The golden and silver Quranic verses and Arabic calligraphy woven into the black Kiswah that drapes the Holy Ka’ba in Mecca are among the most revered works of Islamic art in the world. The chief calligrapher responsible for this work is a Bangladeshi — Mukhtar Alam Shikdar, from Lohagara, Chittagong.
Mukhtar Alam was born in 1962 in Adhunagor Union, Lohagara upazila, Chittagong district. His father, Mofizur Rahman bin Ismail Shikdar, worked as a pharmacist for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health. The family moved to Saudi Arabia when Mukhtar Alam was just four years old, and he grew up and completed his education there. He later earned a master’s degree in calligraphy from Umm al-Qura University in Mecca and is currently a PhD researcher at the same institution.
His work on the Kiswah — the cloth known in Arabic as the Kiswa — began in Hijri 1422 (around 2001-2002). His entry into this vocation came through Jeddah businessman and calligrapher Muhammad Salem Bajnaid, who was impressed by his artistic talent and recommended him to the relevant authorities. After succeeding in a special evaluation examination at Umm al-Qura University, he was appointed by King Abdul Aziz’s complex for the manufacture of the Kiswah.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report