Muscat Harbor, ca 1677, attributed to the Flemish painter Jan Peeters (1624-ca 1677)
Category Archives: Countries
Iraq Goes Pastafarian
For readers interested in new religious movements, whether pasta, prego or in da futura, it should be noted that the FSM Pastafarian Movement now has a chapter in Iraq. So, while the DOD could find no evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, it can now be stated al dente that the spaghetti has indeed hit the fan, regardless of the Surge.
Luke R. E. Publican
Georgetown Conference on Alternative Perspectives of the Gülen Movement
CALL FOR PAPERS
ISLAM IN THE AGE OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES:
Alternative Perspectives of the Gülen Movement
October 17 – 18, 2008
Georgetown University
Georgetown University President’s Office, Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, The Institute of Turkish Studies, and Rumi Forum would like to invite you to participate in a conference that explores alternative perspectives of the Gülen Movement within the larger framework of Islam in the Age of Global Challenges. The conference will take place at the Georgetown University on October 17 – 18, 2008. Continue reading Georgetown Conference on Alternative Perspectives of the Gülen Movement
Deoband’s Anti-Terrorism Convention: Some Reflections
by Yoginder Sikand, March 11, MADRASA REFORMS IN INDIA
The mammoth ‘Anti-Terrorism Convention’ organised at Deoband late last month, which brought together ulema from all over the country, has received wide media coverage. While smaller conventions of this sort have been organized by other ulema bodies in recent years, this one, unlike others, caught the attention of the media particularly because it was organized by the Dar ul-Ulum Deoband, probably the largest traditional madrasa in the world, which large sections of the media have been unfairly berating as the ‘hub’ of ‘terrorism’.
The speeches delivered at the convention have been considerably commented on in the press. By and large, the non-Muslim press has focused almost wholly on the resolutions that were passed that labeled ‘terrorism’ as ‘anti-Islamic’, leaving out other crucial issues that were raised by numerous ulema who spoke on the occasion, particularly about Western Imperialism and Zionism as major factors behind global ‘terrorism’, and the hounding of Muslim youth and mounting Islamophobic offensives across the world, including India, in the name of countering ‘terror’. Muslim papers have dealt with these issues fairly extensively, but, following most of the speakers at the convention, they have placed the blame for ‘terrorism’ almost entirely on what they identify as ‘enemies of Islam’, thus presenting a very one-sided picture. In short, media reporting about the convention, by both the Muslim and non-Muslim media, has been inadequate and somewhat imbalanced. The same can be said of several of the speeches made at the convention. Continue reading Deoband’s Anti-Terrorism Convention: Some Reflections
The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #17
The Iraqi Poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
[Note: This is the 17th in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]
Letter #17
Basra…..(1)
My Brother Jabra (Ibrahim Jabra),
Only yesterday I received your letter dated, 4/ 29/1963. I was overjoyed especially because your news has been disrupted for a while now. In a letter to me from Taoufik Sayigh, he inquires about the reason for your absence from him and from “Hiwar.†I hope you will write to him.
I continue to improve, but at the same slow pace. I am still waiting for my improvement to reach a certain stage so I can come to Baghdad and remain for a week or two.
Bahij ‘Uthman has not yet sent me my personal copies of “ al-Ma’bid al-Ghariq†and “Manzil al-Aqnan.†Perhaps they will arrive soon, and then I will send you your two copies.
Enclosed with this letter, you will find two new poems which I hope will earn your approval. I am ready to translate any article you send. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #17
The Bad Business of Badal
A Palestinian filmmaker, Ibtisam Mara’ana, has recently made a film on badal (exchange) marriage from her own personal experience. Although in Arabic, it has English subtitles. To watch a five-minute clip from the film, click here.
Director Ibstisam Mara’ana was predestined, like most of her relatives, to be married off through the badal, a kind of package deal in which a brother and sister from one family marry a sister and brother from another. This marriage exchange is mainly aimed at providing less marriageable daughters with a husband. Mara’ana was told that she was too old and dark, and too ugly due to a scar on her hand, and that without the godsend of the badal, she would fall by the wayside. She refused to cooperate. Instead, she made this award-winning documentary to show how women oppress women. Continue reading The Bad Business of Badal
The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #16
The Iraqi Poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
[Note: This is the 16th in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]
Letter #16
al-Ma’qil 3/ 29/1962
My Dear Brother Mr. Jabra (Ibrahim Jabra),
Is it possible for any Iraqi to visit the beautiful Baghdad and to intentionally leave it? I will certainly try to arrange for “many visits†there in the summer beginning in June, God willing. However, this letter is devoted to business, to the story of Oxford that is long overdue, and not for chatting. The important thing is that I have a lot of new poetry that I will recite to you when we meet.
The following are my responses to the questions of Professor Hurani. I write it in Arabic so you may translate it according to how you see fit. You have the absolute right in responding as you wish:
1- Yes. I wish to study at any university other than Oxford, on the condition that I obtain an acceptance through the mediation of professor Hurani.
2- I was supposed to begin last academic year, but I postponed it until next year (next October), and I believe that it is difficult to postpone it a second time.
3- I prefer to write a thesis in the field of Arabic Studies or in Comparative Literature between Arabic and English Literature. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #16
How Do You Prove You’re a Jew?
Illustration by Elisabeth Moch for the New York Times
By GERSHOM GORENBERG, the New York Times, March 2, 2008
One day last fall, a young Israeli woman named Sharon went with her fiancé to the Tel Aviv Rabbinate to register to marry. They are not religious, but there is no civil marriage in Israel. The rabbinate, a government bureaucracy, has a monopoly on tying the knot between Jews. The last thing Sharon expected to be told that morning was that she would have to prove — before a rabbinic court, no less — that she was Jewish. It made as much sense as someone doubting she was Sharon, telling her that the name written in her blue government-issue ID card was irrelevant, asking her to prove that she was she. Continue reading How Do You Prove You’re a Jew?