Hashem Muhammad al-Baghdadi (1917–1973) was an Iraqi master calligrapher, noted for his lettering which exhibited a steadiness of hand and fluidity of movement.

[5] From the outset, he showed an early talent for the art of calligraphy, and exhibited a real dedication to learning the technique, a strict adherence to its extensive rules and a willingness to explore the secrets of Islamic lettering.

[6] Due to his family's poor circumstances, he was obliged to discontinue his studies for a time, and seek paid work.

[8] In 1944 he continued his studies at the Madrasat Tahsin al-Khutût (Royal Institute of Calligraphy) in Cairo, where he was taught by Sayyid Ibrahim and Mohammad Hosni and obtained a Diploma with honours in 1944.

[9][10] After returning to Baghdad, in 1946 he published a textbook on the ruq‛ah style of calligraphy,[9] which was originally intended for use in primary schools, but is still used as a standard text in universities and colleges.

"[17] In 1960 he took up the post of Lecturer in Calligraphy at Baghdad's Institute of Fine Arts and later became the Head of the Department of Calligraphy and Islamic Decoration, a post that he held until his death in 1973[9][18] During his academic career, he certified a number of calligraphers including: Walid Al-Adhami, Sadiq Al-Douri, Abdul Ghani Al-Ani, Taha Al-Bustani, Jamal Al-Kabbasi, Mehdi al-Jubouri, Major Ghaleb Sabri al-Khattat, Dr. Salman Ibrahim al-Khattat, Haji Saber al-'Azami, Karim Hussein, Adnan al-Shaikhli, Khaled Hussein, Essam al-Saab, his brother Abdel Hadi, Fawzi Khattat, Salah Sherzad and Mohamed Hassan al-Baldawi, many of whom went on to have notable careers.

[23] He supervised the printing of several versions of the Qur'an including a rare illuminated manuscript copy of the Qur'ān, by the nineteenth century Ottoman calligrapher, Muhammad Amin Al-Rushdi which was to be reprinted in Germany.

[9][24] This involved travel to Germany in 1979, where he worked on the addition of missing words and phrases as well as reparation of damaged and illegible letters.