And also while painting, I do remembrance,
There is no God but Allah
That is how I do my paintings
I am not the one who makes them
They are made by the guidance and the blessings of Allah
The Shahada for me is freedom from every thing
Because you leave everything and submit to Allah SWT
Oh Allah, keep them adherent to Iman
And grant them the highest Janna
As you have blessed them the guidance of the Qur’an
Guided through the Qur’an
‘Guided through the Qur’an’
‘Living it is the sweetness of life’
‘Longing to the Lord, coming to Him’
‘To Him I submit my soul’
‘It is the light of the body and the heart’
‘I declare submission to Allah’
‘His verses are becoming lightening candles’
‘And the brightness overflows from my heart’
‘It is the light of the body and the heart’
‘I declare submission to Allah’
‘His verses are becoming lightening candles’
‘And the brightness overflows from my heart’
The distinguished artist in painting, Rashid Rukhs
He became Muslim because of the Islamic architecture
And he devoted this talent and work to serve Islam
We visited his work shop which was outside Madrid
We drove for about 20 minutes to be there
The place was one of the most beautiful places we’ve been to
The atelier is lovely, and the paintings are an indication of
Ma’sha’Allah, his high talent and taste
And of his dedication…
We saw the painting of masjid Namerah
We saw Arafa Mountain
We saw Makah
And the Masjid of the prophet..
I am very honored to have you in my home
My intentions of this work is to show the beauty of Islam
And I saw this beauty when I visited these places
In the Islamic countries
Rukhs, is a friend
He is a sincere Muslim
He is always trying and working hard from the first day of his Islam
So as to stick adherent to the right path
And he is trying to introduce Islam to this community
I learned about Islam when I was young
Because my grandfather lived among Muslims
He spent part of his life in North Africa
Rukhs went to Turkey to study Byzantine Art
And when he saw the Islamic Art and the Islamic architecture
He loved it
And from that point, his interest in Islam started to grow
When I arrived at Istanbul
I visited the Blue Mosque
I was surprised when I compared the designs
Of the churches with that of the mosques
Because the Byzantine architecture of the churches
Has a closed design
The day light does not enter inside easily
And it is full of statures
It is beautiful, but it needs more light
But the Blue Mosque was full of day light
And the yards are wide
No statures or else
The place was well illuminated
And I felt the spirituality of the place
I saw people praying in there
I was very impressed, because the place was quite
And the atmosphere was comforting and peaceful
Sheikh Rashid, before you become a Muslim
You wanted to learn about the translation of the Qur’an
And to understand it
But you found difficulty in translating so many Ayats
So, you started to study the life of the prophet Muhammad SAW
tell us about that
It was the will of Allah,
who put a book about Sera on my way
I read it
and I learned how was the effect of the revelation
on the messenger Muhammad
and I understood that
it was a very huge responsibility
I was impressed by surat Al-Muzamel
because I felt how the prophet was scared
it was a very huge responsibility
That was the start of me becoming closer to the Qur’an
because I had put my self in the position of the prophet
and I felt the huge responsibility he had
And I felt scared to stand in front of Allah SWT
and having such a responsibility
‘the light of guidance was entering my heart’
‘It is the start of my joy and life’
‘So, I decided to depend on the Entirely Merciful’
‘And followed the footsteps of Taha’
‘Oh whiff of the Qur’an, spread the scent
‘The fragrance over my heart and my soul’
‘you are the cure for what hurts’
‘If not for the guidance, I wouldn’t have enough,
when Allah SWT, descended the Qur’an
upon the prophet Muhammad SAW, at the beginning
he started with three suras which discussed an important point for us
the first sura, was Al-Alaq
Allah SWT said:”Recite in the name of your Lord who created”
The important issue discussed in this sura is scientific
The next sura is Surat Al-Muddaththir
This sura discussed an important side of our lives
It is the Dawa, “Arise and warn”
The third sura is Surat Al-Muzzammil
here Allah,SWT talked about the worshiping of Allah
He said:”O you who wraps himself [in clothing],”
“Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little”
“Half of it – or subtract from it a little”
“Or add to it, and recite the Qur’an with measured recitation.”
“Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word.”
So, worshiping Allah would help us to stay adherent to Deen
and strong while doing Dawa
and worshiping Allah, Almighty as well
what are the verses or the suras which influenced you, Sheikh Rashid
I was very much impressed by the sura in which
Allah SWT was blaming the prophet Muhammad
for his behavior with the blind man
It proved to me that this message is not from man
It is from a power which is above the human nature
because it is not logic that
any one would talk about his own faults and
blames himself, impossible
Then I became more interested about the revelation
‘Oh You, who descended the Qur’an’
‘As brightness upon Ahmad’
‘I felt peacefulness when the clarity began’
‘Oh Allah, keep me adherent on the righteous path’
‘Guided through the Qur’an’
‘Living it is the sweetness of life’
‘Longing to the Lord, coming to Him’
‘To Him I submit my soul’
Guided through the Qur’an’
‘Living it is the sweetness of life’
‘Longing to the Lord, coming to Him’
‘To Him I submit my soul’
there is a moment in life
I think it is the most interesting moment in your life
It is when you said the Shahada
How was it?
