Evaluating the legibility of decorative arabic scripts for Sultan Alauddin mosque using an enhanced soft-computing hybrid algorithm

•The social role of mosques.•The decoration of mosques features inscriptions.•Calligraphy as a form of art.•The readability of calligraphy.•The most influential parameters related to the readability of Arabic calligraphy.

Ornamental calligraphy features sacred inscriptions in mosques as an integral part of its interior design. This study analyzes the legibility of these Arabic scripts for Malaysian users of mosques, implementing for the first time a quantitative tool for this effort, the ANFIS method. Our purpose is to identify the most influential parameters affecting the readability and understanding of various decorative Arabic scripts. Mosques have important roles in social life and in teaching the Islamic faith to Muslims. We conducted a questionnaire survey handed to the public attending the Sultan Alauddin mosque in Selangor, Malaysia. We subjected the data resulting from this survey to the ANFIS method (the adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system), to identify measurable parameters that play a role in the ability to read decorative Arabic scripts. The ANFIS process for variable selection was implemented in order to detect the predominant variables among the parameters identified. We analyzed how demographic aspects and cognitive skills relate to the ability to correctly interpret these scripts. The results indicated that of the parameters examined, the ability to read Arabic is the one that influences the most, the correct interpretation of ornamental inscriptions of mosques, and the best predictor of accuracy.