All posts by tabsir

Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas

Art, Books You Should Read, Islamic Sciences

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DE REGIO MONTE CODE, CARDINAL BESSARION’S AGENDA, AND PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA’S ENIGMA

[The noted historian of Islamic science, David A. King, recently retired from his position as Professor of the History of Science at Frankfurt University, has published a new book on two of the most remarkable objects surviving from the Renaissance, one an astrolabe and the other a painting. The connection between the two is described in detail in his new book Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas – From Regiomontanus’ Acrostic for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation of Christ, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2007. An associated website is http://web.uni-frankfurt.de/fb13/ign/Code.htm.]

Only recently have we achieved a better understanding of two monuments to the intellectual genius of the Renaissance, both of which have caused scholars a lot of trouble over several decades. As it happens, the two are intimately related.


The back of the astrolabe made by Regiomontanus for Cardinal Bessarion, with an inscription or epigram and the image of an angel.

One is an astrolabe, presented to the ageing Greek Cardinal Bessarion in Rome, 1462, by his new protégé, the young German astronomer Regiomontanus. Continue reading Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas →

Bush BePHuDdled

Islam in America, Islamophobia

I just finished watching Bush’s press conference on Thursday. At one point Bush said (and this is paraphrased a bit from memory), “It’s like I tell Condi. Look at who is the c-student and look at who is the Ph.D. . Now, look at who is the President and who is the advisor.” This was followed by lots of laughter from the press corps. Leaving aside that George W. Bush seems to think he could have attained the presidency as a c-student if he was not a DKE, a millionaire, and the son of a president I am tired of hearing higher education derided by people in power.

I think we need to defend the concept of the Ph.D., especially with regard to the study of Islam. Continue reading Bush BePHuDdled →

The Mess in Mesopotamia

Iraq, Iraq War


King Feisal, center, with Colonel Lawrence next to him to the right


[Given the surge in bad news from Iraq these days, it may be useful to reflect on the assessment of the British involvement in Iraq as a mandate almost nine decades ago. The words of T. E. Lawrence resonate with the situation today.]

22 August, 1920
A Report on Mesopotamia by T.E. Lawrence
Ex.-Lieut.-Col. T.E. Lawrence,
The Sunday Times, 22 August 1920

[Mr. Lawrence, whose organization and direction of the Hedjaz against the Turks was one of the outstanding romances of the war, has written this article at our request in order that the public may be fully informed of our Mesopotamian commitments.]

The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiques are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are to-day not far from a disaster. Continue reading The Mess in Mesopotamia →

Open Letter to a Democratic President

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Iraq War, Taliban, Terrorism Issue

by Richard W. Bulliet

January 21, 2009

Congratulations on your inauguration. May history remember your term in
office as the greatest political turn-around in American history.

Now to Iraq, the puzzle your predecessor has left for you to solve:

1. Compounding one botched war in Iraq with a second one in Iran would
sink your presidency before it starts. President Ahmadinejad of the
Islamic Republic of Iran will be up for reelection in seven months (August
2009). The Iranian people must be given an unfettered opportunity to
retire him to private life and elect someone of more liberal temperament.
His unpopularity in Iran already points in that direction. So, the United
States should do nothing that would enhance his prospects of reelection.
Diplomacy must replace saber rattling, and the “axis of evil” rhetoric
must be retired. Let us do what we can to give the Iranians a chance to
change leaders through their own electoral system.

2. Begin immediately the relocation of combat units to bases outside the
major cities of Iraq as a first step toward the withdrawal of ground
forces from the country. Announce that combat operations will henceforth
be restricted to fighting against those who attack American troops, supply
lines, or physical assets. Open negotiations with the Iraqi government
about the possibility of leaving a small number of combat units in the
country for a fixed and limited period to interdict the infiltration of
foreign fighters and — in joint operations with the Iraqi army — combat
groups that both the United States and the Iraqi government agree are
primarily composed of foreign terrorists. Continue reading Open Letter to a Democratic President →

Keane on Mecca

Islamic Rituals, Saudi Arabia, Travel


[Illustration: The ka‘ba in Mecca during the period of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamit II.]

