Mary and the Prayer of Zakariah
"Mary and a prayer of Zakariah," was inspired in light of the present state of our global society and expressly after the mass murder, on December 14, 2012, of twenty little children, the "mother" of the murderer and six adults, at the elementary school in New Town, Connecticut, USA. This painting depicts the core of the chapter Maryam (Mary) from the Quran and her life as a mother and the great pain and patience that she overcame in her life with the miraculous birth of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). This painting is a prayer, as related in the Quran, made by the Prophet Zakaria and his elderly wife Elizabeth to have a child. This prayer is expressed through Islamic calligraphy. The dominant blue swirling and distending form, the treble clef-like geometry, and water symbolize the womb. These symbols are also simultaneously the letters which are stated in the beginning of the chapter “Mary:” Kaf, Ha,Ya, Ayn, Sad. In addition, the concept of Mary foreshadows the coming of the prophet Jesus (Isa)--a child who was born from a miraculous birth and became a great light in the world. Jesus immensely respected the womb that bore him (Mary or Maryam) and was to be a prophet of God’s reflected light to his Jewish community and the world. So the implied crux of this art piece is about the birth of a noble child; it is about life and the future light and lights to come, which essentially are the children--the progeny of our world who can reflect either the change that can occur for the good of society or towards the degradation of a society. This piece asks the viewer to remember a great woman, Mary, and the prayers for a future sustainable generation, the prayer of Zakariah.
Uzma Mirza, grew up on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is a registered and licensed architect and a published artist. She is the owner of a small sustainable Architecture consultancy, an adjunct faculty member at Indiana-Purdue University in sustainable and green building, and the founder of the non-profit organization, The Pen and Inkpot Foundation. View more from Uzma at http://www.penandinkpot.org