In Muslim homes, we typically don’t put up photographs with faces, which generally leaves the options for typical home decor very limited. You might find yourself struggling to figure out what to do about the bare walls in the rooms but still have the urge to put something up. Lamps and décor elsewhere can only do so much, there’s always something missing – this is where Kalma Calligraphy comes in.
Islamic Calligraphy is one of the oldest art forms in history. It comprises different Surahs or Names of Allah or the Holy Prophet, written in artistic ways. Some of them are simple while others are full-blown art pieces that aren’t exactly meant to be super readable. Most of the Surahs and Ayaats have some sort of significance, some people like to put up the calligraphies just for that.
Handicrafts
One of the most popular Surahs/Ayaats in Islam is the First Kalma (or Kalma Shuhada). This is the Kalma that is used to enter the religion of Islam. The Kalma itself is the literal declaration of being a Muslim, it translates to “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad (SAW) was His last prophet”. It is important for each Muslim to declare their faith in both the oneness of Allah and the fact that there will be no more prophets after Muhammad (SAW) – making this one of the most important pieces of scripture in Islam.
It is said that reciting this Kalma once every single day can be a gentle reminder and refresher of your faith, although it’s best if this becomes a habit on its own, that’s not how it is for most people. That is why a lot of Muslim homes have at least one Kalma Shuhada hanging up somewhere! Every time you pass by one, it’ll remind you to recite it again, eventually, it becomes something you do subconsciously!
Pakistan’s 5 Best Kalma Calligraphy in 2022
The one conundrum most people find themselves in is what are the options that are available in the markets today for Kalma Calligraphy and how you can hang them up in your home in a way where they’re visible in a tasteful way. These are the top 5 styles that Kalma Calligraphy comes in and what type of room would they work in!
1. Kalma Shahada (Wooden) Calligraphy
This calligraphy is one of the simplest designs that you can go for. It’s made entirely out of wood and keeps the natural wood tones. The subtle colouring of the calligraphy makes it so that it can fit into almost any colour theme and unlike most decoration items, it would look the best over plain, white walls. That makes this a calligraphy piece that almost anyone can work with. Even if you don’t have many decor pieces in your home, you can hang this right in the center of a totally blank wall and it’ll work just as well as it would if you strategically placed it with other decor items around it.
If you want to kick it up a notch, get a neutral gold standing lamp and offset the “in the air” look of this calligraphy with the lamp on the floor. The two meetings in the middle create a perfect balance that will be enough to decorate a whole wall with very minimal effort!
Read more: Ayatul Kursi Calligraphy Design Ideas in Pakistan
2. Kalma Shuhada (Gold) Calligraphy![Kalma Shuhada (Gold)](https://img.hutch.pk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Kalma-Shuhada-Gold.jpg)
If the look of neutral wooden tones isn’t what you’re after, this might be what ticks all the boxes for you. This Kalma calligraphy is still made of wood, but it doesn’t look like it. The entire thing is coated with a paint of gold that is such a beautiful finish that it makes it look like the whole thing is actually gold. Generally, metal Calligraphy that has a gold finish like this weighs a ton, making it very very expensive and a pain to hang up. If you end up needing to order one of them from afar enough place where it needs to be shipped from, it would rack up the costs a lot more, sometimes even more than the artwork itself! Something like this is a great alternative, it gets the look for a lot cheaper! Unless you’re extremely into getting the authentic metal pieces, you won’t even be able to tell the difference once the Calligraphy is hung up!
Since gold is a colour that is widely used as an accent colour in most modern homes, you don’t even have to worry about matching this one up very well either. Even if you have crazy colours on the walls, gold is something that just pops. It can easily be placed from walls that are simple muted colours and those that are bold and bright. Hang this up in a room with additional hints of gold and it will pull the whole room together very easily.
Read more: Bismillah Calligraphy Wall Art Designs
3. Kalma Shuhada, 6 feet long (Steel) Calligraphy
Now, if both natural wood and gold finishes aren’t your things, there are still other options for you! Something that goes extremely well in homes that have neither wood nor hints of gold, is anything reflective. This Kalma Shuhada calligraphy is done entirely on stainless steel! It’s still handmade and has been buffed to the point that the steel ends up with a crisp mirror finish. That would make it an impossible feat for this not to match with your home, as it’s simply going to reflect everything that is around it.
What is great about this piece, is that it is horizontal. In rooms that don’t have entirely blank walls, like if you have a sofa set or a console table on a wall, you can’t usually balance a rounded item, something like this, is very easy to just place parallel to the furniture and it balances itself! The size of this particular piece is 6 feet long, this is great if you are someone that likes to get just a few decor pieces in the entire home as it’s something that takes up significant space and you won’t be needing any more pieces on the same wall as this. You could also easily get away with only having this in the entire room. The timelessness of having a decor piece that looks like a mirror also means that you can easily have this up forever by just switching out the pieces around it, making this something you can invest in without having to think too much about it!
4. Kalma Shuhada, Long Style, (Plastic) Calligraphy
Even though the steel option is a great one, not everyone wants to spend a lot of money on one piece, unless they want it for a lifetime. If you like the look of it but don’t want to deal with the price tag or the effort of hanging it up safely, you might be looking for something like this! This piece is made similarly, but instead of heavy steel, it’s made out of plastic. This piece might be “Plastic” but it doesn’t have the feel of the negative connotation that’s usually attached to the word. The plastic helps keep the price down and the weight of the whole thing, but the way they have created it and finished it, it ends up not even looking like plastic at the end. Instead of a mirror finish on the steel one, this comes in 4 different finishes, Silver, Gold, Bronze and Black. The colour options make it very easy to just pick one that matches the theme of your room, as all rooms go with at least one of these, no matter how crazy the theme might be!
Just like the steel option, this one is also horizontal, so you can style this in a room the same way, but since this isn’t as large, you have the option of either hanging this on its own or make it a feature piece in a gallery wall. You can also use other decorations, lamps and ornaments to puzzle around this and put together a feature wall, with the Kalma Calligraphy as the main feature!
5. 24k Gold Canvas Kalma (Handwritten) Calligraphy
If floating calligraphy isn’t something that matches your overall aesthetic, you can even go for a calligraphy frame! Frames are a cheap way to spruce up space and to bring elements of whatever you want to include in your rooms. Not only frame easier to hang, but they’re also cheap and easy to replace, so you won’t even need the help of a professional to do it.
This frame is made on a pitch-black canvas. The paint used is a 24K gold paint, which isn’t like regular paint. This paint glistens even when very little light touches it. Even if you like dim, low lighting, or you like super bright lights, this piece would work both ways. Something like this can work in any colour theme granted there are only black and gold colours in this, but it will look the best in a darker themed room. Ideally, if you place this frame in a dim room that gets lots of natural light in the daytime, as it would mean you get to see it in two completely different ways, making the most of this versatile piece.