Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents by Robert Irwin

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/books/01grim.html?_r=1&

The West Studies the East, and Trouble Follows

Edward W. Said published his highly influential polemic “Orientalism” nearly 30 years ago, and Robert Irwin, a British specialist in the history and culture of the Middle East, has been fuming ever since. “Dangerous Knowledge” is his belated two-pronged response: a point-by-point rebuttal of Mr. Said, folded into a history of Western scholarship devoted to the Middle East.

Werner Forman/Art Resource

Robert Irwin

Mr. Irwin delays his direct attack until the penultimate chapter but throws down the gauntlet early. “Orientalism,” which indicts the entire field of Eastern studies as racist and imperialist, he characterizes in the introduction as “a work of malignant charlatanry.”

Its distortions are so fundamental, its omissions so glaring, that the first order of business, as Mr. Irwin sees it, is to offer a dispassionate account of what Western scholars did and did not do. The exercise is worthwhile, he argues, because Mr. Said’s book “has been surprisingly effective in discrediting and demoralizing an entire tradition of scholarship.”

A survey course in West-East encounters follows, beginning with the scattered observations of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the first attempts by Christian thinkers to make sense of Islam, a religion they interpreted as a new form of Christian heresy. Mr. Irwin points out that throughout the Middle Ages and well into the Renaissance, Muslims, to the extent that they were thought about at all, were often regarded as pious, austere and a reproach to lax Christians. Saladin, in particular, was elevated to heroic status.

“The Arabs and Turks were not regarded as barbarians, nor were they consciously regarded as non-European, for there was little or no sense of any kind of European identity in this period,” Mr. Irwin writes.

The Orient, initially regarded as a land of marvels, gradually turned into an object of study, and with the Frenchman Guillaume Postel, born in 1510, the first genuine Orientalist appears on the scene. Postel, a linguistic prodigy, learned Arabic so quickly that his teacher in Istanbul thought he might be a demon. He produced the first grammar of classical Arabic in Europe and, in other works, introduced Europeans to the life of Muhammad, the history of Islam and the culture of the Ottoman Turks. An admirer of all things Eastern, he was also, Mr. Irwin remarks casually, “a complete lunatic.”

The Orientalists described by Mr. Irwin do seem to be a colorful bunch. The field attracted eccentrics, obsessed misfits and colonial administrators driven nearly mad by boredom. Edward Palmer, a Victorian Orientalist, poet and spy, embarked on a secret government mission to bribe Bedouin tribesmen near the Suez Canal but was unfortunately murdered for the gold he carried. He reportedly cursed his killers in eloquent Arabic before being shot and thrown over a cliff.

At Oxford, Mr. Irwin studied with an Orientalist who once bicycled naked through the town, pursued by the police, whom he escaped by ditching his bicycle and swimming across the Cherwell River.

More often than not, the scholars Mr. Irwin describes took an enlightened view of the peoples and the cultures they studied. “There has been a marked tendency for Orientalists to be anti-imperialists,” he writes, “as their enthusiasm for Arab or Persian or Turkish culture often went hand in hand with a dislike of seeing those people defeated and dominated by the Italians, Russians, British or French.”

The issue of imperialism and colonialism looms large for Mr. Said and Mr. Irwin. For Mr. Said, Orientalism is both conceptually imperialist and historically a tool for imperialist adventures, especially by the French and British, who, Mr. Irwin counters, were vastly overrepresented in “Orientalism.”

The leading Orientalists of the 19th and early 20th century were Germans, but Germany had no imperial designs in the Middle East or Asia and therefore did not fit the argument, he writes. Russia, with its policy of conquest in central Asia and the Caucasus, would seem to offer ideal material for Mr. Said’s argument, Mr. Irwin notes, but mysteriously plays no role at all in “Orientalism.”

Mr. Irwin writes for a general audience in a lively, readable style. Somehow, he manages to sneak in Frankenstein’s monster (in the novel the creature reads a popular work on Egyptian ruins by the Comte de Volney, a French Orientalist) and “Dracula,” which was inspired by a lecture on Balkan superstitions by the Hungarian Orientalist Arminius Vambery. But the long roll call of unfamiliar savants, presented in lightning-quick sketches, and the profusion of obscure Arabic texts make the historical section of “Dangerous Knowledge” occasionally tough going for anyone not familiar with the field.

