamdulillāh for me, the story did not end there; rather, it was the lowest point from which the only way was up. My situation began to improve when I launched my first social media initiative, SignLabs.org. It was the catalyst that rapidly converted my time of aimless thumb-twiddling into a time of self-discovery, proving to be one of the most productive and creative periods of my life so far.

There were many positive consequences to working on SignLabs: first and foremost, I was helping the community – that's always a win, māshā'Allāh. Producing the promo videos reawakened my love for film-making, an activity I hadn't engaged in since I was a teenager. I also learnt that as much as I loved it, I wanted media and film to remain a hobby, and not a career.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It was this same confidence that allowed me to break societal norms once again: in March of 2009 I made the somewhat controversial decision to go back to university, to study for a government-sponsored Masters in Bioinformatics. Yes, a Masters after a PhD (!). As much fun as I was having with social media, I missed my first love, the sciences, and wanted to give them one last try to see if we could work past our differences.

Alḥamdulillāh, we did. Twelve months of hard work and copious amounts of pleading with Allah led to my first, official, full-time job as a newly qualified Bioinformatician in 2010. I literally walked out of university one day and into my new work place the next. That is the power of du'ā'.

I am still benefiting from my 18 months as an un-employee. I am now less phased by positions of responsibility, both in and outside of the work place, and continue to collaborate on a number of community initiatives, māshā'Allāh. I also really, really enjoy my new job – a job that I only found having had the time and space to re-think my career path. Verily, after hardship comes ease, alḥamdulillāh.

A large part of the negative emotion we experience during unemployment comes from believing that we have let the world down somehow. That we are failures, and not worthy of success. Volunteering your skills, and indulging in creative pursuits during this trial can help you to feel useful and productive once again, whilst earning the blessing of Allah through your efforts to serve Him. Use this time away from the usual 9-5 routine to improve yourself for the benefit of everyone. It is a silver lining that you cannot afford not to mine.

Click on the images below to view the original.

Qur

Hajj, by Eve Rivera

A time when the adhan resonates through out the farthest reaches of the Cosmos - by perfectlymadebirds

Al-Bukhary Mosque - The Dome, by ahmadsyarafi abdwahab

Aljazeera Art Symposium. We just finished a 12 day art symposium titled

Visit the MuslimMatters Flickr group to view the other entries…

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Note: all the images presented in our Islamic Art feature are copyrighted to the original producers. Do not reproduce them without seeking their prior consent.

Britain in a Day is an extraordinary project to create the definitive self-portrait of Britain today, filmed by you, inspired by Life In A Day.

On Saturday 12th November, Ridley Scott and director Morgan Matthews invite you to capture the reality of your day and to upload it to YouTube.

The resulting film and online archive will be a powerful and moving snapshot of the UK today, premiered in cinemas and broadcast on BBC Two for a general audience, ahead of the London Olympics.

This is your chance to express yourself. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, your footage will feature in our online archive, and the more memorable your recording, the greater the chance of your material being included in the final film.

Get involved – film your UK on one day – and be a part of our nations' story.

[Excerpt and image from the Britain In A Day website]

You can start filming from midnight GMT on November 12th, which is just a few hours away!
Check out the Britain in a Day website for more information and instructions on how and what to film. Submit your footage via the Britain in a Day YouTube channel.

This month's feature is a focus on architecture-related images. How does the modern compare to the classic?

Click on the images below to view the original.

Abraj Al Bait Towers, Makkah al Mukarramah - by lord hexter

Masjid Dhul Hulayfa. The place Medina pilgrims enter into ihram. By lord hexter.

Niujie Mosque, Beijing - by a2portfolio

Detail of the main mihrab, Ummayad Mosque, Damascus - by shafraz nasser

The Nasrid Palaces, Alhambra, Spain - by Summertime

Sunset over the Masjed, 55x55 cm oil on canvas - by moslihh