Tag Archives: Thoufeek Zakriya

Thoufeek Zakariya – The Indian Muslim Who Is An Expert In Hebrew-Arabic Calligraphy

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinion, , , , , , , , ,

Cochin, KERALA :

Thoufeek Zakariyah, Sarah Cohen and Isaac Ashkenazi inspecting a Torah that Thoufeek designed.

Down in the heart of “God’s Own Country,” as the Indian state of Kerala is affectionately known, an Indian Muslim calligrapher is using his skills in the art of the ink flourishes to bridge Jewish and Muslim communities.

Thoufeek Zakriya is an Indian Muslim from the city of Cochin who does calligraphy in a number of languages, including Arabic, Samaritan, Syriac and Sanskrit. More interestingly, he is a Muslim who does masterful Hebrew calligraphy.

While studying in madrasa, he learned that the Jewish people were considered by Islam to be ahl al-kitab (“People of the Book”), which sparked a curiosity in him to learn more about this religious community. His curiosity led him to find a copy of the Gideon’s Bible, which had a page with prayers in 23 different languages. He decided to find what encompassed the Hebrew word for God, so using the page as his “Rosetta Stone” he was able to decipher what letters entailed the Hebrew name for the Lord.

Jewtown – home of the tiny yet historic community of Jews in Cochin

Thoufeek became more interested in Judaism and Hebrew calligraphy, and reached out to the tiny yet historic Jewish community in Cochin . Thoufeek purchased some Hebrew texts he found at a streetside book shop and he went about learning the Hebrew alphabet. His studies in Hebrew led him to begin crafting calligraphy of Jewish prayers such as the Birkat haBayit (prayer for the home) in golden resplendent brilliance.

Birkat HaBayit, the blessing for the home.

Thofeek even began creating calligraphic replicas of the Torah.

More importantly, Thoufeek does something very unique: he has crafted Hebrew calligraphy in the ancient Kufic Arabic script. Such work is a rarity in the calligraphic world, and his innovations in the Kufic/Hebrew calligraphy has brought Thoufeek accolades from admirers from all over the world. Zakriya has been commissioned as far away as Ukraine and the United States to create works that combine Arabic calligraphy with Jewish prayers.

Birkat Kufic in Jerusalem Stone. The Hebrew letters here are turned into the Kufic Arabic script.

Thoufeek’s work and his dedication to study Jewish history and culture led to a close friendship between him and Cochin’s Jewish community, including his warm friendship with the community’s matriarch Sarah Cohen. Cohen has hosted Thoufeek for Passover seders and other Jewish holiday celebrations.

Thoufeek with Sarah Cohen

I met Thoufeek at Sarah Cohen’s embroidery shop, where she stitches yarmulkes and other Jewish-Indian embroideries. As we sat sipping tea and eating watermelon squares and black helwa (sweets), she remarked that she considers him to be like a grandson and a real mensch.

Birkat Kufic in stone. The Hebrew letters here are turned into the Kufic Arabic script

Thoufeek Zakriya is a wonderful symbol of India’s legendary tolerance for religious communities. “At a time when Jews and Muslims are sadly seen as natural adversaries, Thoufeek’s Hebrew calligraphy emerges as yet another example of Muslim-Jewish amity from India,” says Dr. Navras Aafreedi, an Assistant Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Gautam Buddha University. Professor Aafreedi studies Jewish communities of India, and noted that Zakriya is the only known Muslim Hebrew calligrapher in India

Card for Rosh Hashanah reading, “Good New Year.”

“Thoufeek’s work shows us that the way to peace is through the exploration of each other’s culture and the commonalities between them,” says Dr. Aafreedi, “His work is a reminder of the shared cultural and religious heritage of Jews and Muslims, which definitely needs to be brought into sharper focus in such a manner that it overshadows the disputes, conflicts and differences.”

Photographs courtesy: Paul Rockower & Thoufeek Zakariya

This article first appeared in Huffington Post, and has been republished here in arrangement with the author. Follow Paul Rockower on Twitter: https://twitter.com/levantine18

source: http://www.thebetterindia.com / The Better India / Home> The Better Home / by Paul Rockower / January 02nd, 2013

Portraying a bond that transcends identities

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, World Opinion, , , , ,

Kochi, KERALA :

A still from the documentary Sarah, Thaha, Thoufeek
A still from the documentary Sarah, Thaha, Thoufeek

Documentary Sarah, Thaha, Thoufeek shows a moving relationship

A few years ago, a researcher from Belgium, who was scouring the Jewish sites in Kochi to learn more about the vintage Belgian glasses and ceramic material used in the city’s ancient synagogues, was surprised by a local’s understanding about them.

“Are you Jewish?” she asked him.

Thaha Ibrahim, a Muslim from Fort Kochi, smiled, shaking his head. Thaha and his friend Thoufeek Zakriya, a professional chef in Dubai and a master in Hebrew calligraphy, have a deeper connect with Jewish life in Mattancherry, courtesy their bonding with the senior most Kochi Jew, Sarah Cohen, in her late 90s.

The moving relation is portrayed in Sarah, Thaha, Thoufeek canned by Sarath Koottikkal, who followed the trio for a few years. The teaser of the hour-long documentary was released by Kochi Biennale Foundation secretary Riyas Komu at an event at Mocha Art Café, Mattancherry, on Tuesday.

“It’s an emotional work for me as well and nothing in this has been staged. It has candid shots capturing the touching relationship, which cannot be described in words or etched in a film in its entirety,” says Sarath.

He had known Thaha for sometime when one day Thaha causally told him about taking Sarah ‘aunty’, then 93 years and with no kin around, to a swanky new mall at the far end of the city. Ms. Cohen, who runs an embroidery shop in Mattancherry’s Jew Town, found news about the mall fascinating. On cue, Thaha, who has been close to the Cohen household for nearly two decades and taking care of the nonagenarian after her husband Jacob Cohen died, made a trip to the mall with ‘aunty’ and his family.

“The gesture moved me. We live in an age when aged parents are treated like an appendage, but this chap had the heart to heed to a wish by someone who’s 90-plus and not even a relative,” says Sarath, adding that the relation is thicker than blood.

“Thaha is like a son to Sarah aunty,” says Thoufeek, whose Hebrew calligraphic skills and knowledge of the religion, brought him close to Ms. Cohen in 2009. “She’s like my grandma, showering me with love and care. She happily relates things to me and reserves special dishes for me,” says Thoufeek.

Thaha’s cheerfulness and ability to inspire happiness and care won him a close pal in Thoufeek, someone less than half his age. “He’s like my brother and stays in close touch wherever I’m. We pursue our research on the Jews and Muslims of Kochi in right earnest,” maintains Thoufeek.

‘References coincidental’

As Sarath reveals, the film’s sharp focus is on bond binds the trio and not their religions. “If at all there are references to it, it’s all been coincidental.”

Candid shots, some of which were canned by Thaha himself — who took to photography inspired by Ellen Goldberg, co-author of The Last Jews of Cochin – form a remarkable feature of the film.

More than technical brilliance, accidental meetings, serendipitous moments and spontaneous conversations characterise the film, says Sarath. A point underscored by Thaha, who got to film Ms. Goldberg and her husband Nathan Katz, 30 years after he first met them at the Cohen household, and several such visitors and remarkable occurrences.

In the final stages of production, the film is set to be ready in the first week of August.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by S. Anandan / Kochi – July 10th, 2018