The payoff is Mr. Irwin’s all-out assault on Mr. Said, which makes for bracing reading, although it comes a little late in the day. Mr. Said died in 2003, and some of the arguments that Mr. Irwin advances were thrashed out by Mr. Said, Bernard Lewis, Ernest Gellner and others more than 20 years ago. As a useful aside, Mr. Irwin registers his own criticisms of Orientalist scholars, especially their blindness (shared by Mr. Said) to the rising power of Islamic fundamentalism.

What Mr. Irwin makes abundantly clear, whether he fully realizes it or not, is that “Orientalism” cannot really be refuted. No matter how many errors of fact or interpretation are exposed, the book is invulnerable because it makes a political rather than a scholarly argument. In the age of postcolonial studies, “Orientalism” continues to get an enthusiastic, even reverential hearing. It may not be right, but it feels good.

مقبرة "الزواج المدني"

سوسن الأبطح عن جريدة الشرق الأوسط 

الفتوى الاستباقية لمفتي الجمهورية اللبنانية محمد رشيد قباني، التي أطلقها الأسبوع الماضي، إن كان الهدف منها، فرملة الزواج المدني، فقد جاءت بنتائج عكسية. ليس فقط أن مجموعة كبيرة من الشباب اللبناني، ثارت وفارت تريد أن تتزوج مدنيا، مهاجمة المفتي ومطلقة حملات ضده، بل إن السياسيين أنفسهم الذين كفرهم الرجل في فتواه سلفا، تمرد بعضهم حد المجازفة وركوب المغامرة، في سبيل الرد عليه. فقد حكم سماحته على أي مسؤول يوافق على الزواج المدني - ولو اختياريا - بأنه «مرتد وخارج عن دين الإسلام، ولا يغسل ولا يكفن ولا يصلى عليه، ولا يدفن في مقابر المسلمين».

مشكلة الفتوى ليست في مضمونها الأساس الذي سبق أن سمعناه تكرارا من رجال الدين، وإنما بتوقيتها، وبلوغها حد التكفير والحرمان من الغسل والتكفين، اللذين أثارا جل التعليقات وأكثرها حدة. فأحد من المسؤولين المسلمين لم يكن قد تفوه بكلمة بعد - سلبا أو إيجابا - ردا على حماسة رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية ميشال سليمان لإقرار قانون بهذا الشأن، لحظة أطلق قباني فتواه الصاخبة. وما كان من المتوقع أصلا من رئيس الوزراء نجيب ميقاتي، أن يكون أشجع من سابقه رفيق الحريري الذي أجهض مشروعا مماثلا، بعد أن وصل إلى طاولة مجلس الوزراء للتصويت عليه عام 1998، رغم حماسة إلياس الهراوي الجامحة له يومها. المفتي قباني، المقبل على انتخابات كاسرة وحاسمة، والمتأزم من خلافاته الحادة مع مجلس الإفتاء، لا بد وجدها فرصة، لإثبات أنه حامي حمى الطائفة، قبل أن تخمد عاصفة الزواج المدني. وهي هبت وقويت إثر إقبال الشابين نضال وخلود على عقد زواج مدني في لبنان، طالبين تسجيله رسميا، ولا يزالان ينتظران الموافقة من عدمها. وكان هذا الحدث، الذي سوق إعلاميا، مناسبة مواتية، ربما، لرئيس الجمهورية ليبدي رأيه، ويذكر بأن ثمة ملفا قديما لم يبت ويتوجب طرحه من جديد، فإذا بسماحة المفتي يتلقفها طازجة، ويصدر فتواه الصادمة.

لكن قبل تلقف المفتي للقضية وتسخيرها انتخابيا وسياسيا، لا بد من التذكير بأن العروس خلود تعترف بأن هذا العقد أبرم بتشجيع ودفع من إحدى جمعيات المجتمع المدني في لبنان، ولم يأت عفو الخاطر. وبصرف النظر عما إذا كنا مع هذا الصنف المدني من الارتباط الزوجي أو ضده، فإن إجراء العقد لم يأت بمحض مغامرة ذاتية، وإنما بدفع من هيئات ممولة من الخارج، كما أن الوقوف معه أو ضده، من قبل السياسيين وحتى رجال الدين، يأتي محمولا على مصالح آنية، وغايات انتهازية.
رئيس الوزراء، نجيب ميقاتي، الذي لا يريد أن يخسر صوتا واحدا في انتخابات مطلع الصيف المقبل، وجد حيلة ذكية، كي يتهرب من الجواب الصعب حين قال إن «أولويات المرحلة لا تسمح بفتح مواضيع سجالية وخلافية جديدة، وإن موضوع الزواج المدني لا يمكن أن يتم التعامل معه كمقاربة من أعلى إلى أسفل، بل هو يحتاج نيل إجماع كل المكونات الوطنية حوله». 

