Buzzing: post-9/11 Muslim male identity, stereotypes, andbeehive metaphors

Author:Syed, Abdullah

Publication Date:2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/22847

License:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/Link to license to see what you are allowed to do with this resource.

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Buzzing ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post-9/11 Muslim Male Identity, Stereotypes, and Beehive Metaphors

Abdullah Muhammad Iyhab Syed

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Fine Arts, UNSW

2009

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Title: Buzzing: Post-9/11 Muslim Male Identity, Stereotypes and Beehive Metaphors

Abstract:

Echoing Edward Said’s Orientalism, and Homi Bhabha’s notion of the stereotype as

mimicry (camouflage), this research project investigates the recent construction of a

Muslim male identity as the Other and Self-Othering following the destruction by al-

Qaeda of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, referred to colloquially as

‘post-9/11’. The fear of a bearded Muslim terrorist, of attacks from Muslim

fundamentalist organizations, the distrust leading to extreme security measures and the

subsequent laws contributing to the discrimination and radicalization of the Muslim

community are analysed.

This research identifies and explains the myths surrounding the Muslim cultural and

religious practices relating to the traditional appearance of a Muslim male, specifically

the beard and marks of prostration, along with associated imagery derived from the

prayer rug, Muslim worship, Salat, and the mosque. Beehive metaphors in Western and

Muslim art, history, literature and media are explored. The dualistic concepts

surrounding the stereotypes and personifications that result in ‘otherness’ are the key

aspects of this research.

Using the binary nature of beehive metaphors, as well as both cultures’ propaganda

about the West’s Crusade and Islam’s Jihad, the making of a post-9/11 Muslim identity

as jihadi, martyr and terrorist are investigated, culminating in artworks comprising of

self-portraiture, sculptures, prints, drawings and installation art. These express layers of

interpretation of the clash of international political entities alongside the cultural

contestations and religious belief systems within the Muslim culture, and reflections

upon my own identity as a Muslim man divided between the East and the West. Due to

its conceptual yet allegorical content, this research is descriptive, and is intended to lay

the ground for future research aimed at examining the compounded variables of

potential cultural clashes, religious conflicts, and political action.

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Table of Contents

1. Abstract ------------------------------------------------------------------------ page 1

2. Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------- page 2

3. Table of Figures and Illustrations ------------------------------------------ page 4

4. Abbreviations and Glossary ------------------------------------------------- page 6

5. Prelude ------------------------------------------------------------------------- page 9

6. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------ page 10

7. Chapter One: Background ---------------------------------------------- page 16

1.1 The Model of Perfection: Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) ------------ page 16

1.1a Physical Appearance of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) ------------ page 17

1.2 Muslim Male Identity ------------------------------------------------------- page 18

1.2a Beard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- page 18

1.2b The Prayer Rug, Salat and the Mosque ------------------------------- page 22

1.2c Mark of Prostration ------------------------------------------------------ page 25

1.2d Piety of Heart: The Esoteric Emulation of the Prophet (s.a.a.w) -- page 27

8. Chapter Two: Beehive Metaphor ------------------------------------- page 30

2.1 Bees, Hive and Paraphernalia --------------------------------------------- page 30

2.2 Beehive Metaphor ------------------------------------------------------------ page 31

2.2a Beehive Metaphor and the Western World -------------------------- page 33

2.2b Beehive Metaphor and the Islamic World --------------------------- page 35

9. Chapter Three: Identity and Stereotypes ------------------------- page 40

3.1 Definition of Terms ---------------------------------------------------------- page 40

3.1a Islamophobia ------------------------------------------------------------ page 40

3.2b Stereotype ---------------------------------------------------------------- page 41

3.2 Orientalism and its Others ------------------------------------------------- page 42

3.3 Muslim Male Stereotype: From Orient to the Present --------------- page 45

3.4 Muslim Male Stereotype: Post-9/11 -------------------------------------- page 46

10. Chapter Four: Buzzing: War, Disguise, Economy, ------------ page 52

and the Making of a Terrorist

4.1 Swarm of Bees: War Planes, Kamakazi and Jihadi ------------------- page 52

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4.2 Attack on Muslim Hive: Honey Pots, Oil and -------------------------- page 53

Death of Innocent Bees

4.3 Honey and the Hive of Killer Bees: The Making of a Terrorist ---- page 55

11. Chapter Five: Survey of the Field ------------------------------------ page 62

5.1 Anas Al-Shaikh --------------------------------------------------------------- page 63

5.2 Khalid Sabsabi ---------------------------------------------------------------- page 66

5.3 Sharif Waked ------------------------------------------------------------------ page 68

5.4 Rashid Rana ------------------------------------------------------------------- page 69

5.5 Taraneh Hemami ------------------------------------------------------------- page 71

5.6 Specific Works and Series -------------------------------------------------- page 73

5.6a Mona Hatoum’s Prayer Mat ------------------------------------------- page 74

5.6b Shirin Neshat’s Self Portraits ----------------------------------------- page 74

