Eric Jordan's Blog

There are 99 names used for God in the Qur’an.  I wanted to showcase all of those names by arranging them within a poem.  Each stanza concludes with the name “Allah,” because “Allah” is considered “the Greatest Name.”  The final line of the poem is a nod to Jay-Z’s song, “99 Problems,” because how could I not reference another work referencing a list of 99 things?

99 Names

The All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful, the Absolute Ruler,

the Pure One, the Source of Peace, the Inspirer of Faith,

the Guardian, the Victorious, the Compeller,

the Greatest, the Creator,

Allah.

The Maker of Order, the Shaper of Beauty, the Forgiving,

the Subduer, the Giver of All, the Sustainer,

the Opener, the Knower of All, the Constrictor,

the Reliever, the Abaser,

Allah.

The Exalter, the Bestower of Honors, the Humiliator,

the Hearer of All, the Seer of All, the Subtle One,

the Just, the Judge, the All-Aware,

the Forbearing, the Magnificent,

Allah.

The Forgiver and Hider of Faults,

the Rewarder of Thankfulness,

the Highest, the Greatest, the Preserver,

the Nourisher, the Accounter, the Mighty,

the Generous, the Watchful One,

Allah.

The Responder to Prayer, the All-Comprehending, the Perfectly Wise,

the Loving One, the Majestic One, the Forceful One,

the Witness, the Truth, the Trustee,

the Possessor of All Strength, the Resurrector,

Allah.

The Governor, the Appraiser,

the Praised One, the Ever-Living One, the Self-Existing One

the Giver of Life, the Taker of Life,

the Originator, the Restorer,

Allah.

The Finder, the Glorious, the One,

the Satisfier of All Needs, the All-Powerful, the Creator of All Power,

the All-Inclusive, the Indivisible,

the Expediter, the Delayer,

Allah.

The First, the Last,

the Manifest One, the Hidden One, the Supreme One,

the Protecting Friend, the Doer of Good, the Guide to Repentance,

the Avenger, the Forgiver, the Clement,

Allah.

The Owner of All, the Lord of Majesty and Bounty,

the Equitable One, the Gatherer, the Rich One,

the Enricher, the Preventer of Harm,

the Creator of the Harmful, the Creator of Good,

Allah.

The Light, the Guide, the Originator,

the Everlasting One, the Inheritor of All,

the Righteous Teacher,

the Patient One,

Allah.

I’ve got 99 problems, but finding a name for Allah ain’t one.

“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.”  [Qur’an 24:35]

“It is believed my many faithful followers of the Holy Prophet … that the Almighty created the seed of the prophets out of a handful of His light.  There is lay sparkling in His hand: God decided that He would send one of these sparks to earth from time to time, and with it He would reveal the Light of His Wisdom, or at least part of its unending brilliance.  The largest and brightest of these fiery sparks He picked out first and set it apart.  That would become the essence of Mohammad’s soul.  It would be incarnate last, though it was created first.”  [J. Knappert, Myths and Legends of the Swahili, 66]

The two above passages about the Light of Allah inspired my design.  In composing this image, I sought to depict the moment immediately following Allah’s creation of the 25 prophets.   And in a bit of a nod to the anachronism present in some ta’ziyeh performances, I chose a contemporary setting (an architecturally modern living room) for the scene.  The purpose of this setting is to illustrate the following: (1) I liken Allah’s creation of the prophets by taking embers from His divine light to his creating sons biologically, and the living room is symbolic of family, and (2) the legacy and importance of Allah and the prophets is still very much alive today and by selecting a contemporary setting, I can convey that message.

In addressing specific details of the image, I will draw your attention to a few things:

(1) Allah is represented by the intense light in the glass-enclosed, pearly, white lamp in the niche on the left side of the image, all in line with scripture.

(2) There are 25 small candles, each representing one of the 25 prophets.

(3) Muhammad is represented by the sole candle on the left side of the image.  Muhammad’s candle is slightly bigger than the others (signifying his importance), and he is placed high on a shelf because Allah chose to wait on sending him to Earth.

 

After seeing so many different mosque designs during Week #6, I decided to toss my own design into the ring.  Specifically, I chose to create a tiled mosaic that I envision covering an interior wall of a modern mosque.

In the film “Islamic Art: Mirror of an Invisible World,” viewers were exposed to mosques that were colorful, detailed, and elaborate, and I sought to create the same thing.  Each of the interior tiles of my design is an image of one of the many mosques found around the globe.   I use 160 different images, each colorful and representative of the many different styles of mosques that men have created over the centuries.

The gold tiling in the center of the mosaic spells “Allah” in Arabic.  Additionally, there are 99 gold tiles used to spell “Allah” and this was done to acknowledge the fact that there are 99 different names for Him.