أما النائب سعد الحريري الذي يحضر لعودته إلى لبنان، فضرب عصفورين بحجر واحد، وهو يقول إنه شخصيا مع الزواج المدني، لكنه لا يتزوج مدنيا ولا يقبل بأن يتزوج أولاده مدنيا. وقال الحريري: «تكفير الناس ممنوع. ففي إندونيسيا وتركيا وماليزيا، التي هي دول مسلمة، وملايين المسلمين فيها تحت الزواج المدني، هل يكفرهم المفتي؟ كيف ذلك؟»، هكذا أرضى الحريري كل الأطراف، وسدد سهما للمفتي المرتد عن حلفه الحريري القديم. لكن، لم يجب الحريري عن السؤال الجوهري التالي: «هل يقبل بإقرار قانون الزواج المدني رسميا لو كان رئيسا للوزراء؟»، بطبيعة الحال هكذا خطوة ستفقد أي مغوار يقبل عليها ربما نصف شعبيته، وهو ما يعقد مهمة أي رئيس وزراء تسول له نفسه مشاكسة طائفته.

يعرف سماحة المفتي، لا شك، أن الطائفة الشيعية لا تقبل بالزواج المدني، وأن الكنيسة المارونية لا ترضى بإقراره من دون أن تسبقه موافقة على قانون مدني للأحوال الشخصية (وهو أمر بعيد المنال)، لذلك ربما، سبق الجميع وأفتى. فثمة فرص لا تتكرر مرتين.

قد يبدو الزواج المدني تفصيلا صغيرا، أمام الغارة الإسرائيلية على سوريا، أو المعركة الدموية ضد الجيش اللبناني في عرسال، أو حتى إقرار قانون انتخابي ينقذ لبنان من بحر الدماء المحيط به، إلا أن الوسائل الإعلامية اللبنانية، تتمسك بإبقاء زوبعة الزواج المدني مستمرة وعاتية. أمر يشجع أنصاره، على السير قدما، وتصعيد خطواتهم، مستغلين ضعف ساستهم في الموسم الانتخابي، معلنين لائحة سوداء، تظهر أسماء السياسيين المعادين للمشروع لحرمانهم من أصواتهم الانتخابية.

الـ«فيس بوك» كشف ازدواجية البعض، فآلاف اللبنانيين الذين تزوجوا مدنيا خارج لبنان، ويحق لهم تسجيل زيجاتهم في وطنهم، بدأوا بوضع صورهم على صفحة «تزوجنا مدني... ع قبالكن». فما هو بيت القصيد، إذن، من كل هذه المعركة المفتعلة؟ إما أن الزواج المدني ممنوع على اللبنانيين أو أنه مقبول؟ وبما أن أكثر من عشرة ملايين لبناني يعيشون خارج وطنهم وغالبيتهم في دول أجنبية تعتمد الزواج المدني، بينما أربعة ملايين فقط في لبنان، قد تظهر إحصاءات جدية تجري، أن الغالبية الساحقة من هؤلاء يتزوجون مدنيا. هذا النفاق يصبح أكثر حدة، حين نعرف أن وزيرين في حكومة سابقة صوتا ضد الزواج المدني رغم أنهما يعيشان زوجيا في ظله. ونواب كما وزراء حاليون، متزوجون هم أو أولادهم مدنيا ومع ذلك يرفضون تأييد صدور قانون يبيحه لغيرهم.

بدأ التحضير لعرس جماعي، يشارك فيه فنانون كبار، وتموله شخصيات معروفة، يوم ذكرى الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية في 13 أبريل (نيسان) المقبل وسط بيروت، حيث سيرتبط الأحبة بعقود مدنية، ويطلب من الدولة اللبنانية تسجيلها. القصد إحراج المسؤولين وإسقاط الأقنعة على مسافة أقل من شهرين من بدء عملية الاقتراع.

