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.

Everyone at Sakina Design would like to thank the organizers and attendees at the 2010 RIS (Reviving the Islamic Spirit) Convention in Long Beach, California. We had a great time meeting everyone. It was an incredible experience meeting new friends, old friends, and even long-lost friends. Insha Allah RIS becomes a fixture of the Southern California community.

We were blessed to have a booth, surrounded by great organizations. Across from us, were our friends at CAIR, working hard to protect the civil rights of Muslims, and build strong bridges with the broader American community. Please keep up the great work! Also across from us were the brothers and sisters from Al-Maghrib. A special thanks to them for entertaining our daughter and her friend! And next to us was Sandala Productions, formerly known as Alhambra Productions. It was great meeting both Shaikh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir!

We even met some of the RIS organizers from Canada. Thanks for the kind words, insha Allah we have the opportunity to join you all in Toronto one day.

If you didn’t have the opportunity to be a part of RIS this year, please make sure you plan to attend next year. If they return to California, we will see you there insha Allah!

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)

We hope you find this helpful!

In light of this we suggest using ayat from the Qur’an and du’a that the Prophet (SAWS) taught us in your greeting cards. So if you know anyone having a baby or who just had a baby, maybe you can use this suggested greeting:

“May Allah bless you with His gift to you, and may the receiver give thanks and reach the maturity of years and be granted piety.”

[The reply is to say]

“May Allah bless you, and shower His blessings upon you, and may Allah reward you well and bestow upon you its like and reward you with open hands.” (An-Nawawi)

We hope you find this helpful!

We were curious if our business decisions have done anything to help our planet. So we looked at our choice to use 100% post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled paper versus “regular” paper. Could we really have an impact in such a short time?

Thankfully, our paper company provided us with a convenient calculator to help us determine our impact. Just by choosing to use 100% PCW paper, we have saved:

Because the paper was also made with 100% renewable energy, we saved:

Source: Neenah Green Eco-Calculator, Savatree.com, H2Ouse.org, EPA.gov.

In light of this we suggest using ayat from the Qur’an and du’a that the Prophet (SAWS) taught us, in our greeting cards. So if you know anyone going through a difficult time, maybe you can send them a card and use this greeting:

“The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah, than the weak believer and there is goodness in both. Strive for that which will benefit you, seek help from Allah and do not despair. If a mishap should happen to befall you then do not say ‘If only I had acted….such and such would have happened’. Rather say:

‘Allah has decreed and what He wills, He does’ … for verily ‘If’ lets in the work of the devil.” (Muslim)

We hope you find this helpful!

Our principal complaint is the lack of Islamic decorations designed specifically for the Muslim-American consumer. What we see are products designed for overseas markets being imported to the U.S. They are either overly ornate or otherwise unappealing to our sense of taste and style. We also find most of these products to be low-quality, so even if we do like them, they appear cheap or break easily.

We believe the Muslim community deserves better. And we feel that the term Islam and Muslim should be attached to high quality products. Products that are designed and manufactured in accordance with the Islamic principle of ihsan (excellence). Products that appeal to our unique sense of aesthetics, that are durable and long-lasting, that are produced with their environmental impact in mind, and that take into consideration the health, safety and dignity of our fellow human beings.

And so the idea of Sakina Design was born. Here we produce contemporary, high quality, eco-friendly home decor, which pulls on the rich tradition of Islamic art. We uphold the highest standard of honesty in our business dealings. We also do not take or give interest and believe that charity should be an integral part of any good business.

At Sakina Design, we not only hold ourselves to these standards, but hope that we will set a new standard for Muslim businesses, and all businesses. This is possible only with the help and participation of the Muslim-American consumers. We will do our part in establishing and upholding these high standards, and we ask our customers to support us and all companies that uphold these ideals. Together we can change what is expected of Muslim businesses, and be proud of the label ‘Muslim Business’.

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.

With Peace and Tranquility!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Eid Al Adha!

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!