Qur’anic Writing Board

Originating in Omdurman, Sudan, this wooden writing board (lawh) is a striking example of the instructional tools used throughout sub-Saharan Africa to help students practice Arabic calligraphy and memorize verses from the Qur'an. As stewards of Islam, students treat classical Arabic with deep reverence, recognizing it as the sacred language through which the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Once a verse is memorized, the writing is washed off the board with water. Having touched the divine words, this water is itself considered holy and is sometimes consumed or otherwise used for spiritual and medicinal purposes.

Arabic was introduced to Sudan through centuries of trade, migration, and Islamic conquest, and has played a significant role in shaping Sudanese cultural and religious identity for more than 500 years. By the 19th century, it had become the region's primary literary language and the foundation of religious education. Qur'anic schools supported this transformation, with education beginning for children as young as five. Writing boards like this one would have been a familiar part of household life.

This particular board dates to a transitional moment in Sudanese history: the fall of Mahdist Islamic self-rule and the imposition of Anglo-Egyptian colonial control in 1898. Under the new regime, which lasted until Sudanese independence in 1956, Qur'anic education was increasingly marginalized. Religious and cultural repression in Sudan intensified, especially as the colonial administration sought to divide the Arabic-speaking Muslim north from the more diverse south.

Omdurman, once the Mahdist capital in northern Sudan, became a site of violent imperialism. Likely because of its direct experience with colonialism, the city later emerged as a center of nationalism and decolonial resistance throughout the early to mid-20th century. Seen in this light, the continued use of this lawh through the course of these transitions may be viewed as an everyday act of resistance.