الظريف أن قضية المناداة بالزواج المدني لم تعد مجرد قناعات مدنية، بقدر ما هي موضة شبابية يريد أن يلتحق بها كثيرون، لا مشكلة لهم مع الزواج الديني، بقدر ما هم محمولون بفكرة يروج لها باحتراف. هذا التيار يكبر في لبنان ويتحد مدفوعا من هيئات المجتمع المدني الممولة أوروبيا وأميركيا في غالبيتها الساحقة، مقابل تكتلات دينية مختلفة المشارب لا تنقصها التمويلات الخارجية هي الأخرى. فمن يدفع ويمول باتجاه وضع الطرفين المتناقضين في مواجهة مفتوحة؟ إنها حرب على هامش حروب كثيرة، منها الظاهر والخفي، تبدو في ظاهرها ظريفة خفيفة، لكنها تخفي غابة من التعقيدات والدلالات الخطيرة. ألم ينتصر المفتي، بفتواه، من حيث لا يعلم، للزواج المدني ويمنح أنصاره الحجج والبراهين على أن رجال الدين يتحكمون فيهم؟ أما كان من الذكاء أن ينتظر مواقف السياسيين التي لن تجرؤ على تخطي أمزجة طوائفها؟ أم أن كل شيء يجب أن يستغل وتفوح منه رائحة السياسة غير المستحبة، بما في ذلك الزواج وإنجاب الأطفال والتغسيل والتكفين ودفن الموتى؟

What happens at an atheist church?


Sunday Assembly, photo taken by attendeeHarry Cliff gives his science lecture at the Sunday Assembly in a former church

An "atheist church" in North London is proving a big hit with non-believers. Does it feel a bit like a new religion?

Not many sermons include the message that we are all going to die and there is no afterlife.

But the Sunday Assembly is no ordinary church service.

Launched last month, as a gathering for non-believers, it is, in the words of master of ceremonies Sanderson Jones, "part foot-stomping show, part atheist church, all celebration of life".

A congregation of more than 300 crowded into the shell of a deconsecrated church to join the celebration on Sunday morning.

Instead of hymns, the non-faithful get to their feet to sing along to Stevie Wonder and Queen songs.


Order of service

  • Theme of "wonder"
  • Congregation sang Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, Superstition by Stevie Wonder and Nina Simone's Ain't Got No
  • Screen on altar showed photo of TV scientist Dr Brian Cox
  • Reading by Dr Harry Cliff, a particle physicist, on the discovery of antimatter


There is a reading from Alice in Wonderland and a power-point presentation from a particle physicist, Dr Harry Cliff, who explains the origins of dark matter theory.

It feels like a stand-up comedy show. Jones and co-founder Pippa Evans trade banter and whip the crowd up like the veterans of the stand-up circuit that they are.

But there are more serious moments.

The theme of the morning is "wonder" - a reaction, explains Jones, to criticism that atheists lack a sense of it.

So we bow our heads for two minutes of contemplation about the miracle of life and, in his closing sermon, Jones speaks about how the death of his mother influenced his own spiritual journey and determination to get the most out of every second, aware that life is all too brief and nothing comes after it.


“Start Quote

Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans

I don't think I'm a charismatic preacher”

Sanderson Jones, with Pippa Evans

The audience - overwhelmingly young, white and middle class - appear excited to be part of something new and speak of the void they felt on a Sunday morning when they decided to abandon their Christian faith. Few actively identify themselves as atheists.

"It's a nice excuse to get together and have a bit of a community spirit but without the religion aspect," says Jess Bonham, a photographer.

"It's not a church, it's a congregation of unreligious people."

Another attendee, Gintare Karalyte, says: "I think people need that sense of connectedness because everyone is so singular right now, and to be part of something, and to feel like you are part of something. That's what people are craving in the world."

The number of people declaring themselves to be of "no religion" in England and Wales has increased by more than six million since 2001 to 14.1 million, according to the latest census. That makes England and Wales two of the most secular nations in the Western world.

Bus with banner ad reading "There's probably no god - now stop worrying and enjoy your life"Atheists are getting more vocal, such as this ad campaign on London buses

Figures such as writer Richard Dawkins and comedian Ricky Gervais have made it fashionable to be more assertive about having a lack of religious faith and to think about what it means to be an atheist.


“Start Quote

There's no scientific answer to being virtuous, but the key thing is to have some kind of list on which to flex our ethical muscles”

Alain De Botton

And writer Alain De Botton has unveiled a Manifesto for Atheists, listing 10 virtues - or as the press has already dubbed them "commandments" - for the faithless.

De Botton says he wants to promote overlooked virtues such as resilience and humour. He came up with the idea in response to a growing sense that being virtuous had become "a strange and depressing notion", which seems to chime with the Sunday Assembly's own mantra "live better, help often, wonder more".

He argues for a new breed of secular therapists to take the place of the priesthood and believes atheism should have its own churches, but adds: "It should never be called that, because 'atheism' isn't an ideology around which anyone could gather. Far better to call it something like cultural humanism."

There is a concern among some non-believers that atheism is developing into a religion in its own right, with its own code of ethics and self-appointed high priests.

