Islam considers language and writing to be sacred. Poetry, and particularly the Quran, is the most sacred writing. Muslims practice calligraphy (beautiful writing) as an art.
Islam discourages representational art (pictures of plants, people, or animals). Pictures or statues of the Prophet Muhammad or God are strictly forbidden in order to avoid idolatry.
Muslim calligraphers sometimes get around the ban on representational art by making calligraphy in such a way that it suggests the forms of plants and animals.