12. Chapter Six: My Studio Practice: The Research Outcomes page 76

6.1 Methodological Process ----------------------------------------------------- page 76

6.2 Discussion of Artworks (Research Outcomes) ------------------------- page 81

6.21 Self-Portrait Series ----------------------------------------------------- page 81

6.21a I Am...: Digital Photographic Prints -------------------------- page 81

6.21b Glazing: Digital Photographic Print -------------------------- page 86

6.22 Buzzing and Murmuring: Digital Photographic Prints ---------- page 87

6.23 Rug Projects ------------------------------------------------------------- page 89

6.24 Prints and Drawings --------------------------------------------------- page 95

6.24a Buzzwords (Portfolio of Seven Etchings) ------------------- page 95

6.24b Make-Over (Drawings and Silkscreen Works) ------------- page 98

6.25 Qalb (Heart) Projects --------------------------------------------------- page 100

6.3 Achievements and Breakthroughs ---------------------------------------- page 105

13. Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------- page 106

14. Appendix ----------------------------------------------------------------------- page 109

15. Declarations -------------------------------------------------------------------- page 110

16. Bibliography ------------------------------------------------------------------- page 113

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Table of Figures and Illustrations

Figure 1: Abdullah Syed, Histrionic Grooming I, 2007 ............................................................ 13

Figure 2: Abdullah Syed, Born to Be series, 2007 . .................................................................... 14

Figure 3: Right after 9/11, FBI released these portraits of nineteen highjackers........................ 21

Figure 4: A detainee with prayer rug, Guantanamo Bay ........................................................... 24

Figure 5: Comfort items for Guantanamo Bay prisoners include a prayer rug .......................... 24

Figure 6: Prisoners praying in a Communal prayer. Guantanamo Bay ..................................... 25

Figure 7: Prisoners praying in their cells. Guantanamo Bay ..................................................... 25

Figure 8: Mark of prostration on Ayman Al Zawahri’s forehead .............................................. 27

Figure 9: Mark of prostration on Zacrrias Moussaoui’s forehead ............................................. 27

Figure 10: The form and proportions of a honeybee – art diagram ............................................ 39

Figure 11: Time magazine cover, issue date April 16, 1979 ...................................................... 47

Figure 12: Time magazine cover, issue date November 25, 2002 ............................................. 47

Figure 13: Osama in 2004, Osama’s phoney beard speculation ................................................ 60

Figure 14: Osama Bin Laden in 2007 ......................................................................................... 60

Figure 15: Anas A-Shaikh, Confusion, 2003, detail .................................................................. 64

Figure 16: Anas Al-Shaikh, The New God, 2002, details .......................................................... 65

Figure 17: Anas Al-Shaikh, Memories of Memories, 2001, details ........................................... 65

Figure 18: Khaled Sabsabi, You, Multi Channel Video, 2007 .................................................... 67

Figure 19: Sharif Waked, Chic Point, Fashion for Israeli Checkpoint, 2003-2007 ................... 69

Figure 20: Rashid Rana, Meeting Point, 2006, video still ......................................................... 70

Figure 21: Rashid Rana, Twins, 2007 ........................................................................................ 70

Figure 22: Rashid Rana, Red Carpet 3, 2007 ............................................................................. 71

Figure 23: Taraneh Hemani, Most Wanted, 2007 ...................................................................... 72

Figure 24: Taraneh Hemani, Most Wanted, 2001 ...................................................................... 72

Figure 25: Taraneh Hemani, Transcendence, 2004 ................................................................... 72

Figure 26: Taraneh Hemani, Passage, 2004 .............................................................................. 72

Figure 27: Taraneh Hemani, Hall of Reflections, 2001............................................................... 73

Figure 28: Mona Hatoum, Prayer Mat, 1995.............................................................................. 74

Figure 29: Shirin Neshat, Women of Allah: From Way In Way Portfolio (published 1996) ...... 75

Figure 30: Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, 1994 .................................................................... 75

Figure 31: Abdullah Syed, Computer generated concept illustration for The Prayer Rug of

Necker Cubes ............................................................................................................ 77

Figure 32: Abdullah Syed, grooming and preparation for I am … series, photo-shoot ............. 77

Figure 33: Abdullah Syed, Anthology of Pome-granade series, 2008........................................ 80

Figure 34: Abdullah Syed, I am not the Lawrence, 2009 ........................................................... 83

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Figure 35: Abdullah Syed, I am what Allah wants me be, 2009 ................................................ 83

Figure 36: Abdullah Syed, I am Fun-dada-mentalist - I, 2009 .................................................. 84

Figure 37: Abdullah Syed, I am Fun-dada-mentalist - II, 2009 ................................................ 84

Figure 38: Abdullah Syed, I am the Bee, I am the Hive - I, 2009 .............................................. 85

Figure 39: Abdullah Syed, I am the Bee, I am the Hive - II, 2009 ............................................. 85

Figure 40: Abdullah Syed, Beauty is in the Eye of the Bee-holder, 2009................................... 86

Figure 41: Abdullah Syed, Glazing, 2009 .................................................................................. 87

Figure 42: Abdullah Syed, Buzzing, 2009................................................................................... 88

Figure 43: Abdullah Syed, Murmuring, 2009 ............................................................................ 88

Figure 44: Abdullah Syed in collaboration with Afghan Carpets Karigers (craftsmen), Karachi,

Pakistan, The Prayer Rug of Necker Cubes, 2008 ................................................... 90

Figure 45: Abdullah Syed, The Flying Rug I, 2008, Installation ............................................... 90

Figure 46: Abdullah Syed, Blade Plane, Sculpture for The Flying Rug of Drones installation.. 92

Figure 47: Abdullah Syed, The Flying Rug of Drones, Computer generated illustration .......... 92

Figure 48: Abdullah Syed, Devoid I, 2009 ................................................................................. 94