Jones insists he is not trying to found a new religion, but some members of his congregation disagree.


Atheism unpicked

Atheists and others gather for a Reason Rally in Washington DC
  • Word comes from a meaning without, and theismmeaning belief in god or gods
  • Atheists believe gods are man-made myths
  • Some are not interested in organised religion, others distrust it
  • Atheist churches built in late 19th and early 20th Centuries as part of French thinker Auguste Comte's Religion of Humanity

"It will become an organised religion. It's inevitable. A belief system will set in. There will be a structure, an ethical outlook on life," says architect Robbie Harris.

He believes Evans and Jones have "a great responsibility" if the Sunday Assembly "continues to be as successful as it is now".

"There is a difficulty that it might become cultish and it might become about one person. You could set yourself up as a charismatic preacher, that's the danger."

Fellow congregation member Sarah Aspinall says: "I think Sanderson should step back and see himself as a mediator and an enabler, which I think he is obviously good at, and just bring people up to speak or read."

Jones says it is very early days and future assemblies will be less about him and more about the experiences of congregation members. He bridles at the suggestion he is starting a cult.

"I don't think I'm a charismatic preacher. I just get very excited about things and want to share that with people."

He says he has been overwhelmed by the public reaction to the Sunday Assembly and is exploring the possibility of setting up similar gatherings around the country.

"I wanted to do this because I thought it would be a wonderful thing," he explains.

The Sunday Assembly certainly did better business than at the evangelical St Jude and St Paul's Church next door, where about 30 believers gathered to sing gospel songs and listen to Bible readings.

But Bishop Harrison, a Christian preacher for 30 years, says he does not see his new neighbours as a threat, confidently predicting that their spiritual journey will eventually lead them to God.

"They have got to start from somewhere," he says.

The man of God - By Hazrat Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi.

One of the most beautiful poems.

As per Shaykh Abdur-Rahman the Golden focal point is not the city of Mecca or the structure of Kabah. The Golden focal point is "The man of God"

 

The man of God is drunken without wine, 
The man of God is full without meat. 
The man of God is distraught and bewildered, 
The man of God has no food or sleep. 
The man of God is a king "neath dervish-cloak, 
The man of God is a treasure in a ruin. 
The man of God is not of air and earth, 
The man of God is not of fire and water. 
The man of God is a boundless sea, 
The man of God rains pearls without a cloud. 
The man of God has hundred moons and skies, 
The man of God has hundred suns. 
The man of God is made wise by the Truth, 
The man of God is not learned from book. 
The man of God is beyond infidelity and religion, 
To the man of God right and wrong are alike. 
The man of God has ridden away from Not-being, 
The man of God is gloriously attended. 
The man of God is concealed, Shamsi Din; 
The man of God do you seek and find!

The Louvre Museum - Offering a Prestigious Tribute to Islamic Art

http://arabiangazette.com/louvre-museum-islamic-art/

The Louvre Museum – Offering a Prestigious Tribute to Islamic Art

A fortnight ago, the Louvre Museum – most visited art museum in the world – inaugurated a new wing devoted to Islamic Art. The project, which itself took more than 10 years of negotiations and work, had a budget of €100 million. It has finally emerged under a golden carpet-shaped canopy in the prestigious Visconti courtyard alongside the famous pyramid glass of the Louvre in Paris. The collection abounds some 18,000 unique pieces fulfilling the role of a strong landmark of the Islamic Arts heritage.

louvre museum islamic

Aerial View of the Visconti Courtyard, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Antoine Mongodin

A huge project of great ambition fuelled by many patronages

The French government contributed €31 million to the project and €11.5 million were allocated by the Louvre Museum itself. The rest is the result of donations by the following contributors:

Around €30 million came from individuals, corporations and foundations; €17 million given by the Prince Waleed Bin Talal and €26 million in shape of contributions from monarchs including High Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah – Emir of Kuwait; His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said – Sultan of Oman and Mr. Ilham Aliyev – President Republic of Azerbaijan.

Prince Waleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia – made this statement: “After 9/11, all Arabs and Muslims have the duty and the responsibility to tell the West about real Muslims, about real Islam, and how peaceful our religion is.” The common point of these generous donors, whether individuals, foundations, business leaders or rulers is to project their passion for contemporary art, and present their historical and/or sentimental attachment to Islamic Art.

