Shaykh Muhammed Saleh al-Moroni

Shaykh Muhammed Saleh al-Moroni is a painter and calligrapher. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1940 and grew up on the Island of Zanzibar. Zanzibar at the time was a center for Religious learning and deep spirituality. Here he connected to spiritual giants of the age such as Habib Umar bin Sumeit and Sayyid Umar bin Abdullah.

He started painting casually as a child and was heavily influenced by his favourite school subjects geometry and technical drawing. In the mid 50's he became part of a diverse group of exceptional artists and musicians who documented the paradise Island culture through landscape/still life and impressionist painting. Artists of this important period included Seif Salum, Dr Saeed Aboud, Fatma Shaaban and Abdullah Farhan.

He was invited to Germany in 1963 (just before the Revolution in Zanzibar) to assist in the opening of a Swahili service for the Deutsche Welle and to complete his University studies. There, he continued to work as a Journalist and Broadcaster for another 43 years, whilst casually continuing to paint.

In the early 2000's, after reconnecting with Quran recitation he felt inspired to use his artistry and love for geometry for Islamic calligraphy. This was further encouraged with signs from his spiritual mentors and he has been designing/drawing calligraphies ever since.

In 2006 he moved to Bournemouth, UK with his family to be closer to his remaining siblings.

You can find Shaykh Ahmed's selection of prints, steeped in Islamic spirituality, here.