Figure 49: Abdullah Syed Devoid I, 2009, Detail....................................................................... 95

Figure 50: Abdullah Syed, Devoid III, 2009, Detail ................................................................... 95

Figure 51: Abdullah Syed in collaboration with Cicada Press (COFA), Sydney, Australia,

Buzzwords, 2009 ..................................................................................................... 96

Figure 52: Detail: Us & Them - Buzzwords, 2009 ...................................................................... 98

Figure 53: Detail, Fatwa - Buzzwords, 2009 .............................................................................. 98

Figure 54: Abdullah Syed, Make-Over series, 2009 .................................................................. 99

Figure 55: Abdullah Syed, Make-Over series, 2009 .................................................................. 99

Figure 56: Abdullah Syed, Make-Over series, 2009 .................................................................. 99

Figure 57: Abdullah Syed, The Rhythm, 2009 ......................................................................... 101

Figure 58: Abdullah Syed, Bee-loved – Cast rose petal heart, 2009 ........................................ 103

Figure 59: Abdullah Syed, Bee-loved – Cast honey heart , 2009 ............................................. 103

Figure 60: Abdullah Syed, Bee-loved – Gilded jewelled heart, 2009, front and back .............. 104

Figure 61: Abdullah Syed: Buzzing I, 2008 ............................................................................. 109

Figure 62: Abdullah Syed: Buzzing II, 2008 ............................................................................ 109

Figure 63: Abdullah Syed: Martyr I, 2008................................................................................ 109

Figure 64: Abdullah Syed: Martyr II, 2008 ............................................................................. 109

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Abbreviations and Glossary

Al-Qaeda Also (Al-Qaeeda, Al Qaida)

An international terrorist organization founded in late 1980s by Osama Bin

Laden and Muhammad Atef.

Caliphate The rulership of Islam. Caliph (kalif) is the spiritual head and temporal ruler of

the Islamic state. The caliph (or successor to Muhammad) had temporal and

spiritual authority (or successor) to Muhammad, but was not permitted

prophetic power. They could not, therefore, exercise authority in matters of

religious doctrine.

Fana Fana (also fanna) is annihilation in Sufism, a mystic tradition of Islam. It can

convey the meaning of totally lost in love.

Fatwa A legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar, a Muft (generally called

Mufi).

Fiqh Literally, fiqh means understanding; it refers to the study of the religious law in

Islam.

Hadith A collection of traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (s.w.a.w) that

include his sayings, acts, and approval or disapproval of things. Hadith is

revered by Muslims as a major source of religious law and moral guidance.

Because the Qur�an explicitly mandates Muslim obedience to the Prophet in

legal and ritual matters, the hadith became in Islamic law (shari�a) a source of

legislation second only to the Qur�an.

Hanafi One of oldest of four established Sunni schools of legal thought in Islam and

established by Abu Hanifa who systematically arrange and compile Islamic

law. The other three schools of thought are Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali.

Iblees Devil (Shaitian or Satan) in Islam.

Jihad An individual's striving for spiritual self-perfection. The word jihad actually

means "struggle, strive." The Arabic root of the word is jahada to strive for

where as war is called harb in Arabic. Jihad is divided into two types. The

lesser type is the struggle against religious or political oppression and the

greater is the soul's struggle with evil.

Kab’ba means ‘cube’ and also Baitullah or the House of Allah (God). An Islamic holy

site in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. For any reference point on the Earth, the qibla is

the direction to the Kab’ba. Muslims face this direction during Salat prayer.

Kamikaze Term used to describe Japanese pilots who flew suicide bombing raids during

the Second World War. Kamikaze means "divine wind," a reference to a

typhoon that dispersed a Mongol invasion fleet threatening Japan from the

West in 1281.

LT The Lashkar-e-Tayyiba or (Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Toiba), literally means

‘Army of the Righteous’, is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based religious

organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), a Sunni anti-U.S. missionary

organization formed in 1989. The LT is led by Abdul Wahid Kashmiri and is

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one of the three largest and best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir against

India. The LT is not connected to a political party.

Nafs Nafs is an Arabic word meaning self or person or psyche. In Sufi teachings, it

means more of false ego. There are seven stages of Nafs or ego (also called as

conditions of heart) that must be faced and conquered to attain pure self.

Qalb Arabic word meaning Heart.

s.a.a.w An acronym for 'Sall'Allahu Alayhi Wasalam' means 'may the graces, honours

and peace of Allah be upon him'. It is obligatory for Muslims to recite this on

mentioning the name of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) because. It is also

instructed in Qur’an (Sura Al-Ahzab, Chapter 33, Verse 56).

Salat Salat is the formal prayer of Islam. It is one of the obligatory rites of the

religion, to be performed five times a day by an obedient Muslim. Muslim men

are required to congregate in a mosque for communal Salat.

Sharia The religious law of Islam based on the Koran. As Islam makes no distinction

between religion and life, Islamic law covers not only ritual but many aspects

of life. It covers the totality of religious, political, social, including private life

and makes no distinction between sin and law. The Law of Sharia is binding to

all believers of Islam (either living in Muslim or secular state) at all time.

Shifa Arabic word for cure.

Salafi means “predecessors" or "early generations", is a Sunni Islamic movement that

takes the pious ancestors (Salf) of the patristic period of early Islam as

exemplary models. Salafis view the first three generations of Muslims, who are

Muhammad's companions, and the two succeeding generations after them, as

examples of how Islam should be practiced.

