Editing Naskh (script) (section)

== Origin ==
[[File:PERF No. 732.jpg|alt=Manuscript of Malik's Muwatta in soft, flowing Naskh script|thumb|PERF No. 731, the earliest manuscript of Mālik's Muwaṭṭaʾ, dated to his own time. Recto (left) has the contents of Bāb al-Targib fī-Sadaqah, Manuscript of Malik's Muwatta in soft, flowing Naskh scriptIn the second century AH]]
The Naskh style of writing can be found as early as within the first century of the [[Islamic calendar]].<ref>{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ORgAAAAMAAJ&q=%22But+there+are+specimens+of%C2%A0Naskh%C2%A0style%22|title=بىاض|year=1977|publisher=Anjuman-e-Farsi|page=77}}</ref> The Naskh script was established in the first century of the Hijri calendar by order of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan due to the presence of defects in the Kufic script.<ref name=":0" /> Two centuries before<ref>{{Cite web |title=PERF No. 731: The Earliest Manuscript Of Malik's Muwatta' Dated To His Own Time |url=https://www.islamic-awareness.org/hadith/perf731 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=www.islamic-awareness.org}}</ref> it was recorded by Ibn Muqla Like [[Al-Muwatta]] written by Malik ibn Anas in a soft, rounded script 

[[Ibn Muqla]] is credited with standardizing the "Six Pens" of Islamic calligraphy, also including {{lang|ar-Latn|italic=no|[[thuluth]]}}, {{lang|ar-Latn|italic=no|[[tawqi|tawqi’]]}}, {{lang|ar-Latn|italic=no|[[Reqa|riqaaʿ]]}}, {{lang|ar-Latn|italic=no|[[muhaqqaq]]}}, and {{lang|ar-Latn|italic=no|[[rayhani script|rayhani]]}}.<ref name=":0" /> These are known as "the proportioned scripts" ({{lang|ar-Latn|al-khatt al-mansub}}) or "the six scripts" ({{lang|ar-Latn|al-aqlam al-sitta}}).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Writing the word of God: calligraphy and the Qur'an|last=Roxburgh|first=David J.|date=2007|publisher=Museum of Fine Arts, Houston|isbn=9780300142006|location=Houston|oclc=180190749}}</ref>

[[Kufic]] is commonly believed to predate naskh, but historians have traced the two scripts as coexisting long before their codification by Ibn Muqla,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-24 |title=Naskh Script- Arabic calligraphy |url=https://www.arabic-calligraphy.com/arabic-calligraphy-styles/naskh/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |language=en-US}}</ref> as the two served different purposes.<ref name="MuslimCalligraphy">{{cite journal | last = Ali | first = A. K. M. Yaqub | journal = Islamic Studies | volume = 23 | issue = 4 | year = 1984 | pages = 373–379 | jstor = 20847281| title = Muslim Calligraphy: ITS Beginning and Major Styles }}</ref> Kufi was used primarily in decoration, while Naskh served for everyday scribal use.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The splendor of Islamic Abdelkebir|date=1996|publisher=Thames and Hudson|others=Sijelmassi, Mohamed|isbn=0500016755|location=New York|oclc=34275017}}</ref>.The Naskh script is believed to have existed since the first century of the Islamic calendar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Naskhī script {{!}} Arabic, Islamic, Writing {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/naskhi-script |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>