{"id":217,"date":"2012-05-07T09:04:41","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T09:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/?p=217"},"modified":"2012-05-07T20:49:29","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T20:49:29","slug":"wooden-calligraphy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/2012\/05\/07\/wooden-calligraphy\/","title":{"rendered":"Wooden Calligraphy, Bismillah al rahman al Rahim"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-217 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/2012\/05\/07\/wooden-calligraphy\/img_2191-3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/files\/2012\/05\/IMG_21911-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/2012\/05\/07\/wooden-calligraphy\/img_2190-3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/files\/2012\/05\/IMG_21902-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/2012\/05\/07\/wooden-calligraphy\/img_21891-300x225\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/files\/2012\/05\/IMG_21891-300x2251-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>This post is primarily in response to the Week 2 lectures and readings on reading and understanding the Qur\u2019an as well as topics concerning Islamic calligraphy and the writing of Islamic phrases.\u00a0 Particularly, I make reference to Michael Sells\u2019 book, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Approaching the Qur\u2019an<\/span>,\u00a0 Z. Sardar\u2019s \u201cReading the Qur\u2019an,\u201d and Osman El-Tom\u2019s \u201cDrinking the Koran: The Meaning of Koranic Verses in Berti Erasure.\u201d The post itself, and the photographs attached, concerns the wood-inscription of the Qur\u2019anic phrase: <em>Bismillah al rahman al Rahim.<\/em>\u00a0 During the Summer of 2011 I took part in a class in Sarajevo, Bosnia in which I learned to inscribe phrases by carefully burning letters onto a block of wood.\u00a0\u00a0 In translation, the final product reads: \u201cIn the name of God, most Beneficent, most Merciful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Often, this phrase has been cited as containing \u201cthe true essence\u201d of the entire Qur\u2019an\u2014and the duties of its followers.\u00a0 Critically, the phrase itself is considered to be representative of one of the major pillars of Islam\u2014which pronounces belief in the one God, Allah.\u00a0 Within the Qur\u2019an, every chapter except for the ninth begins with this exact phrase, totaling 114 times in appearance\u2014and serves as a reminder to its readers of the importance and will of Allah.\u00a0 As such, most Muslims will often say this phrase before embarking on daily routines such as eating, or significant events in their lives.\u00a0 As Yasin Jibouri explains, the merits of reciting this phrase include the protection of a person from hell (interestingly, the verse is comprised of nineteen letters, \u201cthe same number as the number of the keepers of the gates of hell\u201d) and the help of Allah in completing any work or task (Jibouri, 18).<\/p>\n<p>The making of this particular wooden block, which is meant to be kept inside the household, is representative of the importance not only of the recitation of this phrase, but of the need to be constantly reminded of its meaning.\u00a0\u00a0 Written in calligraphic script, this piece is reminiscent of an art form highly revered among Islamic culture. \u00a0\u00a0Calligraphy, the primary means for historically preserving the Qur\u2019an, is \u201chas arguably become the most venerated form of Islamic art\u201d (Sardar, 15).\u00a0 The engraved phrase, <em>Bismillah al rahman al Rahim, <\/em>\u00a0is one resonant to all Muslims and a shared doctrine of all Islamic followers, regardless of sect divisions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post is primarily in response to the Week 2 lectures and readings on reading and understanding the Qur\u2019an as well as topics concerning Islamic calligraphy and the writing of Islamic phrases.\u00a0 Particularly, I make reference to Michael Sells\u2019 book, Approaching the Qur\u2019an,\u00a0 Z. Sardar\u2019s \u201cReading the Qur\u2019an,\u201d and Osman El-Tom\u2019s \u201cDrinking the Koran: The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4532,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4532"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions\/265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sabinaceric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}