Shafi’i One of the four schools of fiqh, or religious law, within Sunni Islam. Named

after its founder, Iman ash-Shaf’i, It emphasizes proper istinbaat (derivation of

laws) through the rigorous application of legal principles as opposed to

speculation or conjecture. It is considered one of the most conservative of the

four schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

Sunna The way of life prescribed as normative in Islam, based on the teachings and

practices of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) and on the exegesis of the Koran.

Also called hadith.

Taliban Persian word for students. The group originally consists of Afghan refugees

who, during the Soviet invasion (1979-89), had fled their country for Pakistan,

where they attended conservative Islamic religious schools. After the Soviet

withdrawal from Afghanistan and amidst the unrest that ensued, the Taliban

rose to prominence. They gained control of the nation region by region,

eventually taking the capital Kabul in 1996.

Wajib In the Hanafi school, is an obligation which is almost fard (a religious duty),

except that there is some (margin of uncertainty, which may occur in the form

of counter-evidence, which suggests non-obligatory nature of the deed), and the

scholars have therefore refrained from pronouncing a decisive verdict of fard

on it.

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Wahabism A member of a Muslim sect founded by Abdul Wahhab (1703–1792), known

for its strict observance of the Koran and flourishing mainly in Arabia.

Ummah Arabic for community or nation. In Islam, it also mean the Diaspora or

“Community of the Believers" and thus the entire Muslim World.

Umrah A pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia performed by Muslims that can be

undertaken at any time of the year.

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Prelude

The following is an excerpt from an interview with President George W. Bush by

NBC’s Richard Engel during the President’s visit to Egypt in 2008. The interview was

first aired on NBC's ‘The Today Show’, broadcast May 19, 2008.1

[Engel]: The war on terrorism has been the centerpiece of your

presidency. Many people say that it has not made the world safer, that

it has created more radicals, that there are more people in this part

of the world who want to attack the United States.

[Bush]: -- it's just the beehive theory -- we should have

just let the beehive sit there and hope the bees don't come out of the

hive? My attitude is the United States must stay on the offense against

al Qaeda -- two ways. One from --

[Engel]: Smash the bees --

[Bush]: -- two ways --

[Engel]: -- in the hive and let them spread?

[Bush]: Excuse me for a minute, Richard.… somehow to

suggest the bees would stay in the hive is naive -- they didn't stay

in the hive when they came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

1 Sharm El Sheikh, "Interview of the President by Richard Engel," Thomson Reuters, May 19 2008.

(accessed March 2009).

Full interview is available on MSNBC website:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24696309#24696309

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Introduction

My mother once described me as her devout religious bee that loved honey,

roses and had a fixation on the full moon. Although my father agreed, he also foresaw

my narcissism, which I think, in time, significantly influenced my upbringing and

eventually informed my art practice. The following account of my upbringing explains

the origins of many ideas and references explored in this research project.

My family adheres to traditional religious values and places great significance

on family lineage, language and culture. I grew up seeing my parents devotedly

performing prayers and involved with religious gatherings and charities. My mother

followed core Islamic teachings while unknowingly incorporating into them Sufi

concepts. On the other hand my father followed Hanafi2 ideas of Islam. I came to

appreciate both of my parents’ religious ways and the value systems they stood for.

Growing up in Pakistan, my vacations were spent in Saudi Arabia where my

father worked for an airline company.3 I considered Saudi Arabia as my second home.

While I looked forward to these quarterly visits to Kab’ba4 in Mecca to perform Umrah,

our first port of call upon arrival, I would refuse to get my hair buzzed off as the final

act of the ritual and would insist on a mere trim. This adamant refusal always met

with my father’s disapproval since he viewed this as an act of defiance and a clear sign

of my misplaced priorities. For him, I was more concerned about my appearance than

purifying my soul. Expressions of identity through physical appearance is a device used

in the studio based research for this project.

From an early age, I started learning recitation of the Holy Qur’an (without a

translation from Arabic to my native language Urdu) at home. I was encouraged to

practise fasting,5 and to observe Salat (Muslim prayer) since both are obligatory after

puberty. At home, I was given my own prayer rug and started going to the local Masjid

2 A school of thought in Islam

3 As a child, I used to hate flying but loved to play with airplanes. I have collected many toy models of

commercial aircrafts.

4 An Islamic holy site in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. For any reference point on the Earth, the qibla is the

direction to the Kab’ba. All Muslims face the direction of the Kab’ba during ritual prayer Salat.

5 Obligatory fast during the month of Ramadan

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(mosque) for Jumma prayers.6 Young male children are also encouraged to go to the

Madrasa, a school of Qur’anic and religious education typically within the mosque

area. I did not go to the madrasa. However, the majority of my local friends who went

there for education told me tales of strict rules and the exploits they had pulled off

during their time in the madrasa. Despite that I was fascinated and drawn to the

madrasa. Every day when I went for the afternoon prayer, I would see children,

wearing topi and scarfs sitting in straight rows and hear them reading verses from the

Qur’an in loud voices that together sounded like murmurs, the mellow buzzing of bees.

In my mind they all looked like innocent bees sucking honey from the flower and

praying for Allah’s blessing.

In urban areas of Pakistan, bhir (hornets and wasps) are commonly seen and

incorrectly labelled as bees. This case of mistaken identity has led to a fear of bees

among people despite the bee’s medicinal properties, their mention in the Qur’an, and

their symbolic value in the spiritual aspects of Islamic culture. Bees are used as a visual

metaphor in this research project.