[Editor’s Note: As the holiest location in the Muslim World, the Arabian city of Mecca is prohibited territory for any non-Muslim. Over the years a number of travelers disguised themselves and visited the sacred enclosure of the ka’ba, most notably Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784-1817), who made his overture in 1812, and Richard Burton in 1853. In 1877 an Englishman named John Keane entered Mecca. His travel account is available online. Here is the story of that surreptitious visit, as told by Robin Bidwell.]

John Fryer Keane was the son of a clergyman and had run away to sea at the age of twelve. He spent most of the next nine years among Muslims, mainly as an officer on ships with Indian crews. He arrived at Jedda, attached himself to the suite of an Indian prince and after six weeks in Mecca felt as completely at home as if he had been there all his life. No one commented upon his fair skin for, as he said, the visitors were so varied that it looked like Madame Tussaud’s out for a walk and the spectacle of the Archbishop of Canterbury in a mitre would really have caused no comment. He wandered around happily, peering in through a school window to see the boys having the soles of their feet beaten in batches of five and chattering with a Muslim lady who, as Miss McIntosh, had been taken prisoner during the Indian Mutiny.

He was deeply impressed by the religious sincerity of the pilgrims and the deep spirituality that it engendered, but he cared much less for the resident population. Continue reading Keane on Mecca →

On the Jihadwatch Watch

CyberOrient, Islamophobia, Terrorism Issue

by Vernon Schubel, Kenyon College

I have been working on a book on Humanism in Islam and in an introductory chapter I dig deeply into Jihadwatch because I believe it is primarily designed to deny the humanity of Islam by reducing it to a totalitarian political system. I feel I need to bathe whenever I read Jihadwatch. Robert Spencer, David Horowitz and his compatriots often assert that they are not against Islam only “Islamo-facism.” But they in numerous places identify the two as the same. On its banner head, Jihadwatch.com has a link to a remarkable article by the author and film maker Gary P. Davis called “Islam 101,” which he describes as a summary of the ideas in his book, Religion of Peace? Islam’s War Against the World, and film, the equally ominously titled, Islam: What the West Needs to Know –an Examination of Islam, Violence and the Fate of the Muslim World. According to Davis, “Islam 101” is designed “to help people become better educated about the fundamentals of Islam and to help the more knowledgeable better convey the facts to others.” Davis warns his readers that Muslims and Muslim apologists will try to tell them that Islam is a “religion of peace.” But he tells them that this is not true. Instead he presents Jihad defined narrowly as armed warfare against non-Muslims as the core of Islam. And he argues that this is the case because Islam is not “a personal faith.” It is instead “a political ideology” that exists in a permanent state of war with non-Muslims. In fact Davis equates Islam with fascism saying:

The misbegotten term “Islamo-fascism” is wholly redundant: Islam itself is a kind of fascism that achieves its full and proper form only when it assumes the powers of the state.

In another place he states:

It is important to realize that we have been talking about Islam — not Islamic “fundamentalism,” “extremism,” “fanaticism,” “Islamo-fascism,” or “Islamism,” but Islam proper, Islam in its orthodox form as it has been understood and practiced by right-believing Muslims from the time of Muhammad to the present.

So it should be clear “Islamo-fascist awareness” is designed here to identify Islam with Fascism.

The fact that these people have access to power, media, and political campaigns is extremely serious. This needs to be challenged at every turn by pointing out that Islam cannot be reduced to isolated verses in its primary texts. Instead, Islam arises as the dialogue of Muslims with the Qur’an, the life of the Prophet and the events of its early history as they use those events to think and respond to their own current circumstances. Muslims are as diverse in their responses to their religious sources as any other religious tradition.