Islamic Art

Focus On: Ma Cong AbuBakr Zaki

A brief biography of a rising star of Arabic Calligraphy in the Chinese Style

Ma Cong’s ijazaat | Images courtesy of Ma Cong AbuBakr Zaki

Born in 1993, Ma Cong AbuBakr Zaki started studying Arabic calligraphy in 2009 under local Arabic calligrapher Zhang Mingxing Ismal. Ma Cong remained under his tutelage until 2013, and then, from the end of 2018, he studied under the internationally renowned calligraphers Haji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang and his wife, Fatimah CaoYiying. Over the course of several years, Ma Cong has received ijazah in all the traditional Chinese styles of Arabic calligraphy, being issued with his licence in the Brush, Classical Sini, and Transcript styles on 22nd January 2022.

Since receiving his ijazaat, Ma Cong has taken on calligraphy students of his own, of which three have graduated. One such student is Abudurahma Ma Xinyoung, born in 1989 and currently the Imam of Pingyan Mosque in Yunnan Province, China. Starting his studies under Ma Cong AbuBakr Zaki in 2019, he graduated with his certificate in broad stroke in 2022.

In addition to teaching, Ma Cong has also exhibited locally in China, worked on mosque murals and decoration within Kunming, as well as experimenting in other areas such as ceramics.

Mosque decoration and work on ceramics | Images courtesy of Ma Cong AbuBakr Zaki

To see more of his work and keep up to date, be sure to follow his Instagram.