As I grew older I learned the attributes of a ‘good Muslim male’ who emulates

the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) in every aspect of his life, whether it is in appearance

or in deed.7 Those who perform Salat regularly in this endeavour acquire a challis on

their left ankle and in some instances on their forehead. This challis becomes black

and large as time goes by. I received the ‘ankle’ mark of prostration at an early age

due to constant contact with the uncovered ground in the courtyards of mosque. I was

informed that this mark signified that I would go to Janant (heaven) when I died

because this mark will shine like gold on the Day of Judgment and identify me as

Janati (one who belongs in Heaven). I was occasionally asked to show it to other

people as a sign of good parenting and my religious inclination. I took pride in it and

remember trying to rub my head hard to get the ultimate mark of prostration on my

6 Jumma is the Urdu word for Friday. It is typically considered as a holy day for Muslims and the

communal afternoon prayer and sermon are held in the mosque.

7 Some of the examples of Prophet Muhammad’s emulation are: wearing a turban, growing and

grooming beards, wearing simple clothes, ensuring one’s shalwar or pants are worn at above ankle

height, applying perfume and keeping high standards of hygiene.

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forehead; however I never managed to acquire it.8 These marks are used as an image in

my studio research.

It is commonly said in Islamic cultures that a good Muslim is like a bee

who follows only the path of Allah and praises him and his prophet. One of the most

commonly followed features of the Prophet Muhammad’s appearance is the keeping of

a beard and the trimming of a moustache. As a late bloomer, I had to wait to grow a

beard. And by the time I started to have facial hair, my interest in the religious sittings

at the local mosque was dwindling as I found the sittings repetitive, rhetorical and

linear. I remember shaving my beard (a few soft hairs on my chin and a black halo of a

moustache) at the age of fifteen. There was no pressure to grow a beard from my father,

who had only grown a beard in his later years. Although contradictory practices apply,

the beard has always kept its integrity and found wide acceptance and respect from the

general population until the attack of the September 11, 2001, (abbreviated in the

vernacular in America as ‘9/11’), which drastically changed all attitudes towards the

beard, first as an identification mark of Muslim fundamentalist and then as a tool to

inflict subjugation and discrimination upon Muslim males. This change of perception

towards beard is a major theme in this research.

Living in the United States of America (US) when 9/11 occurred, I observed a

rise of negative attitudes towards Muslims. At the local Edmond mosque in Oklahoma,

where I lived, the Muslim community were asked to avoid ethnic attire, refrain from

criticizing government acts and co-operate with the local authorities by keeping an

eye on the culprits. Suddenly those who kept an orthodox Muslim appearance became

‘suspicious’ and virtual outcasts. Also the bearded, brown skinned “terrorist look a

likes” were increasingly discriminated against and in some cases humiliated for their

appearance in public and private spaces. The sense of alienation worsened as time

passed by and the ‘War on Terror’ began with the implementation of the U.S. Patriot

Act that gave the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the authority to detain

and interrogate any individual without a warrant. For Muslims around the world, life

became difficult and identity problematic. Shaving before a flight became a common

8 When I moved to the USA, despite my ongoing prayer ritual, the mark on my ankle gradually

became less apparent because all mosques were carpeted and at home, the use of a prayer rug is

common.

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practice leaving Muslims with the burden of having betrayed their religion and identity,

hence conditioned to ‘‘self-othering.”9 These personal experiences and observations

have informed this research.

I had never kept a beard until I decided to research how facial hair changes

one’s appearance and the social, religious and artistic aspects of a person’s life.10

‘Born to Be (2007)’11 was the series of works that emerged from this exploration

where I commented on the duality of General Pervez Musharraf’s regime through a

series of self portraits wearing a hybrid military uniform and civilian dress with long

hair and a beard. Simultaneously this series reflected upon the incompatibility of

Western democracy and Islamic ideology.12 I kept the beard and found myself behaving

more reserved, my attire modest and more traditional. I translated my new persona

into a series of unpublished art works. Vision of the Rose series, explores my Diaspora

experiences and post-9/11 perceptions of Islam in the West.

Figure 1: Abdullah Syed, Histrionic Grooming I & II, 2007, Digital print on Fuji archival paper, 21x 61

centimetres, (self photography).

9 Otherness is originated in the writings of GWF Hegel (1770-1831) and was further developed by

Lacan. It is an ambiguous term and can be articulated as marginalized series of fragmented identities,

or hybridized identity. “Hegel's use of the hyphen in the expression "its self-othering with itself" that

suggests this form of an ‘other’ that simultaneously lies outside and within the self where on the one

hand the hyphen connotates the separation of the "other" from the primary "self" — itself "othering"

with itself — and on the other hand denotes the occurrence of this "other" as contained within the

"self" all along, its self-othering with itself.”

http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2004/66/chakravorty.html. (accessed April 2009).

10 Abdullah M I Syed, "Histrionic Grooming," (Karachi: V M Art Gallery, 2005).

11 ———, "Born to Be," (Karachi: V M Art Gallery, 2007).

12 At this time the Musharraf regime was guised as a democratic government, a Western ideology in the

face of Muslim groups such as the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Laskar-e-Tayyiba (LT). These groups

claimed that Western ideology had no place in an Islamic state and vowed to enforce the Sharia

(Islamic Law) across the world.

