Hasan Qasim Habash
1943–2021 · Mosul
Hasan Qasim Habash al-Bayati was born in Mosul. Arabic Wikipedia gives 3 Ramadan 1362 AH, which falls in September 1943 (the article's lead says 2 September 1943, though its body adds 1944); the encyclopedia of Mosul figures by Omar al-Talib gives 1943. He graduated from the teachers' institute in Mosul in 1965 and taught in primary and secondary schools before becoming supervisor of calligraphy in the school-activities directorate in Baghdad. He made his name in Kufic. At first he followed the Egyptian calligrapher Yusuf Ahmad, then Muhammad Abd al-Qadir, and later worked out a manner of his own that aimed at one correct form for each letter. He showed his calligraphy in Mosul in 1970 and his ornament and Kufic in 1976, and took part in the Ministry of Culture's exhibitions at home and abroad. He wrote the facade of the Halima al-Sa'diyya mosque in Baghdad, taught calligraphy and ornament at teachers' colleges, and published copybooks of Kufic, thuluth and naskh. He died on 22 March 2021.
Achievements
- Graduated from the teachers' institute in Mosul in 1965.
- First solo calligraphy exhibition in Mosul in 1970, and an exhibition of his ornament and Kufic work in 1976.
- Supervisor of Arabic calligraphy in the school-activities directorate in Baghdad.
- Wrote the facade inscriptions of the Halima al-Sa'diyya mosque in Baghdad.
- Published copybooks of Kufic, thuluth and naskh, printed in Iraq and abroad.
- Listed among Iraq's leading calligraphers in Fawzi Salim Afifi's reference book on the Arabic scripts.
His work
He died in 2021, so his calligraphy is still under copyright and no works can be shown. No freely licensed photograph of him was found.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi) — or every Kufic piece the store makes: Kufic collection.
Sources
- Arabic Wikipedia: birth, Kufic, influences, works, copybooks, death 22 Mar 2021 ar.wikipedia.org
- Omar al-Talib, encyclopedia of Mosul figures: born 1943, career, exhibitions 1970, 1976, 1984 web.archive.org
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).