This Angelo will go to Hell

Posted on June 5, 2011 by nervana111

It was just an ordinary day in my secondary school; the history teacher had promised us a surprise presentation about one of the topics within the Curriculum  “Michelangelo & Sistine chapel” to be given by an expert of Italian Renaissance. 

The mood was upbeat; all the girls looked happy but sadly it was short lived. Once he started the slide show, you could hear many sighs of disapproval & muttering that got louder. Within few minutes, one of the girls stood up & started shouting,  “This Anglo will go to hell” and stormed out off the room. Apparently The iconic image of the hand of God giving life to Adam was too offensive. “How dare him” she said. The presentation continued but was fast tracked.

I still vividly remember our heated conversation after. It went as follows (for Abbreviation I will put her name as Y & mine as N).

N: So what exactly did you not like?

Y: Islam not just prohibits the depiction of God & prophets but all animated being in painting and drawing, not to mention nudity

N: but this was a history lesson  & has nothing to do with religion does it?

Y: Nervana stop it, you are offending God

N: That is certainly not my intention and you still haven’t answered my question.

Y: Religion guides us on every thing including History.  We shouldn’t learn un- Islamic topics.

This argument was my first introduction to a commonly heard word “Haram” (forbidden) and it became a recurring theme, which has never stopped ever since. A long, endless list   from Art and  music to TV & Cinema, even nail varnish, as far as the radicals are concerned, they are all haram.

Radical Islamic groups are exceptionally good at expressing what they do not like, they keep yelling time after time to reinforce their message. However, when you ask them what they stand for, you only get evasive answers deliberately lacking in clarity, they never  engage in a dialogue; they only argue and lecture in extremely  self-righteous indignation.

Reading Islamic history  convinced me that  my colleagues interpretation of Islam is not necessarily correct, and there is another side of the story. A true civilisation can not survive while rejecting art & music, may be it creates its own version, but a total rejection seems absurd. However, books were not enough ; I wanted a more reliable evidence, and indeed I got it many years after  from an unexpected destination, the Islamic Republic of Iran, to be precise in Esfahan!
The Persian describe Esfahan as” Nesf-e-jahan” (half the world) and at least in my case. Esfahan is full of hidden treasures; one of them is the beautiful palace Chehel Sotun Museum, a feast to the eye with its magnificent, intricate fresco. Also, inside there is a precious mosaic described by many as” the one that survived the Islamic revolution”. My apology for my photographic skill which doesn’t reflect the true beauty of this rare piece.

This semi naked woman with a man kissing her feet surrounded with a mixed group of men and women playing various musical instruments reflect a different side of Islamic culture, vibrant, colourful and diverse. Some may argue that this might be a decedent era in Islamic history. Certainly not, the palace was built during the era of Shah Abbas, one of the greatest rulers of the Safavid dynasty.

Looking at the religious side, Iran also provides different Islamic perspective. The majority of Iranians are Shiites Muslims, and they have an entirely different attitude to art. They are more than happy to portray images of Imam Ali and his family, though they admit that these images may not be a true reflection of him, but they are still  happy to use them.

Below is one example

Islam is  not a monolithic religion; there are different cultures within various Muslim communities and certainly different interpretations of the Quranic verses. Sadly some groups are trying to impose their own interpretations as the true and only one, they see the world from a dogmatic prism  (halal or haram). They forget that God didn’t create the world in black and white, but in a vibrant, different colours with  diversity as the basic rule of nature.

These groups are not just a modern phenomenon, but they existed throughout the Middle Eastern history. Perhaps this explain why the History of the Middle East is not linear but goes in circles, a progressive era of enlightenment and prosperity followed by a regressive period of intolerance and stagnation.
Back to Signor Michelangelo; though I missed my first chance to see the impressive collection properly, life was kind to me, (which is not usually the case) and I had a second chance two years ago to see the Sistine Chapel, during a visit to Rome and enjoy this beautiful place. Inside the Chapel, I had  mixed emotions, delighted to see it on one hand, but also sad that some couldn’t appreciate it even from a pure artistic prospective.

Michelangelo did his monumental work within the spirit of his time and religion, and no one has the right to judge him or his work. As for the Almighty, he certainly had 470 years to express his dissatisfaction, if any.

Nervana

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The No Peace Treaty

Posted on May 22, 2011 by nervana111

Whenever I think about Sadat era in Egypt, one description always comes to my mind.“It was an era of  State Funerals”.

It started with the funeral of Nasr when millions of Egyptians mourned their beloved leader & shed enough tears to turn their desert to a lush green countryside.Followed by a serious of funerals (though not technically a state one) of three legends of Arab music Farid al Atrash, Om Kalthoum & Abdel Halim Hafiz with more emotional scenes around Cairo.Then the funeral of the Iranian Shah (Reza Pahlavi), a graceful well organized one; even Buckingham Palace will give its organization a node of approval. Finally the funeral of Sadat himself, a very somber generic one, which was full of world leaders with hardly any local Egyptians present.

Each funeral symbolizes what went wrong not just in Egypt but also in the Arab world from the end of Arab nationalism, the end of classic Arabic music (with the emergence of loud noisy alternatives with virtually no artistic merits) , the rise of political Islam and the failure to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Many attributed Sadat assassination to his decision to make peace with Israel.  This is oversimplification; it is far more complicated with many factors involved.

First, his core tenant – Egypt should come first – was completely wrong. A fundamentality flawed vision, which ignored the simple basic rules of geopolitics. You just can’t isolate Egypt from its neighbors in the Arab world.