14

The art poses questions and then delves into possibilities that arise. As a

practising Muslim, this process of physical transformation sometimes felt like a

mockery of religious beliefs, especially acts like growing and shaving off my beard

for projects. Am I a product of Western pop culture whose mind and soul is concerned

with the esoteric emulation of the Prophet’s teachings? I observed during the process

of personification that I was becoming the “Other” within my own culture and to

myself. In order to arrive at who I ought to be, I have to understand and become the

‘other’ first. The concepts of dualities, stereotypes, and personification that result in

‘otherness’ are the key aspects of this Master of Fine Arts research.

Figure 2: Abdullah Syed, Born to Be series, 2007, Lambda metallic print on aluminium 25.5 x 38 centimetres,

(photo taken by Maheen Zia).

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That prince came and assembled us, and himself departed. In the same way

the bee united the wax with the honey and itself departed and flew away.

Because his existence was a condition, after all his continuance is not a

condition. Our mothers and fathers are like bees, uniting the seeker with

the sought and assembling together the lover and the beloved. They then

suddenly fly away. God most High has made them a means for uniting the

way and the honey, and then they fly away; but the way and honey remain,

and the garden. They themselves do not go out of the garden; this is not

such a garden that it is possible to go out of it; but they depart from one

corner of the garden to another corner of the garden.13

Persian poet and Sufi mystic Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273)

13 Discourses of Rumi trans. A. J. Arberry, Reprint ed. (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004).

http://www.khamush.com/discourses.html. (accessed April 2009).

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Chapter One

Background

1.1 The Model of Perfection: Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w)14

This chapter aims to clarify misinformation about, and explain the myths

surrounding Muslim cultural and religious practices pertaining to the complexities

attached to imagery used in the art practice examining Muslim male identity. This

leads us to the core message of the Islamic Sharia that all Muslims, male and female,

must emulate Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) and his Sunnah. All Muslims believe that

the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) was Insaane-Kamil,15 a true example of a perfect

human being, and that he was sent to deliver the message of Allah to all living

creatures. Allah in the Qur’an confirms this assertion:

"[O Muhammad!] We sent thee not, save as a mercy for all creatures." [Al-Qur’an Sura

21 (Al-Ambiya) Verse 107]

In 2006, when the Danish Newspaper Jyllands-Posten published the twelve

editorial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.a.w) bearded image with

a bomb in the turban, it not only brought forth a strong reaction from the Muslim

world, as pictorial representations of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) are considered

blasphemous,16 but the cartoons also reflected the prevalent stereotypical image of a

bearded Muslim male in the West. This chapter will reveal how the beard, prayer rug

and mark of prostration became emblematic of radicals and fundamentalist Muslims

in the West. The roots of these stereotypes will show their mythical status within the

Islamic world. This discussion provides the religious background to Chapter Three and

Chapter Four, where the beard, prayer rug and mark of prostration as an emblem of

14 s.a.a.w is an acronym for 'Sall'Allahu Alayhi Wasalam' means 'may the graces, honours and peace of

Allah be upon him'. It is obligatory for Muslims to recite this on mentioning the name of Prophet

Muhammad.

15 Urdu for perfect human being.

16 John Ward Anderson, "Cartoons of Prophet Met with Outrage, Depictions of Muhammad in

Scandinavian Papers Provoke Anger, Protest across Muslim World," The Washington Post Foreign

Service, January 31 2006.

Some sections of Islam, such as in Shi'a Islam and contemporary Sunni Islam have had periods, such

as the Ottoman Period, where many miniature paintings depicted Muhammad either with veil or as a

featureless void radiating light. However, such images were never shown in public.

17

stereotypical Muslim male identity is analysed. This discussion will lay the background

for analysis of the artworks, I Am … a self-portraits (see Chapter Six, Section 6.21a).

The literal meaning of Islam is “submission”. It is derived from an Arabic

word Salama (peace). It is considered a religion that teaches Muslims how to live and

survive, guiding them spiritually and physically in dealing with life in this world.17

Muslims who are looking for salvation here and in the after world follow the laws of

Sharia as laid out by the Qur’an and emulate Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.a.w) Sunnah18

in every aspect of their earthly life. Muslims believe that The Prophet Muhammad’s

(s.a.a.w) life was a living Islam. Allah says,

O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and the messenger when He calleth you to that which

quickeneth you and know that Allah cometh in between the man and his own heart, and

that He is unto Whom ye will be gathered. [Al-Qur’an Sura 8 (Al-Anfaal) Verse 24]

A description of the Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.a.w) appearance, his likes and

dislikes, are available for Muslim males to groom their physical appearance, their code

of conduct as well as provide guidance in matters of the heart, mind and soul. Despite

such detailed descriptions, Muslims neither draw nor compare or even imagine creating

a realistic portrait of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w). This is not just a sign of respect

but also the core belief that in Islam, image making of the Prophet is blasphemous.

1.1a Physical appearance of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w)

The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) loved beauty and set an example for believers

of the importance of one’s cleanliness.19 He regularly used his favourite scent, musk,

frequently cleaned his teeth with siwaak20, used kohl for eyes, especially Ithmid

17 Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood, Examining World Religions: Islam (London: Heinemann, 1995).

18 Since many aspects of daily life, such as how to perform prayer, clean, dress, eat and do business are

not addressed in the Qur’an, it is important to note how Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) dealt with

these concerns and then follow his example.

