Exhibited and collected
internationally
Art for who you are
Art for who you are
Contemporary Islamic art Inspired by faith
Contemporary Islamic art inspired by faith
The bestsellers
For the wall that tells people who you are the moment they walk in. Your faith. Your culture. Your identity. No explanation needed.
About Dhikr
Dhikr is the practice of remembering Allah through the repetition of His names and praises, most commonly counted on tasbih prayer beads. This artwork is made entirely from real tasbih donated by friends and family. Each strand has been used. The beads represent the Ummah, different in colour, material, and origin, all circling the same centre. At the heart of the piece is the shahada: La ilaha illallah.
Behind the Artwork
Every time someone picks up their tasbih and begins to count, they are doing the same thing that millions of others are doing, have always done. I wanted to show that. I asked friends and family to donate their tasbih because I wanted the piece to be made from beads that had already been used for dhikr, not just to represent it.
How It Was Made
Tasbih were coiled outward from the centre, strand by strand, and glued in place to build up the concentric circles. The strands vary in colour, size, and material. Some are small glass beads, others larger wood. Each one is different. Each one is part of the same circle.
About Sabr
Following the March 2017 attack on Westminster Bridge, I painted this as an expression of faith and patience. The canvas shows a skyline where traditional Islamic architecture blends with the silhouette of Big Ben, existing together under the same sky. Above the city, a burst of light breaks through the deep blue, a reminder of the Qur'anic promise that God is with the patient. This painting honours the resilience of Muslims who face unjustified blame for violence they condemn, choosing instead to practise Sabr.
Behind the Painting
This came from a place of deep frustration and sorrow. Whenever an atrocity occurs, the Muslim community is placed under a microscope. The seamless blending of Big Ben and the Islamic domes is my way of saying that we belong here. Islam and the West are not at odds. They exist together in the very fabric of our cities and our lives.
How It Was Made
I used acrylic paint to build up this canvas in layers of deep, resonant blues and vibrant, warm golds. I constructed the Islamic architecture in semi solid, blocks of colour, while Big Ben is rendered in delicate, intricate lines, almost like it is emerging from the landscape. The sky is dominated by a large golden sphere and a brilliant burst of light, giving the piece a cosmic, spiritual atmosphere. In the lower section, I wrote sweeping Arabic calligraphy in thick, raised gold paint, its texture catching the light and standing out from the surface.
About Qiblah
The astrolabe was the instrument early Muslim scholars used to calculate the direction of prayer. Mariam al-Ijliya, a 10th-century artisan known as Al-Asturlabi, designed some of the most advanced astrolabes of her time.
Behind the Painting
Five times a day Muslims across the world turn to face the Kaabah. We are all so different, from so many places, speaking so many languages, and yet we all turn together. That is what this painting is about. Not the instrument itself, but what it was built to find.
How It Was Made
With acrylic paint I built up layers of carefully sculpted curves and circles in bright gold to represent the metalwork. Using gold paint in a bottle with a nozzle, I repeatedly wrote, in my own stylised calligraphy, La Ilaha Ilallah. I painted the background in deep teal, forest green and midnight blue, blended and broken so the colour shifts across the canvas, and this acts as the foundation on which I painted the astrolabe.
About Diversity
Diversity is an award-winning painting. It is a celebration of the diversity of the ummah. Thousands of individual brushstrokes, each a different colour, fill the canvas, all surrounding the Kaaba at the centre. Each brushstroke carries its own story and heritage, and yet all are held within the same frame, part of the same community of faith.
Behind the Painting
I have always been moved by the sheer variety of people I meet at the mosque, at Islamic events, at Hajj. People who look nothing like me, who speak languages I do not understand, who come from places I have never been, and yet with whom I share something fundamental. I wanted to paint that feeling. Not unity as sameness, but unity as recognition. The moment you look at someone very different from yourself and see a brother or a sister.
How It Was Made
This is an acrylic painting on canvas, worked in bold, expressive strokes. Each brushstroke was painted quickly and intuitively. After a handful of coloured daubs I would stand back from the canvas and see the vastness of the Ummah growing. I wanted the painting to represent that a huge variety of languages, cultures, and backgrounds all moving together around the same centre.
Salaam
Salaam
i
Upcoming Events
Sanctuary
May 29th, 30th, 31st
John Lewis, Whitecity, Westfield
Sanctuary is a collection of works exploring pilgrimage and the places where we find peace and solace.
The exhibition brings together familiar works alongside pieces never seen before, reflecting on the journeys we take and the spaces that hold us.
29 to 31 May at John Lewis White City Westfield Square, in collaboration with John Lewis and London Eid Fest. Original paintings, prints, greeting cards, and a coffee table book are all available to purchase. John Lewis and London Eid Fest customers receive a 20% discount.
I will be painting live across all three days, with all proceeds from the live painting going to a local community project.