An American Tabari, #4

Islam and Christianity, Lithographs, Orientalism, Orientalist Images

In a previous post I continued a series on the universal history of John Clark Ridpath. The image above is the classic image of a preacher, looking more Gospel than imamic to my eyes. I would question the sincerity of a famed imam who relied on a print version of the Quran rather than his own memory, as the image above suggests. The “preacher” with hands outstretched is a trope that crosses cultures, whether or not it is the cross being pounded on the pulpit (and certainly not on the minbar). Consider John Eliot who set his eyes on converting the “heathen” natives of the new world:

Or the long history of fire-and-brimstone wailing of American Protestants.

An American Tabari, #3

Islamic Rituals, Lithographs, Orientalism, Orientalist Images

In a previous post I continued a series on the universal history of John Clark Ridpath. As one might expect, a particularly important place is reserved for Mecca itself. The image above is an ornamentation for the start of Ridpath’s discussion of Islam. The image below is a drawing of the hajj season where any sense of the individual is lost, resulting in a blur of heads.

to be continued

The Drone and the Wedding Party

"Arab Spring", Ethics, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


Right before the first missile struck this Toyota Hi-lux — fourth in the line of vehicles — all three of its occupants fled, including the man whom eyewitnesses thought was the apparent target of the strike. Iona Craig

A little more than a month ago on December 12, 2013 a drone sent four missiles into a wedding convoy in rural Yemen, apparently targeting a senior al-Qaida figure. In this attack 12 men died. The secrecy surrounding this tragic event has prevented an accurate accounting of what actually happened. This report by Iona Craig, an independent journalist based in Sanaa, provides a thorough analysis, based on interviews with the people involved. This is the best analysis of the event that I have seen. Check it out on al-Jazeera.

An American Tabari, #2

Lithographs, Muhammad, Orientalism, Orientalist Images

In a previous post I introduced the universal history of John Clark Ridpath. In a section on the origins of Islam Ridpath includes several illustrations. The Orientalist trope of depicting the Prophet Muhammad, as seen in the image above, is interesting because it is a very Ottoman style of dress. The style looks like an Italian version of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the conqueror. Just as devout Protestant missionaries and preachers saw the Bedouin of 19th century Palestine as the exact image of the patriarchs, so it was no stretch of the Orientalist imagination (although it was indeed quite a stretch) to present Muhammad in Ottoman style.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gentile_Bellini_003.jpg

For those curious about the illustration in the earlier post, this is said to be a scene of the tombs in Cairo.

to be continued

Free Reads from U. California Press

Anthropology/Sociology, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Books You Should Read, Scholars, Teaching Resources


Brinkley Messick’s 1992 book on Yemeni legal reasoning, one of the many books available to read online at the U. of California Press website

The University of California Press is offering online viewers the opportunity to read online 770 of the books it published between 1982 and 2004.

Some 36 selections on the Middle East published between 1982-2004 are available to read online by clicking here.