Conceptions of Muslims
When one takes the time to study Islam, especially from a cultural studies approach, one learns that the religion is quite diverse. Asani writes, “A cultural studies approach to the study of Islam recognizes that the experiences and expressions of any religion are far from homogeneous or monolithic.”[1] This project combines the theme of diversity in Islam with my desire to combat the many negative stereotypes of Muslims, especially in western mainstream media.
The first image I chose was one of two children reading the Qur’an together. This image shows the innocence of young Muslims, which contrasts with the tragic portrayals in the media of children strapped with bombs or young Muslims being trained to become soldiers. Similar reasoning went into selecting the picture of the man praying. Many people forget that Islam is not fundamentally a political ideology but a religion that Muslims deeply cherish. To further this point, I included two images of Arabic writing. One is ‘Allah’ enclosed in a circle that says, ‘Muhammad’. The second image is the shahadah, or profession of faith, and can be translated as, “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This shows the emphasis on the spiritual and theological rather than political, which is emphasized elsewhere. It should be noted, however, that the shahadah is not a way to define Islam in absolute terms. Asani writes, “However strong the desire to reduce or simplify Islam to a few common beliefs or rituals, the historical reality is that the religion, and even its fundamental creed, has come to be interpreted in diverse ways depending on each region’s history and cultural traditions, its economic and political structures, and its geography.”[2] In any case, the simple beauty of the shahadah, shown written in the Arabic script, is one aspect of Muslim spiritual life that non-Muslims may actually identify with and that is often overlooked.
The collage includes a number of images that challenge Western notions of what Muslims are supposed to look like. Included are images of a bearded high-school math teacher with his child[3], a woman who is a medical student[4], a fashionable Muslim woman wearing a hijab, a physician[5], a female lawyer[6], a Muslim American who is enlisted in the U.S. army[7], and Isa Abdul-Quddus, a professional football player. People often forget that Muslims are people with lives, careers, and aspirations. These images contrast with what many take to be the authorized Muslim ‘look’: a bearded man with a turban, or a woman covered head to toe in a burka. While these ways of dressing are certainly acceptable and should be approached with an open-mind, many westerners would do well to understand that they are not the only way Muslims present themselves.
I wanted to include artistic/creative aspects of Islam and so chose to show a woman who is a whirling dervish, a group of musicians, and the work of a contemporary artist. Carl Ernst, scholar of the Sufi tradition of Islam, writes, “Perhaps no other aspect of Sufism has been more contentious, and at the same time more popular, than the practice of music and dance…. Today Sufi practice in the form of music and dance is being redefined in terms of contemporary Western aesthetic standards.”[8] The photograph in the bottom right corner of the collage is one panel of a larger work by artist, Lalla Essaydi.[9] The subject is fully clothed and her body is tattooed with henna ink in Arabic script. The artist challenges the idea of what Muslim women are ‘supposed’ to look like.
While I have not come anywhere close to being comprehensive in portraying Muslims or Islam in this collage, my intent is to challenge and combat stereotypes of Muslims and to illustrate the diversity in the human element of Islam.
[1] Ali Asani, Infidel of Love (forthcoming), 12.
[2] Ibid. 12-13
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/10/nyregion/muslims-in-new-york-react-to-donald-trump.html
[4] http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/us/muslims-in-america-irpt/
[5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/12/11/american-muslim-doctors-feel-greater-scrutiny-even-patients-suspicions/
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/nyregion/a-muslim-lawyer-refuses-to-choose-between-a-career-and-a-head-scarf.html
[7] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125755853525335343
[8] Carl W. Ernst, The Shambhala Guide to Sufism. 79
[9] http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/islamic-art-now-modern-islamic-art%E2%80%99s-powerful-cultural-diplomacy