Secondly, his main concern was to impress the Americans & Israelis. His people (the Egyptians) were simply not on his priority list. He took them for granted and thought he can change the Egyptian mentality just by altering the propaganda rhetoric from pro-war to pro-peace & they simply should follow, just like that.

Perhaps Sadat biggest & arguably most reckless mistake was his recalibration of the regime ideology by moving away from socialism and toward religion. He viewed pro-Nasr supporters as a direct threat to his rule. As a result, he decided to release members of Muslim brotherhood & other Islamic groups from prison in 1971. Not a bad move in itself, but Sadat went a step further. He allowed them to spread within the society with no restriction. He enacted a new constitution that states Islamic Sharia as the main source of legislation mainly to appease them.

Some of these Islamic groups (though Not all) viewed the Arab-Israeli conflict as a religious war between Muslims & Jews and  have called for a holy war against Jews & crusaders. It is no surprise that Al-Zawahiri   the second man in Al-Qaeda was involved in Sadat murder

Many dictators in the Middle East think they can use Islamic groups to achieve their political goals while still keeping a led on their political ambitions, forgetting that once you let the genie out of the bottle, there is no going back.  Sadat played with fire, which in turn burned him at the end.  These groups always have short memory and they turn against whoever disagrees with them. They definitely did turn against Sadat in a very violent way.

To add insult to injury, Sadat economical policy open the floodgate of corruption which mask the economical advantage of peace and prevent many ordinarily Egyptians from enjoying it.

On his journey to Peace, Sadat tried to combine many incompatible ingredients.  His trip to Jerusalem left him with no room for maneuver and no reverse gear. Yes, he managed to get a peace deal but failed to achieve true peace.

As the controversy about the Camp David accord start to resurface following January 25th revolution, it is important to judge it in a very balanced unbiased way without any political spin. Egypt is currently at a crossroads and the stakes are high; any irrational hasty populist decision could be counterproductive with long-term implications

For some obscene Logic, people in the Middle East are harsher on their leaders’ peace mistakes than on their war disasters. I think it is about time to correct this flawed logic and give Sadat some credit.

Sadat was bold and indeed brave. He made up his mind, stood defiant and ultimately paid a hefty price. He lost his life but gave Egypt 32 years of relative stability.

There are many warlords in the Middle East but very few men of Peace. That is why I respect Sadat for what he did despite his grave mistakes

Nervana

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Not anybody’s business

Posted on May 12, 2011 by nervana111

Are you a Christian? Are you a Muslim? Are you a Jew?

Throughout my life, I was systematically interrogated about my religion. Unfamiliar name in the Middle East is not really a blessing.  In this part of the world, religion is an important pillar of your daily life and your activities.

Some families would be angry if their children play with kids from a different religion. Even if they tolerated it at childhood, they would probably point it out when their kids grow up. After all, the last thing any family need is a bride or groom from a different religion.

The famous Lebanese poet Gibran highlighted the problem in his memoir. His mother didn’t want him to play with a Greek orthodox boy. What a crime??  The Palestinian American writer, Edward Said had similar experience

I encountered the same problem from a very early age. A school teacher took me to one side & gave me a clear warning  “ don’t mix with …..,,  She is not from your religion” .My teacher didn’t even give me any explanation, I was just expected to obey.

University years were even worse. I encountered people who try to preach their religion & try to convert me. Ironically when I started to show some knowledge & argued back, they didn’t like it at all and started to curse me.

Many others encountered the same experience, In a Muslim dominated society, any women who don’t wear the Hijab (Islamic head scarf), will be automatically labeled as non-Muslim until prove otherwise.

Women are expected to wear some sort of a religious symbol as a form of identity, usually in the form of a nick lace with either a cross or a verse of the Koran. In countries with Shiites population, women wear some sort of symbols of Shiites belief.  Ironically even the Liberal secular state of Israel had the same phenomena. Orthodox Jews like to wear Jewish symbols to assert their identity.

In Tunisia, I bought a necklace from a Jewish guy, (a Hamsa), That was it. People started to wonder wether I am  Jewish?  My reply was “ Is it a crime to be Jewish?” It was really shortsighted, if not foolish from me!  Even a passionate Zionist will probably keep a low profile & avoid being provocative in the same circumstances.   Luckily, I survived the encounter but only just.

Since 1948, Jewish population in the Arab world started to reduce massively paving the way to the rise of anti-Semitism .  Any suspicion that you are a Jew, could have a tremendous consequences.

To make it more exciting, it turn out, the Hamsa is similar to a Shiite symbol of Ali & his family. So it turned out  I was  Jewish & Shiites. Hurray!!  I managed to solve the Arab-Israeli crisis. Well, not really. It turned out that I upset both sides; neither was pleased with me.  My visit to the Republic of Iran ( a majority Shiites country with Jewish minority ), was one of a kind. But that’s is another story for another time.

Even on Twitter, I had no joy. I deliberately didn’t mention my religion on my profile; still didn’t stop people from asking me. Many push the un-follow button once I told them the truth, oh dear!

I must admit, I was really surprised by the number of people who identify themselves on Twitter by their religion.

Perhaps I should say I am Buddhist, referring to my name. It will clearly unit all the children of Abraham in despising me.  That will be an achievement!

Now I learned to keep quiet & refuse to answer even If asked, my religious belief is between the Almighty & me. Nobody else needs to know.

As I watch the sectarian tension in Egypt. I hope many in this troubled part of the world do the same. If people in the Middle East spend more time practicing their religion than talking about it, their life will be a lot better.

Nervana

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