Their commitment to this great art project, which is at the crossroads of cultures and civilisations, serves as a precious aesthetic and cultural bridge between the East and the West and undoubtedly marks a new stage in the development of conservation World Heritage.

louvre museum

The ground-yard of the Department of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Antoine Mongodin

The new Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre, in a beautiful avant-garde architecture

It all started in 2002 when the then French President Jacques Chirac gave a speech announcing his desire to open a department of Islamic Art. This will result in many discussions, tenders, selection and validation of winners before laying the first stone in 2008 by former French President Nicolas Srakozy in the presence of Prince Waleed Bin Talal, and Total and Lafarge CEO’s, Mr. Desmarest and Laffont respectively. Works and installations of the collections continued till the recent inauguration in late September 2012.

Sophie Makariou, director of the Louvre’s Islamic Art Department, said in an interview with the BBC: “We need to state that there is a distance between what the Islamic civilisation was, its contribution to world history, and what is happening now.” She went on to call the exhibition space a chance to “give Islam back its glory”. French president François Hollande, who inaugurated the wing, called it a “significant project at a significant time”.

louvre museum islamic

The ground-yard of the Department of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Antoine Mongodin

Louvre Museum Islamic

The Parterre level of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini-R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

Louvre Museum Islamic

The Parterre level of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © multimedia device. M. Bellini-R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

louvre museum islamic

The Parterre level of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini-R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

louvre museum islamic

The ground-yard of the Department of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

A daring and futuristic architecture reminiscent the refinement of the East by sensual curves

Two Italian architects, Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti, in collaboration with the museologist Renaud Piérard took up the contemporary construction challenge that spanned ten years. The challenge was to build an avant-garde building in an old place, with just 2800 sq. meters of space.

They had the inspiration needed to burst the Islamic arts on several levels, mezzanines blows, and canopies around the Visconti courtyard that remains visible. Despite the tiny basement surface, the gallery unfolds under this glassy jewel box, resolutely turned towards the lights of heaven. A futuristic indulgence allowed by the drawing of oriental curves and folds to form a silky drape with the image of a flying carpet over the desert dunes.

louvre museum islamic

The undulating glass Louvre Museum, Department of Islamic Art Architects Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

It is like if the roundness in the identity of Islamic Art, was felt by the architects who were able to intuitively give depth to this conceptual “bee’s wing” hosting the wonders of Islamic civilisation as a rare precious nectar accessible to the only happy few.

The Museum of the Visconti courtyard at the Louvre, requested a glass in the shape of a golden cloud, consisting of 2,350 triangles mounted on some 8,000 metal tubular elements, which can create this three-dimensional glassy and metal-like aerial suspension.

louvre museum islamic

A Tale of Nasir al-Din Tusi © 2012 Musée du Louvre / realization: Opixido / Illustration: Arnaud Cremet

A sensory journey in the heart of the Islamic civilisation

Visiting the areas of Islamic Art is not merely an invitation to a journey to the heart of the unique pieces but a sensory journey in the civilisation of Islam. Upon entry in the new spaces the visitor discovers two multimedia animations. The first demonstrates how Islamic art relies heavily on figurative and not only the geometry, while the second explains how the notion of religious/secular can be sometimes a complex set and that the same object can sometimes be used in different contexts.

Mid-term, we already travel by listening multimedia programmes and statements that describe the mosaics of the Mosque of Damascus Ummayads or porch Mamlouk exposed for the first time in the museum. Various listening points in Persian, Arabic and Turkish perfect the journey through senses.

louvre museum islamic

Porch Mamluk period (detail) Egypt, Cairo, second half of the fifteenth century panoramic view of the wall that faces the entrance and side walls with no windows and yellow and white limestone sculptured grids modern iron forged frame chestnut, H. 250 cm, L. 300 cm l. (250 cm total dimensions of the porch) Louvre Museum, Department of Islamic Art in Cairo by G. Bought Saint-Maurice in 1887; Depot, Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris, 2006, AD RI 2003/26-1 © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN / Hervé Lewandowski

At the end comes the “Cabinet of keys” which is designed to dismantle the clichés associated with the Islamic civilisation by a set of screens around the three central themes of the culture of Islam: The urban phenomenon and the importance of cities; diversity of languages and cultures and religious phenomenon evoking different trends larger than what we can imagine and the tales of Nasir al-Din Tusi, told at sublime and tactile stations that allow even a blind visitor to appreciate by the touch what cannot be seen visually.

Isn’t it true that strength of the art comes from the transmission of emotion which is sometimes detached from the rational for us to sample the delights of a civilisation as strong as that of Islam? Calligraphy is also exposed with geometric figures and tracery that make the approach of both teaching and exploration consistent with high respect for the original works.

