Research Information System
Darulfunun Ilahiyat, vol.37, no.1, pp.128-159, 2026 (Scopus, TRDizin)
In art, tradition is an element that ensures cultural continuity through the preservation, development, and transmission of aesthetic, technical, and cultural accumulations formed over many years. In maintaining this continuity, factors such as the master-apprentice relationship and fidelity to the styles of the masters have played an influential role; artists have benefited from earlier artworks/models through methods such as inspiration, direct imitation, and reinterpretation. This article examines the conceptual world of the practice of imitation -one of these methods- within the specific context of Islamic calligraphy (ḥat art), through examples of muraqqas that bring together the names of three renowned calligraphers around the same purpose. Four muraqqas produced by Hasan Rıza Efendi (d. 1920), one of the last-period Ottoman calligraphers, by imitating Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi (d. 1876), who in turn imitated Hâfız Osman Efendi (d. 1698), constitute tangible examples of the aforementioned chain. Comparisons have been made between these muraqqas -whose contents are also discussed- and the muraqqa of Hâfız Osman, which is identified as the model manuscript and is preserved in the Sakıp Sabancı Museum. In this way, the study aims to reveal the role of the practice of imitative writing -considered a fundamental learning method in education of calligraphy and a distinctive mark of talent in the mastery stage- in ensuring stylistic continuity and contributing to the intergenerational transmission of tradition.