I said my Shahada in Istanbul
In the masjid of Ayob Al-Ansari
when I used to come to enter the masjid,
they used to prevent me, because I am not Muslim
They think I am a tourist
every time I say the shahada so as to get in
for me, saying the Shahada is a freedom
you leave everything and submit to Allah SWT
Now I read the Qur’an consistently
And I understand it, it became more clear to me
The more I read it and study it,
the better I understand
The Qur’an is a gift
which blessed my life and my attitude
“Ya, Seen.”
“By the wise Qur’an.”
“Indeed you, [O Muhammad], are from among the messengers,”
“”On a straight path.”
“[This is] a revelation of the Exalted in Might, the Merciful,”
Ma’sha’Allah, when I entered this beautiful atelier
seeing all these paintings..
they are so beautiful
What Al-Husary had to do with all of this?
I love the recitation of Al-Husary
because it makes me feel relaxed
and I know that it cures the soul and the body!
and when I start any work, I listen to this recitation
and with every paint
I keep on remembering Allah too
No God except Allah
this is how I paint, It is not mine,
it is the guidance and the blessings of Allah SWT
The perfect situation of me to paint
is when I can listen to the recitation of the Qur’an
This is when I can relax and focus on my work
where ever I am in contact with nature,
I feel the contact with Allah SWT
He have a school here
I know some of his student who are now very famous
He is a very well known artist
a professional one
I have a message which I express in my work
and my message is directer to
the Muslims and to the Non-Muslims as well
to notice the beauty of the Islamic religion
‘Oh Allah, keep me adherent on the righteous path’
‘Oh Allah, keep me adherent on the righteous path’
‘ because what I fear most’
‘ is the to have a bad ending tomorrow’
After he became Muslim, and guided to happiness
He decided to serve his religion the best he can
But he was very sad when he was giving Dawa
because he couldn’t convince people around him to join Islam right away.
The verses which influenced our beloved brother Rashid
“Indeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills.”
I was very impressed by this Ayah
because I was very anxious
to guide people to Islam
Then I found out that I was wrong
because it is not easy for them
to understand my personal experience
This is when I understood this Ayah
in which Allah SWT says to the prophet Muhammad:
“Indeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like,”
“but Allah guides whom He wills.”
So, I accepted their denial
And I went on depending on Allah
As I always do
So, what I do now
Is to show the true nature of the Islam,
by showing the good morals, showing love and peace
people say to me: you are a good man!
So, I say to them, I am a good man because I am Muslim
From the paints of Rukhas
Are drawings on a translated Tafseer of the Qur’an,
of Al- Qurtubi, in Spanish language
My friend Zackariah Massa did the translation
and I did the paints on the cover of these books
So, I had the chance to read Tafseer Al-Qurtubi
And understand more the words of Allah
descended upon the prophet Muhammad SAW
Tell us about when you went to Hajj
When I saw Kaba, I couldn’t believe what I am seeing!
And I couldn’t think of any thing else
I was dissociated from the world
because I was in front of Allah
And I didn’t care about anything except Him
I wasn’t with whatever around me
I was focusing on the Kaba and my prayers
‘By the merciful guidance of my Lord’
‘The beauty covers the spring of my heart’
‘And turns my feelings and my path green’
‘even how I look, all that is because of the guidance’
His paints about hajj
As Al-Haram, Arafa, and the tents in Mena
He used to paint them from photos taken by others or by himself
my work about hajj was from the holy sites
and the places of Hajj
I use old photos which are not documented
because in the past photographing was not accepted
I also do researches in the internet and in old books
Tell me about you wish and your dream, Sheik Rashid
When I started this work,
I wanted to show the beauty of the Islam
trying to pay some of the favor the Islam has given me
So, I wish I can have the support to display my work
every where, so as to show people the Islam in reality
It would be nice if I could do that
My great wish is to be able to display my artistic work
In the Gulf area, as a big event
This is what I love, to show all my work in the place
where the Islam started to appear
The origin of Islam, in the Gulf area
Nun, is a web site
It is a Qur’anic site
They contributed in our show
By making every wish in Dawa or charity comes true
For all our guests who were guided by the Qur’an and became Muslims
By the will of Allah, your wish will come true, by the will of Allah, Almighty
‘I walk on the path of my Qur’an’
‘And see its kind dawn shines’
‘I recite it and memorize it and reflect upon it’
‘I walk on the path of my Qur’an’
‘The spring and the joy of my days’
‘My friend, the one who knows my dreams’
‘The cure for my sorrow and my complains’
‘It heals my bleeding wound’
‘The spring and the joy of my days’
‘My friend, the one who knows my dreams’
‘The cure for my sorrow and my complains’
‘It heals my bleeding wound’
‘Then when I repent and come back’
‘To the path of the words of the Lord of the Bait’
‘I find the grace and the comfort’
‘I was guided through the Qur’an’
‘I was guided through the Qur’an’