Monthly Archives: July 2011

On Mahometism, 1833 style: #2

Islam and Christianity, Islamophobia, Lithographs, Muhammad, Orientalist Images


A History of the Church, p. 95

One of the books owned by a great, great aunt of mine in Cleveland was A History of the Church, etc., published in 1833. In a previous post, I offered some excerpts from its coverage of “Mahometanism.” The author is a certain C. A. Goodrich, who is decidedly Protestant and as unfriendly to Roman Catholicism as he is to Islam and Hinduism. Near the end of the book is a section entitled “The Story of the World” by Josiah Conder, originally published in the Missionary Annual for 1833. Its comments on the various religions, including Islam, is quite fascinating, again as a reflection of a time when the United States was barely half a century old. Continue reading On Mahometism, 1833 style: #2 →

Tabsir Redux: A Sailor and his Camel Ride

Animals, camels, Travel


[Illustration: Arabian Camel from George Shaw, Zoology (1801)]

[Tabsir Redux is a reposting of earlier posts on the blog, since memories are fickle and some things deserve a second viewing.]

[Joseph Osgood was a Black American sailor who visited the Yemeni port of Mocha about a dozen years before the start of the American Civil War. He offers a rich, descriptive account of his visit to the Yemeni coast, including a sailor’s view of the ship of the desert.]

No wheel carriages are used here, the most general mode of transportation being by camels, for which the males along are serviceable. The flesh of the camel forms a staple article of food, the head and neck being excepted, because one of the race unwittingly rendered these parts unholy by obtrusively poking his head and neck into Mahomet’s tomb. Wellsted says that a camel is welcomed at its birth, by the Arab, with “another child is born unto us.” Continue reading Tabsir Redux: A Sailor and his Camel Ride →

Old World Travel 90 years on: #2 The Simoon and Mirage

Algeria, Environment, Libya, Orientalism, Orientalist Art, Photography, Tunisia


Exactly 90 years ago a four-volume set of encyclopedia-like human interest books was published as The Human Interest Library: Visualized Knowledge by Midland Press in Chicago. In a previous post I commented on its thoroughly “Orientalist” flavor. Not only was the Sahara portrayed as a barren landscape with people who have nothing to do, but the only winds of change are violent storms summed up in the Anglicized “simoon.” Above is an image from the frontispiece to volume 2 in the series and entitled “The Dreaded Simoon – The Scourge of the Desert”. I have not been able to find the name of the artist, which is clearly pre-1921. The caption reads: “The fury of the simoon is like the blast of a furnace. Winged with the whirlwind. and charioted with thunder, it blasts everything in its course. It has the appearance of a train of fire whose murky smoke fills the whole wide expanse of the desert.”

Here is the text describing “The Scourge of the Desert” (Vol. 4, p. 97):

As the color plate shows, the simoon, described by writers, must have presented a majestic and awe-inspiring spectacle. Continue reading Old World Travel 90 years on: #2 The Simoon and Mirage →

An American Treaty on Religion

Algeria, Islam and Christianity, Islam in America, Orientalist Art


Yes, a treaty and not a Humean treatise, although Hume’s treatise on Religion no doubt had an influence on the creators of the text. The third treaty established by the young United States, recently liberated from British rule, with the nations of the “Barbary Coast” was with the Bey of Algiers in 1797. Like the earlier two treaties, the focus was on maritime trade in the Mediterranean and the problem of Barbary “pirates” as well as neutrality of the Barbary states when the U.S. was battling other “Christian” powers. Our Founding Fathers (for surely those members of Congress in 1797 were as close to being Founding Father’s as Sarah Palin’s contorted dubbing of John Quincy Adams, who had just turned 20 and had yet to enter politics) were obviously not working hard to free slaves (as these treaties will bear out), but they did stress a point that many rightwing pundits conveniently gloss over: the United States was not created as a “Christian nation.”

As you read the treaty below, in celebration of the 4th of July, note article 11 in particular. It turns out that the translation provided to Congress by Joseph Barlow, is not very accurate and the original Arabic version did not contain what we find in Article 11. But in fact, Congress never knew that and only saw the version printed here; this was accepted unanimously and then acknowledged as well by President John Adams at the time. So it was certainly not the contention of the Dey of Algiers that the U.S. was not a Christian nation, but an idea that resonated well with the young Congress.

Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed at Tripoli November 4, 1796 (3 Ramada I, A. H. 1211), and at Algiers January 3, 1797 (4 Rajab, A. H. 1211). Original in Arabic. Submitted to the Senate May 29, 1797. (Message of May 26, 1797.) Resolution of advice and consent June 7, 1797. Ratified by the United States June 10, 1797. As to the ratification generally, see the notes. Proclaimed Jane 10, 1797.

[Translation]
Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary.

ARTICLE 1.
There is a firm and perpetual Peace and friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and subjects of Tripoli of Barbary, made by the free consent of both parties, and guaranteed by the most potent Dey & regency of Algiers.

