Raed Moussa-Gaza
In one of the corners of the mosque "Thebes" adjacent to his home in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Mohammed Omar (54 years) crowned a two-year effort during which he realized his dream of copying the Koran in full Ottoman painting and handwriting to turn the mosque into a kiss for visitors wishing to meet the first calligrapher in Gaza Copies the Holy Quran.
Omar put the finishing touches on Surat Al-Nas, the last wall of the Holy Quran, touching on a 10-year-old dream due to many obstacles, most notably the loss of his house, which was destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces among hundreds of houses on the Palestinian-Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip in 2003.
The beginning of the dream
Omar and his family moved for ten years in seven rented houses during which he did not taste a taste of stability before settling in a permanent house in the Saudi neighborhood west of Gaza City, which he received instead of his destroyed house.
"During the ten years of instability, the dream of copying the Koran was not lost on my imagination and my thinking, but the conditions were not favorable in order to proceed to achieve it until we settled in a house next to the mosque of Thebes," he told Al Jazeera Net.
Omar took a corner in the mosque empty with himself for many hours a day after daily prayers behind a small wooden table puts his pamphlets and pens of Arabic calligraphy, and begins his daily journey, which started in Surat Al-Fatihah and ended with the people letters and movements.
| Omar needed two years of work to copy the Koran (Al Jazeera) |
The Palestinian citizen, who has been working as an Arabic teacher for primary school students for nearly three decades, sees his success in copying the Koran as the greatest achievement of his life.
He had a beautiful calligraphy enjoyed by the great factor that led him to this achievement. "Habbani Allah Almighty by the grace of the beauty of Arabic calligraphy and I did not find what I thank him for this blessing is better than copying his holy book."
Difficulties
The journey of copying the Koran, which began in October 2017, has not been without many obstacles. This teacher, who has not been paid in full for years, like thousands of teachers from his colleagues in Gaza, has suffered greatly in providing Arabic calligraphy pens, which used fifty pens at a cost of one and a half dollars. Per pen.
"I accomplished most of my dream with my own effort without denying the virtues of some friends and mosque attendants who follow my daily work," said Omar.
The crisis of power outages for many hours has been one of the main obstacles, as well as the need for calm and intense focus in copying the Koran in its letters, words and movements, which is not always available, especially in light of the Israeli attacks on Gaza from time to time.
"Copying the Koran is not like any work," Omar said. "You are on a lofty and noble mission, and the completion of this task requires full-time, accuracy and psychological stability."
In order to accomplish his mission in the best way, Omar chose the daily work from after Asr prayer to the Maghrib prayer time where the mosque is quiet and completed during this period from three to four pages, but its production was increasing during the holy month of Ramadan.
To dream the rest
Omar found all the support and encouragement from his wife, family and friends and the pioneers of the mosque, and dreams that the crowning of his effort and find the sponsor of this work and ensure the printing and becomes available in the hands, especially members of the centers of Quran memorization in the mosques of the Gaza Strip.
He says that he is in the process of presenting his version of the Holy Quran to the competent official authorities and the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs for review, scrutiny and authorization for printing and publication.
In spite of the great pride and joy felt by Omar to complete his dream, he feels a bit sad to paradox his work and has been on a daily basis for two years, expressing his willingness to request any party would like to use him in a work that continues to link him to the Koran.