19 One account describes the Prophet’s attitude to such matters: "The Prophet once intended to go to his

companions and so he put on his turban and dressed his hairs...He said: 'Yes, Allah loves the actions

of His servant who refines his body in order to meet his friends and brothers."

Imam Ghazali's Ihya Ulum -Id -Din (the Book of Religious Learning), vol. III (New Delhi: Islamic

Book Centre 2001).

20 Also miswak, a natural tooth-stick made from a twig of Salvadora perssica tree (Arak in Arabic).

18

(antimony) and said, “it clears the sight and causes the eyelashes to grow.”21 The

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) also carried a mirror, a comb, oiled his hair and beard and

advised his companions to do the same. He said: "He who has hair should honour it."22

Regarding Prophet’s beard, his grandson Hassan said: "He had a thick, dense beard."23

The Prophet liked to wear mostly white,24 preferred the long shirt (kurta)

and wore taqiyah (also kufi or topi)25 and amama (turban) which is now translated

as kaffiya, a head scarf that symbolizes the Arab identity but now is also popular

across the Muslim World. It is said that the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) was polite,

forgiving, laughed when something was funny. However “his laugh was usually no

more than a smile” and in intense situations, “his molars could be seen.” His weeping

was similar to his laugh; just as he did not laugh aloud, he neither sobbed nor raised

his voice. But “his eyes shed tears and the murmur of his chest could be heard.”26

1.2 Muslim Male Identity

1.2a Beard

Beard in Arabic is lihyah and it is derived from “lahy (jaw) and lahyan (the two

jaws). Hence it is defined as “the hair that grows on the cheeks and jaws.”27 The initial

premise for Muslim men to keep the beard was to keep an identity that distinguished

them from followers of other religions, specifically Pagan and Christian, is said to have

been ordered by the Prophet Muhammad (s.w.a.w). It was important back then for

Muslims to be able to distinguish each other for safety and security. As narrated by

Nafi, Ibn Umar said, the Prophet said:

'Do the opposite of what the pagans do. Keep the beards and cut the moustaches short.'

(Sahih Bukhari, Dress, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 780)

21 Iman Ibn Qayyim al-Jawz�yah, Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him),

trans. Jalal Abual Rub (Dar-us-Salam Publications 2003). P. 248.

22 Harun Yahya, "The Outward Appearance of Prophet (Saas)," The Prophet Muhammd.org,

http://www.theprophetmuhammad.org/. (accessed December 2008).

23 Ibid.

24 The Prophet Muhammad occasionally uses of shades of green, earthy tones and black were also used.

25 Muslim Skullcap

26 Admin, "The Prophet’s Guidance in Grooming, Dress, Appearance," mercyprophet.com,

http://mercyprophet.com/detail.php?siteid=434. (accessed January 2009).

27 Muhammad al Jibaly, The Beard between the Salaf & Khalaf (Al-Kitaab & Sunnah Publishing 1999).

p. 1.

19

Within Muslim cultures, the beard marks the difference between those who are

considered “true” Muslims and those who are only Muslims in name. The following

hadith can be read as a prophecy for today’s time. Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri: The

Prophet said:

There will emerge from the East some people who will recite the Qur'an but it will not

exceed their throats and who will go out of (renounce) the religion (Islam) as an arrow

passes through the game, and they will never come back to it unless the arrow, comes

back to the middle of the bow (by itself) (i.e., impossible). The people asked, 'What will

their signs be?' He said, 'Their sign will be the habit of shaving (of their beards). (Fateh

Al-Bari, Page 322, Vol. 17th). [Sahih Bukhari, Oneness, Uniqueness of Allah

(Tawheed), Volume 9, Book 93, Number 651]

The majority of scholars of fiqh are of the opinion that shaving the beard is

haram (unlawful) and those who shave emulate the West and love themselves more

than the faith and the prophet. Such scholars consider keeping the beard as wajib and

translate that as ‘exactness’ and obligatory.28 Also the size, shape, and colour of the

beard is argued through various testimonies in Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and others.

The beard is also a sign of masculinity in Islam, Ibn ‘Abdil-Barr said in Adillatu

Tahreem Hla-il-Liyah that beard shaving is prohibited and those who do it are the

effeminate ones amongst the Muslim men. However, some Scholars of fiqa state that it

is makrooh (disliked) and allow for shaving but as a last, detested resort.29 Scholars also

suggest that if growing beards was obligatory it would have been mentioned in the

Qur’an and there would be nothing to argue about. However, it is mentioned in the

sayings of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w).

Scholars also argue on the trimming and grooming of the beard. Based on

28 The following scholars also agree that shaving beard is forbidden in Islam.

Shaikh Ahmad bin Qaasim Al-‘Ibaadee, one of the prestigious Shaafi’ee scholars, said: “Ibn Ar-

Rif’ah said in Haashiyat-ul-Kaafiyah: ‘Imaam Ash-Shaafi’ee stated in (his book) Al-Umm that it is

forbidden to shave the beard. Likewise, Az-Zarkashee, Al-Hulaymee in Shu’ab-ul-Eemaan, and his

teacher, Al-Qaffaal Ash-Shaashee in Mahaasin Ash-Sharee’ah, stated that it was forbidden to shave

the beard.” Adillatu Tahreem Halq-il-Lihyah. p. 96.