ARTICLE 2.
If any goods belonging to any nation with which either of the parties is at war shall be loaded on board of vessels belonging to the other party they shall pass free, and no attempt shall be made to take or detain them.

ARTICLE 3.
If any citizens, subjects or effects belonging to either party shall be found on board a prize vessel taken from an enemy by the other party, such citizens or subjects shall be set at liberty, and the effects restored to the owners. Continue reading An American Treaty on Religion →

In Memory of BJ

Anthropology/Sociology, Books You Should Read, Gender and Sexuality, Iraq, Scholars


Elizabeth Warnock Fernea pictured wearing traditional tribal women’s dress of the southern Euphrates area. The headscarf with fringe is the asha, the chin scarf is the foota. These garments are worn under the abbaya or outer cloak Photo: KATHARINE RAMSAY

For many students and professors, the go-to text for Middle East ethnography for several decades has been Elizabeth Warnock Fernea’s Guests of the Sheik, still in print, about her life with anthropologist husband Bob Fernea in an Iraqi village during the 1950s. BJ, as her many friends knew her, went on to an academic career in several parts of the Middle East, producing books, articles and films of lasting value. Her passing in December, 2008 was a loss for us all. Now there is a short videography of her life available on Youtube. Check it out. And, if you have not read it in awhile or at all, get a copy of Guests of the Sheik and read it again or for the first time.

On Mahometanism, 1833 style

Islam and Christianity, Islamic Sects, Islamophobia, Lithographs, Muhammad, Orientalism, Orientalist Images, Wahhabi


One of the books owned by a great, great aunt of mine in Cleveland was A History of the Church, etc., published in 1833. The bottom of the frontispiece is torn, so I do not know the publisher, although I suspect it was printed in Boston. It is a general history of Christianity with extended comments on other religions, including “Mahometanism.” The author is a certain C. A. Goodrich, who is decidedly Protestant and as unfriendly to Roman Catholicism as he is to Islam and Hinduism. Several parts of the text, which stretches a robust 504 pages, deal with Islam and are interesting for the biased perspective of the time. The history of the Church is according to periods, and Period V is labeled “The Rise of Mahometanism” (at the top of the pages of the chapter); the longer title is “The Period of the Rise of the Mahometan Imposture will extend from the establishment of the supremacy of the Roman Pontiffs, A.D. 606, to the first Crusade, A. D. 1095.” Period VI covers the Crusades, followed by the Reformation and then a very long chapter on the Puritans.

At the start of the section is a small lithograph of Muhammad, mounted on a steed with a sword in hand. Some of the information is descriptive; some even praises Muhammad, but it is clear that the author despises Islam as the excerpts below well show:


A History of the Church, 1833, p. 96

Continue reading On Mahometanism, 1833 style →

The Seduction of Simple Solutions

"Arab Spring", Huthis, Yemen


Over at Waq al-Waq there is an excellent commentary by Greg Johnsen on the situation in Yemen, responding to a “think tank” report from people who really do not know Yemen very well (or apparently want to know it in a certain way). Here is the start…

Late last week Frank Cilluffo and Clint Watts released a policy brief from George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute entitled “Yemen and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: Exploiting a Window of Counterterrorism Opportunity.”

My in-box quickly filled up with helpful people sending me copies of the report, I have now had time to read it and digest and my thoughts follow below.

(Note:) I don’t know Frank Cilluffo but I do know and respect Clint and he has seen a copy of my rebuttal here prior to posting.

For those who are faithful readers of Waq al-waq it should come as no surprise that I strongly disagree with the report and its conclusions. I think this is what happens when smart people tackle a complex problem in an environment they don’t know particularly well. The report, in my opinion, is full of assumptions that make sense broadly but break down the closer one gets to Yemen.

Obviously there are parts of the report I agree with, and many other places where well-intentioned people can disagree.

(Quotes from the paper are in italics; mine are in regular caps.)

Assumption 1: AQAP suddenly stronger this month

“This week’s escape of 63 suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters from a Yemeni prison exemplifies how President Saleh’s departure to Saudi Arabia and Yemeni instability embolden this lethal al Qaeda affiliate.“

I’m pretty sure that AQAP was emboldened prior to Salih’s departure, the group has been incredibly active in Yemen recently and I would argue that largely as a result of US air strikes between December 2009 and May 2010, the organization is actually stronger now in terms of recruits than it was when it dispatched the so-called underwear bomber who tried to bring down the airplane over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

Assumption 2: Huthis and Southern Movement are responsible

“In recent weeks, the writ of government in Yemen has evaporated under the twin strains of the Houthi rebellion in northern Yemen and the Secessionist movement in southern Yemen.”

This is simply untrue – the writ of Yemen’s government has evaporated under popular protests. The Huthi rebellion has been ongoing since 2004 and the Southern movement since 2007 – neither of these are new, and neither of these are the cause of the recent collapse.

For Greg’s full commentary, click here.