As a child, whenever I walk into Masjids, I have often wondered: What is the significance of these writings on the walls? And why are they so hard to read?!
The answer people always give me is that they just tell me nonchantly, "oh that's just Qur'an". But why these ayat? What is the significance? Do they have some special meaning or blessings to be recited, that they deserve a special place on the masjid walls?
Just like most of my experience in my childhood years of studying Islam, I never really got satisfactory answers.
Until now, Alhamdulillah. After understanding a bit more of Qur'an, and also thanks to technology of search engine in Qur'an apps, I now have the answers: basically, these are just a variety of different ayaat (verses) of the Qur'an - not necessarily complete ayat, mind you - all of which are selected that contain concise, powerful short messages that serves as reminders every time we set foot in the masjid. There are no additional "spiritual" significance in a sense that they don' t provide "protective barrier" , as some Muslims might believe.
From this masjid (Masjid Al-Syifa @ Bandar Penawar, Johor), this is what I gathered:
A. A call to Unity upon our common principles
وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا
And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Quran), and be not divided among yourselves (Surah Ali Imran, 4:103)
B. Establishment of prayer times
إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًا
"Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed times." (Surah An-Nisa, 4:103)
C. Among the most Beautiful Attributes of Allah (side note: there is a scholarly opinion that considers أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ as the Greatest Name of Allah)
فَاللَّهُ خَيْرٌ حَافِظًا وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ
"And Allah is the Best of Guardians, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy." (Surah Yusuf, 12:64)
D. Reminder for remembrance and gratitude
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ
"Therefore, remember Me, and I will remember you, and be grateful to Me, and never be ungrateful to Me." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:152)
E. The blessings of Guidance
وَهُدُوا إِلَى الطَّيِّبِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ وَهُدُوا إِلَىٰ صِرَاطِ الْحَمِيدِ
"And they are guided (in this world) unto goodly speech and they are guided to the Path of Him, Who is Worthy of all praises." (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:24)
Really powerful stuff, masha Allah!
One childhood question remains, though: Why do they make it so difficult to read? Personally, I find it frustrating that they put so much effort to make it so decorative to the point of being unreadable, that they might have lost the plot altogether. Form over function. As a result, many of us just end up casually dismissing these pretty caligraphy as "wall art". The irony is sometimes graffiti on murals are easier to understand its subtext compared to overly decorative Quranic writings.
If these are meant to be reminders, they should be clear to us, not force me to squint my eyes and search my Qur'an software. And alang2 tu, since Malaysians are collectively so poor in Arabic (myself included), just put up the translations so we can benefit from them. Function over form. That's my jam.
But hey, that's just my opinion. What do you guys think? Share your thoughts!
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