Bismillah in calligraphical styles

Bismillah plays an important role in Islamic Culture. Following the practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blesssings be upon him and his Household (Ahlul Bayt), Muslims begin with the name of Allah before doing anything. Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim is translated as "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful". Bismillah occurs at the head of every chapter (surah) in the Holy Qur'an, with the exception of the 9th chapter, Surah al-Baraa'at (also called Surah al-Tawbah). Calligraphers have written bismillah in many ways. This pictorial gives us a unique opportunity to look at some of the ways bismillah can be written.

In a letter on behalf of Prophet Muhammad,
peace be upon him and his Household

This bismillah is taken from a letter written on behalf of Prophet Muhammad [s] to the Ruling Archbishop of Egypt. The letter was written in the fifth year after Hijrah (627 CE). This letter is preserved in the Topkapi Museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. The actual inscriber is not known. The Holy Prophet [s] used to ask several different companions to write on his behalf. Among them was a young companion named Zaid bin Thabit.

Written at the time of Uthman b. Affan This is from one of the earliest copies of the Holy Qur'an housed in the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul, Turkey. This copy of the Qur'an is one of the original manuscripts written at the time of Uthman's caliphate. Another original manuscript from the same period is on display at the Tashkent Museum in Uzbekistan. Written by Amir al-Mu'minin, Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him This bismillah is written on deerskin by Imam Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him.

Bismillah in calligraphical styles: Bismillah is still written with the same letters, but the calligraphy has certainly changed. Here are some of the samples of bismillah written in different calligraphical styles. The name of the style is written below them. Muhaqqaq Eastern Kufi Nakshi Modern Kufi Bismillah Today: The bismillah above is written in Nastaleeq script. This is the same script in which Urdu in India and Pakistan and classical Farsi in Iran are written. Until ten years ago, all newspapers in Pakistan were handwritten in this script. But now several computers equipped with the Nastaleeq fonts are used. Arabic and Persian languages nowadays are written in Naskh script. Turkish, Malay, and Bangla languages at one time used to be written in Naskh script before the Arabic script was aband

Human Vs. Devil

A man woke up early in order to pray the FAJR prayer in the MASJID. He got dressed, made his ablution and was on his way to the MASJID. On his way to the MASJID, the man fell and his clothes got dirty. He got up, brushed himself off, and headed home. At home, he changed his clothes, made his ablution, and was, again, on his way to the MASJID. On his way to the MASJID, he fell again and at the same spot! He, again, got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home he, once again, changed his clothes, made his ablution and was on his way to the MASJID. On his way to the MASJID, he met a man holding a lamp. He asked the man of his identity and the man replied "I saw you fall twice on your way to the MASJID, so I brought a lamp so I can light your way." The first man thanked him and the two where on their way to the MASJID. Once at the MASJID, the first man asked the man with the lamp to come in and pray FAJR with him. The second man refused.

The first man asked him a couple more times and, again, the answer was the same. The first man asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray. The man replied "I am Shaitan." The man was shocked at this reply. Shaitan went on to explain, "I saw you on your way to the MASJID and it was I who made you fall. When you went home, cleaned yourself and went back on your way to the MASJID, Allah forgave all of your sins. I made you fall a second time, and even that did not encourage you to stay home, but rather, you went back on your way to the MASJID. Because of that, Allah forgave all the sins of the people of your household. I was afraid if I made you fall one more time, then Allah will forgive the sins of the people of your village, so I made sure that you reached the MASJID safely." So do not let Shaitan benefit from his actions. Do not put off a good that you intended to do as you never know how much reward you might receive from the hardships you encounter while trying to achieve that good.

If forwarding this message will bother you, or take too much time from you, then don't do it, but you will not get the reward of it, which is great. Imagine, that when you forward his, you receive 240 good deeds (and Allah knows best!), and so will I for sending it to you! Couldn't it be easy just to press "Forward" and receive the reward.