A visit of the areas of Islamic Art in “Le Louvre” is not only a single invitation to a course in the heart of the prestigious collection but it is a sensitive journey within the Islamic civilisation as well.

louvre museum islamic

The Parterre level of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

A rare and unique collection including some masterpieces in a refined gallery

From the outset, the “Museum Central des Arts” (the name given to the Louvre after the Revolution) some Islamic objects from the royal collections form the core group of what is now the department’s collection of Islamic Art. However, from 1893 until 1903, the collection will was enriched through multiple acquisitions by a curator of ” Muslims Arts” in the aftermath of exhibitions devoted to Islamic Arts in Paris. Thus, in the Louvre since the 1905 exhibition, the “Pavilion de l’Horloge” hosts a collection dominated by Arab brass including the famous “Baptistery of Saint Louis”.

louvre museum islamic

The ground-yard of the Department of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

A century later, Henri Loyrette, The Louvre’s CEO, with the support of former French President Jacques Chirac started enriching the already rich museum collection of 15,000 pieces and encouraged it to be include 3,400 new pieces from the Museum of Decorative Arts including a few masterpieces constituting, thus making it one of the richest and most beautiful in the world of Islamic Art.

louvre museum islamic

Bassin named “Baptistery of Saint Louis” Egypt or Syria, first half of the fourteenth century copper alloy inlaid with gold, silver and black paste. D. 50.5 cm H. 23.2 cm Musée du Louvre, Department of Islamic Art, Inv. LP 16. Former royal collections, © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN / Hughes Dubois

The Baptistery of Saint Louis is probably the most famous interest of Islamic Art to be kept in the Louvre since 1793. This magnificent witness of metal inlaid Islamic is the symbol of the period that was overlooked by the sultans of the Mamlouk dynasty (1250-1517) attributed to the Syrian-Egyptian space. It is a prestigious and rare object in which future King Louis XIII and other kings and princes will receive baptism before himself. It is one of the rarest basins of the Mamlouks with such a strong figurative programme.

A Sovereign has taken the place of traditional radiant calligraphy by revisiting all the codes. The lilies performed in Mamlouks workshops overlap the game of the original arms.

louvre museum islamic

Pyxis of al-Mughira Spain, Cordoba, 968 Carved ivory, H. 16 cm, D. 11.8 cm Musée du Louvre, Department of Islamic Art, OA 4068. Acq. 1898 © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN / Hughes Dubois

The pyxis “Al Mughira” this exceptional box entered The Louvre in 1898. This jewel of ivory from the tenth century, a masterpiece of small sculpture fascinates us not only by its beauty and dazzling technical virtuosity, but also by the multiplicity of readings it generates. Performed in a noble and expensive material, it represents symbols of Ummayad Andalusians, such as the hawk appearing more than 17 times and other images as complex and difficult to decipher. Prince “Al Mughira”, last son of the Caliph of Cordoba Abd Al Rahman III, was defending the Ummayads against the Abbasids until his assassination that marked the death of the Caliphate (crisis “fitna” from 1009 to 1031).

louvre museum islamic

The Parterre level of Islamic Art, Louvre Canopy © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Louvre Museum Louvre Museum © 2012 / Philippe Ruault

The Louvre’s new wing is a worthy host for a unique collection but it is certainly more than that – a symbol of the tribute to the Islamic Art that is not well known. The numerous visitors (approximately 8.5 millions per year) of the Louvre coming from around the world can soak up these 1200 years of the illuminous golden-age of Islam on three continents as well as admire “Joconde” the pride of the Louvre and the masterpiece of Leonardo Di Vinci.

Rahma Rachdi is a Paris-based journalist of French-Morrocan descent. She specialises in economy and finance and also covers cultural (arts, cinema and fashion) political events, and other issues linked to the Middle East and North Africa region. Rahma is also the editor of fun-finance.com, a website where economy and finance matters are explained with the help of short, informative and funny comics and animations.

