Salaam Aleikum! Thought I’d share today about a personal project I did last month for my room… This was to make a wall hanging with some Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT) on it. As a new Muslim, it has been quite an adjustment to adapt to the new way of life – one aspect being that pictures of animate creatures (people or animals) on display in one’s house is haraam. Before I reverted, apart from the pictures of Jesus and his mother, the Virgin Mary (peace be upon them) and St. Therese which were from my Catholic days, I also had pictures of cats and birds up on my wall, as I love these beautiful creatures!
I was very surprised to learn that our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was very averse to pictures of animate creatures. As I researched more about Islam, one day I came across a well-known hadith in which he says: "The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or pictures." And, since I had pictures in my room AND a dog living in our family home, I knew I had to improve this situation! I had already made it very clear that the dog is banned from my room; now I had to take the final step and remove my pictures of cats and birds off the walls. If I didn’t live in a Muslim household, at least I could live in a Muslim room; my “house” within our house, and make my room angel-friendly! J
But what to do? I didn’t want blank walls staring back at me! I needed to replace the cats and birds with something. So I got a watercolour painting my mother did of a landscape – a house in the far distance, trees, a meadow…that would work – and would express a connection to my family in some way, as my mom painted it. Then with three other empty walls, I made a string of beads as a kind of hanging for the one wall, and put a red Eastern-style candle holder up on the main wall above my bed (this you can see in my profile photo behind me along with my project). Later, after I finished this project I will speak about, I got a picture printed out of the Haram in Mecca
As I live in an area on the opposite side of the city to the Islamic shops and didn’t know when I would ever get around to visiting them, I thought that if I wanted a calligraphic hanging, I’d better try making my own (like I did with much of my Islamic clothing – a topic for another time!). So I found some satiny green material and cut a piece which would fit behind a glass frame. Then I bought a gold pen with which to write the calligraphy on the green material, and framed it with gold gift ribbon.
Inspired by the calligraphic decorations I saw online and in books, I came up with an idea. Previously I had a small photo frame up, in which I wrote out Allah Ta’ala’s Name with a simple border, but wanted to expand on it. I read through His 99 Beautiful Names and although each of them were wonderful, some of them specially resonated with me, particularly Al-Haqq (The Truth). This was a value especially dear to my heart, which is why I chose the name Saadiqah on reversion; I wanted to remind myself to always speak the Truth. There were other Names I also loved dearly, so I had this idea to choose a selection of them and write them out. These Names would need to have a special significance in my life. I thought as there were 99, I would choose 9 to write out around the central Name of Allah on my material.
The 9 Names I chose were the following :
Al-Haqq (The Truth)
An-Nur (The Light)
Ar-Rashid (Guide to the Path of Rectitude/Lover of Virtue)
(Second from top right, third from top right, and bottom middle)
- These express the three values dearest to my own life – Truth, Understanding and Purity
Al-Khaliq (The Creator)
Al-Quddus (Most Sacred/Free From All Blemishes)
Al-Azeem (The Magnificent/Grand One)
(Top, middle and bottom right)
- These express what awes me most about Allah – His Creativity, Holiness and Grandeur
Al-Alim (The All-Knowing)
Ash-Shakur (The Grateful/All-Acknowledging One)
Al-Mumin (The Infuser of Faith)
(Top, middle and bottom left)
- These express what qualities of Allah I need to remember most in my life; antidotes to my weak areas of criticism, depression and lack of faith.
As the saying goes: Each picture tells a story… It sure did make a difference in decorating my room! Insha’Allah, maybe it could become a talking point one day with my family and be a tool for Da’wah…
I hope it has been inspiring to you, my brothers and sisters in Islam. Maybe you would like to do the same, and choose some Names of Allah (SWT) which are especially dear to you, to remind yourself of Him? It’s a fun project to do in your spare time or on a rainy day, and each time you look at it, you remember our wonderful Creator!
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