At Sakina Design, we strive to share the beauty and diversity of Islamic art with everyone, regardless of faith, race, or ethnicity. In line with this goal, we hope everyone enjoys our newest wall art. It is a contemporary interpretation of traditional Chinese Islamic art.
As Islam spread to different cultures, there was always a melding of the faith and the local culture. In China, one of the manifestations of this was in the style of calligraphy. The Chinese have a long and respected tradition of calligraphy, with a very strong sense of aesthetics. It was therefore only natural that some Chinese Muslim calligraphers would combine their love of the Arabic script with their own sense of aesthetics, resulting in what is now known as Sini script (Chinese script).
Haji Noor Deen is one of those master calligraphers skilled at both Chinese and Arabic calligraphy, specifically utilizing the Sini script. Here he combines the two in an elegant and meaningful manner. Looking at the artwork one immediately sees the Chinese character for ‘tranquility’. However, another message is revealed when looking at the artwork from the side. Tilting one’s head to the left will reveal the Arabic script that reads ‘SubhanAllah’ (’Glorious is God’). Here Haji Noor Deen not only links the two languages but also the concepts of remembering Allah, and achieving tranquility.
“… for without doubt, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.” (Qur’an 13:28)
We hope you enjoy this artwork and that it brings peace and tranquility to your home. Please enjoy it and share its beauty and message with your friends and family.
Spring is here again and with it, the beginning of wedding season. I’m sure many of you have already started sending in your RSVPs. Maybe you’re even considering giving our contemporary Islamic artwork as a gift for the new couple. Or maybe using our elegant greeting cards to express your best wishes.
Whatever your plans, we thought we would take advantage of this opportunity to share some knowledge with you.
As you may know, the Prophet (SAWS) said, “The best speech is the Book of Allah (Qur’an), and the best way is the way of Muhammad (Sunnah) … ” (Bukhari). In light of this we suggest using ayat from the Qur’an and du’a of the Prophet (SAWS) in your greeting cards. So, if you know anyone getting married in the near future, maybe you can use one of these suggested greetings:
“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts); verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.” (Qur’an 30:21)
— OR —
‘May Allah bless for you (your spouse) and bless you, and may He unite both of you in goodness.’ (Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah)
Where does your Company Logo come from? Is it Turkish?
We at Sakina Design do our best to combine the contemporary and traditional, creating a unique and elegant look. This concept goes beyond our products, permeating our entire company, including our name and logo. Judging from the response, we’ve been successful … if not a bit confusing. Some have even asked if we’re Turkish, to which we reply … hayir.
Joking aside … we do want to spread some clarity on this issue. We’re a U.S. company based out of southern California. Our approach is to pull on traditional Islamic art and give it a contemporary look.
To represent the traditional we have taken the name ’sakina’, which is the transliteration of the Arabic word for ‘tranquility’.
And to represent the contemporary we use a very clean and modern font. The connection to the original Arabic is retained by keeping the corresponding dots of the Arabic letters. The letter ‘a’ at the end of ’sakina’ is also reversed to make it look more like its corresponding Arabic letter. All this gives our logo a somewhat Turkish appearance. A society which also bridges the eastern and western worlds.
We hope this helps to answer your questions and clarify any confusion.
Quality products start with quality designs. For this we thank our obsessive-compulsive graphic designer, who does not rest until every last detail is perfect. She spends considerable time contemplating the use of our products before even designing them. As a result, you will notice our wall art and greeting cards are flexible and convenient. Because of this process, our wall art can be used individually to fill small spaces, or combined to fill larger spaces. This insightful design strategy was also applied to our greeting cards. By using a “greeting insert” we allow our customers to use the same card for any situation.
After finalizing the design, we proceed to the next step, identifying manufacturers who can meet our quality standards. For our wall art, we work with a U.S. framer who hires craftsmen committed to high quality standards. Together we selected a recycled wood product that was not only eco-friendly and contemporary, but also stronger than any virgin wood. The printing process for the wall art naturally involves minor variations and imperfections as part of the process. However, if we feel these variations take away from the quality of the artwork, we do not allow it to be framed. This is accomplished through a painstaking process of going through each piece of art individually.
For our greeting cards, we utilize one of the latest techniques to create an elegant look and feel, laser die cutting. This technique is applied to high quality 100% post-consumer (PCW) recycled, chlorine-free paper. We also use thicker paper in order to maintain rigidity and give it a high quality appearance and feel. Instead of the traditional petroleum based inks, we use more eco-friendly soy-based inks. However, we don’t stop there. We also ensure that the inks contain no toxic heavy-metal compounds.
I hope this helps to explain some of the steps we’ve taken to produce quality merchandise that we hope will set a new standard for “Islamic products”.
We’ve frequently been asked by customers if they can speak to Sakina. At times we’re tempted to say “I don’t know, can you?” … but we’re not sure if all our customers would find this an amusing response.
So we’ve decided to take this opportunity and explain why we’ve chosen Sakina Design for the name of our business. And in case you haven’t figured it out yet, there is nobody at Sakina Design named Sakina … we apologize if anyone is disappointed.
As we were developing our business idea, we tried to think of a name that would capture the essence of our business. A company that represents American Muslims, who have come from around the world, with a history of more than 1400 years. A company that aspires to present artwork in a contemporary manner, while pulling upon the rich and diverse tradition of Islamic art. A company that wants its art to create a sense of tranquility in both its physical appearance and its ability to inspire remembrance of the divine.
We liked the word ‘tranquility’, and when we translated it to Arabic, we just loved it. ‘Sakina’, the Arabic translation of ‘tranquility’, appears in the Qur’an. Since the Qur’an is the foundation for Muslim societies throughout the world, it reflects both the diversity and history of Muslims. The meaning of the word is also consistent with our goal of providing products that remind people of the divine, since ‘Sakina’ comes from God.
We hope this helps to explain why we have chosen the name Sakina for our company. So be warned, we now have a license to make fun of anyone who calls or e-mails us asking for Sakina … ha ha ha … just kidding.
Remember to also take advantage of the first ten days of Dhul Hijja.
The Prophet (SAWS) said, “No good deeds done on other days are superior to those done on these (first ten days of Dhul Hijja)” (Bukhari)
Utilize this time to donate to charities, volunteer, reconnect with friends and family, fast, and perform other acts of worship, charity, and kindness.
The Prophet (SAWS) also used to encourage giving gifts to increase the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood. So don’t miss out on our Eid Al Adha sale. All of our products have been marked 10% off for the entire month of November.
However you choose to celebrate the holiday, we at Sakina Design wish you an Eid Mubarak!
Sakina Design at the 2009 ISNA Convention in Washington D.C.
ISNA’s yearly convention is a well known national event bringing together speakers and attendees from around the country and around the world. Equally impressive is their bazaar, a must for any new business wanting to introduce itself to the Muslim American community. With the grand opening of Sakina Design in August, we knew we had to attend this year’s convention.
Going into it, we didn’t know what to expect. Alhamdulillah, we were pleasantly surprised by the response! Thanks to everyone for making our first ISNA Convention a great experience. We met so many wonderful people from around the world and were able to inform them about our line of contemporary, eco-friendly Islamic artwork and greeting cards.
We plan to keep everyone informed about our latest products, events and sales through our website and mailing list, facebook page and twitter account. Please join us and keep informed. These are also great ways to make your voice heard. Let us know what products you would like to see next. Are you looking for contemporary Islamic home décor and gifts but just can’t find anything? Let us know and we may produce it for you (and the rest of our customers).
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