Harvard physics lecture by Dr. Peter Lu: Quasicrystals in Medieval Islamic Architecture


Harvard University Physics Department Colloquium Lecture, presented on 3 Dec 2007 by Peter J. Lu: "Quasicrystals in Medieval Islamic Architecture" The conventional view holds that girih (geometric star-and-polygon) patterns in medieval Islamic architecture were conceived by their designers as a network of zigzagging lines, and drafted directly with a straightedge and a compass. I will describe recent findings that, by 1200 CE, a conceptual breakthrough occurred in which girih patterns were reconceived as tessellations of a special set of equilateral polygons (girih tiles) decorated with lines. These girih tiles enabled the creation of increasingly complex periodic girih patterns, and by the 15th century, the tessellation approach was combined with self-similar transformations to construct nearly-perfect quasicrystalline patterns. Quasicrystal patterns have remarkable properties: they do not repeat periodically, and have special symmetry---and were not understood in the West until the 1970s. I will discuss some of the properties of Islamic quasicrystalline tilings, and their relation to the Penrose tiling, perhaps the best known quasicrystal pattern. peterlu.org

Contemplating the infinity, muslim architects visualized and rendered impossible geometric patterns …

2011 Nobel prize in Chemistry was awarded to Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman for his discovery of quasicrystals, metallic alloys with atoms arranged in orderly, infinite, aperiodic, crystal-like patterns with theoretically forbidden (typically 5 fold) symmetry.  This form of matter was believed to be impossible to create. Schectman made his discovery while on sabbatical at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards April 8, 1982 . He was laughed at.

"I told everyone who was ready to listen that I had material with pentagonal symmetry. People just laughed at me,"
Today, Dr Shectman has won Nobel prize in chemistry, 2011.

What the scientific community has failed to grasp, the muslim architects produced wonderful sacred art throughout the muslim world centuries ago in their contemplation of infinity ...

A woman standing in front of an illuminated quasicrystal ... 

Penrose tiling that produced the X-ray diffraction pattern above.

Remarkable Properties of Penrose Tilings
The most remarkable property of Penrose Tilings is that every finite portion of any tiling is contained infinitely often in every other tiling. This, of course, is true of all periodic tilings, but it's not at all obvious that it should be true of a non-periodic tiling. This property has several consequences:

    • No finite patch of tiles can force a tiling (determine the rest of the tiling).
    • It is impossible to tell from any patch of tile which tiling it is on.
    • Only at their infinite limits are the different patterns distinguishable. A finite patch of an Infinite Star pattern might only be a local piece of some other pattern, but there is also an Infinite Star pattern that has five-fold symmetry to infinity. Only if you know the characteristics of the pattern to infinity can you tell.

Quasicrystal type pattern in decagonal strapwork above an arch in the Abbasid al-Mustansiriyya Madrasa in Baghdad, Iraq, which dates to between 1227 and 1234.

DAVID JAMES: QUR’ANS OF THE MAMLUKS (THAMES & HUDSON)
A decagon, surrounded by bowties and hexagons, forms the basis of this cover of a Mamluk copy of the Qur’an that dates to the early 14th century.

Peter J. Lu, a physics graduate student at Harvard University, noticed a striking similarity between certain medieval mosque mosaics and a geometric pattern known as a quasi crystal—an infinite tiling pattern that doesn’t regularly repeat itself and has symmetries not found in normal crystals (see video below). Lu teamed up with physicist Paul Steinhardt of Princeton University to test the similarity: If the patterns repeated when extended infinitely, they couldn’t be true quasi crystals.

On this panel in the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, ten-pointed stars—none of them shown completely —anchor the edges of a pattern in which four of the five girih shapes can be found. Both the stars and the scallop-edged hexagons are placed according to an underlying design of still more decagons and pentagons. The stars’ incompleteness reminds the viewer that the pattern actually extends into infinity.

Most of the patterns examined failed the test, but one passed: a pattern found in the Darb-i Imam shrine (seen in the image above), built in 1453 in Isfahan, Iran. Not only does it never repeat when infinitely extended, its pattern maps onto Penrose tiles—components for making quasi crystals discovered by Oxford University mathematician Roger Penrose in the 1970s—in a way that is consistent with the quasi crystal pattern.

The quasicrystalline structured tilings were used by religious mystics, including Sufis, to contemplate infinity.

Girih pattern of a decorated arch in the Sultan’s Loge of the Ottoman-era Green Mosque in Bursa, Turkey, which was completed in 1424. The girih tiles make possible large-scale patterns because each edge has the same length, allowing different combinations to be aligned. What is more, every edge is intersected at its midpoint by two decorating lines at fixed angles, which ensures that the lines continue across the edges from one tile onto another. A further innovation was achieved by dividing girih tiles into smaller ones to create overlaid patterns at two different scales, a method mathematicians call “self-similarity transformation.” This kind of subdivision, combined with the symmetry imposed by the shapes of the girih tiles, creates non-periodic tiling, just like the Penrose patterns.

Wrapping a column in the early–19th-century Tash Hauli palace in Khiva, Uzbekistan, a strapwork pattern of decagons and pentagons is filled with vegetal arabesques that maintain five-fold and ten-fold symmetry.