When Natasha told me about the Jordanian parliament’s call for the punishment of the Danish cartoonist that drew 12 caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad I got quite upset. I’m still upset, and although I can’t even begin to understand why they(ex. the Jordanian parliament) would do such a thing, I will redirect you to what Naseem Tarawneh wrote on the subject, for he, admittedly, is a lot less hot-headed. For one reason or another, I find it impossible to look at such situations without thinking more along the lines of this…

Anyhow, what I will actually write about is one of my favorite issues- figurative illustration of human form in Islamic art throughout the centuries. The early Bedouin artists of Islam also disliked depicting the Prophet because to Muslim’s, he is the embodiment of the “ideal man”- an ideology that can’t be represented through physical properties. However, as Islam spread, the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula came in contact with many civilizations and cultures, including Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Coptic, Sassanian, Buddhist, Chinese, Berber, Turcik, Gothic and various others cultures, each of which had its own system of beliefs as well as its own artistic traditions.

It is only natural that illustrated stories of the time of the Prophet would find their way into books, especially as most of the cultures that the Muslims strove to convert to Islam didn’t speak Arabic, making illustration a necessary tool for communication.

The first time I saw these illustrations I was enthralled by the attention to detail, the rich use of color, and the heavy Eastern influence. These particular paintings are mostly from Turkey, Persia, and India, and so you will notice the Eastern style in drawing. Most of these paintings cover the Prophet’s face with a sheath of white, but a lot in Islamic history don’t.

Prophet Muhammad ascending on the Burak into the Heavens, Persia (1550 CE), painted by Sultan Muhammad. Notice chinese clouds, Chinese features, as well as the halo of fire which is very similar to Eastern religious art.

Mohammad’s trip, guided by Gabriel on the Buraq, in which he is shown sinners suffering in hell.

The collection below is one of my favorites, and it’s from a book called “Al-Seera Al-Nabaweyeh” done around the end of the 14^th century, as ordered by a Mamluk Sultan in Cairo(check out whole collection here).

Nice, right? I love the usage of color.

Eastern influence isn’t the only influence on portrays of the Prophet though, there also have been some examples heavily influenced by Christian theology, such as the illustrations in the famous “Jame3 Il Tawareekh” of the Prophet’s birth, painted in the 13th century. The scene below is practically borrowed from Christian artistic tradition.

Fascinating isn’t it? Both Jesus and Mohammad are semites, and yet Jesus is portayed as a blue-eyed arian angel and Mohammad is portayed as a Chinese or Sassanian figure.

And here is Roba shamelessly ripping off a post word for word. I can’t help it. It’s so funny- I’m still cracking up.
Three cheers to the Egyptian Sandmonkey, the “extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled” person who has been providing me with plenty of laughs recently.

Newton law still stands

For every action…..

MB female supporters.

There is an equal and opposite reaction…..

Egyptian actress Nahla Salamah in the Cairo film festival

Apple. Google. Google. Apple. Google.

That’s how the list of leading brands for the past 5 years looks like, with Google wearing the golden crown for 2005, and Apple serving as 1st runner up.

The 8 other shiners on the top 10 list are Skype, Starbucks, Ikea, Nokia, Yahoo!, Firefox, eBay, and Sony. Other brands include Zara, Amazon, Nike, adidas, and Puma.

Both Skype and Firefox are first-timers into the list at all(and people doubt the presence of Web 2.0), and the list is noticably becoming more technological with the years(me loves technology). Al-Jazeera lost it’s top-10 slot to become number 35(Ahmad Humeid’s post on Al-Jazeera), as did Coca-Cola for the first time in 3 years(interesting to note that in 2005, Pepsi overtook Coca-Cola in market capitalisation for the first time in 112 years of fierce competition). Meanwhile, Ikea, Nokia, and Starbucks have maintained a strong foothold.

Nokia is number one brand Europe and Africa, followed by Ikea, Skype, Zara, BMW, BBC, adidas, Al-Jazeera, H&M, and Jordanian company Aramex (which made me smile).

Check out the whole report here.

Related(or maybe not so related but something I can’t help but share): Microsoft cares.

Yeah, ok, I wish.
But anyway, here’s some branding that made me smile. I love it. It is so simple yet so unique, and quite gutsy too.
Now here’s a dentist that I wouldn’t mind visiting. Not to bite. Just to, you know, look. Or something.
Wow. So much for eloquence.

[Via Advertising/Design Goodness]

First off, there were those recents reports on Google Earth being a tool used by insurgents, terrorists and Commies. Then, Google Earth was dubbed the biggest threat to democracy.

Now, Google Earth is the next marketing tool- companies are painting huge ads on their roofs for the best equipping the aerial photos. Cool.

(via Fabrica)

Does anyone know where I can find an antique or junk store or something in Amman or somewhere very close to Amman? Think, old Jordanian wooden doors, real street signs (yes, I know I can just steal one at night, but let’s try to be good and all for the sake of mommy, ok Mr. Kit Kat Chair?), and perhaps a real pinball machine or something. You know. Odd real stuff. Think along the lines of the decor at Applebee’s.