Also, Ibn ‘Aabideen, from the notables amongst the Hanafee scholars said: “It is forbidden for the

man to cut his beard – i.e. to shave it.” Radd al-Muhtaar (3/418)

Also see Radd al-Muhtar ala ad-Dur al-Mukhtar, a book of fatwas of Iman Abu Hanifa and Islamic

law (Sharia) complied 19th century Islamic scholar, Ibn Abidin.

29 Al-‘Adawee’s notes to Sharh Risaalah Ibn Abee Zayd (2/411); Also see Hukm-ul-Liyhah fil-Islaam

of Shaikh Muhammad Al-Haamid. p. 17.

20

hadith, some suggest that it is permissible and devise various measurement rules most

notably the rule that a fistful should be grabbed of the beard and excess is trimmed.

Scholars agree on keeping a well groomed beard as long as it is a complete beard and

not shaved on the sides.30 Both the “fistful” and long kept beards have over time taken

on mythical status in Muslim culture, denoting a man of learning, representing devoted

Muslims and Sufis, and post-9/11 became a stereotypical intimation that men define the

religion Islam.31 This duality of beard keeping, its links to measuring ‘piety’ translated

as cast beehive and blade beards in my art practice (Chapter Six, Section 6.21a).

Today, the fist has transformed into various measuring devices such as the

lantern glass which the Taliban police carried around during the 1980’s and 1990’s

to ensure a minimum size of beard.32 Taliban and other orthodox organizations in

Afghanistan and Pakistan also re-interpreted the fistful as eight centimetres or

approximately four inches (the size of person's own fist).33 Here, a ruler is used to

measure the acceptable length of the beard and if found shortened or trimmed or

buzzed, the bearer is punished.34 Similarly, in current times, the rule of keeping a

beard has became the trade mark of Taliban, who have threatened local barbers in

Pakistani northern areas and have bombed shops and killed people for trimming

and shaving beards.35

30 It is interesting to note that Arabs made the Goatee popular that do not align with the” fistful”

measurement rule.

31 Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Islamophobia: Making Muslim the Enemy (London:

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008). p. 53.

32 Under the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia people are made to put their beard inside the cavity of

the glass for measurement and those who have beards smaller than the prescribed ‘fistfull’ were

punished.

Rawa, "Taliban Measures Beards with Lantern Glass," Rawa.org, http://www.rawa.org/beard.htm.

(accessed Mach 2009).

RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, is Kabul based independent

political/social organization of Afghan working for human rights and for social justice in

Afghanistan.

33 Ibid. (accessed Mach 2009).

Also see

Staff, "Taliban Shave Men for Listening to Music in Buner " The Dawn, April 26

2009.http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/nwfp/09-

taliban-shave-men-for-listening-to-music-in-buner--04 (accessed March 2009).

34 Rawa, "Taliban Measures Beards with Lantern Glass."

According to RAWA News, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan who does not want to be named affirm

that "[t]hey (Taliban) jailed for 45 (forty five) days those people who shave their beards in addition

to awarding seven lashes to those who trim their beard."

35 Zeeshan Zafr, "Swat Men's First Post-Taliban Shave," BBC News, June 6

2009.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8083320.stm (accessed June 2009).

21

Some argue that in certain situations, it is permissible to shave beard. The

question is to define necessity. Protection of one's life, safety, livelihood, and religion

all qualify as a necessity. Many considered avoidance of post-9/11 discrimination and

racial profiling as necessities. Talibans seem to feel ‘unsafe’ these days. On May 15,

2009, The Dawn news reported that due to the Government of Pakistan’s crackdown

on Taliban fighters and their terrorist stronghold in the Swat valley, Talibans are

shaving off their beards and cutting their hair to avoid detection.36 Ironically, most of

the 9/11 terrorists37 also did not have a beard or did not comply with the Shari beard.

However, later, many who were discriminated against, arrested and tortured by the

US Army were bearded. 38

Figure 3: Right after 9/11, FBI released these portraits of nineteen highjackers. Out of nineteen, only two have

some type of a beard, but they are not considered a Shari beard.

36 Iftikhar A Khan, "Taliban Shaving Off Beards to Escape: Athar Abbas " The Dawn, May 15 2009.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/07-pakistan-

troops-kill-55-militants-in-swat-operation-01 (accessed May 2009).

37 Right after 9/11, FBI released images of highjackers and out of nineteen, only two have some type of

beards, but they are not considered Shari beards.

38 Beard shavings have been conducted to humiliate and strip Muslim prisoner’s identity. For example,

the first photographs of Saddam Hussein, released by the FBI, showed an un-kept beard and

unflattering appearance. Then he was clean-shaven so that he might look ‘civilised’ and worthy of

the court appearance. This was strongly objected to in Iraq, and many felt ashamed despite their

dislike of the tyrant. The beard shaving of Australian terrorist suspect David Hicks to make him

appear presentable for court also made the headlines.

Peter Wilkinson, "Amnesty: Saddam Photo Humiliating," CNN, December 18 2003.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/18/sprj.irq.saddam.photo/index.html (accessed

December 2007).

22

Beard keeping to measure ‘piety’, to ensure or endanger security and the

contrast between Islamic ideas of grooming and cleanliness for men compared to the

Western model of male grooming inform various artworks, such as the beard armour

sculptures and ornamentations used in I am …, a self-portrait series (see Chapter Six,

Section 6.21a). In Chapters Three and Four the beard is a factor in discussions of

stereotypes of pre and post-9/11 Muslim male identity.

1.2b The Prayer Rug, Salat and the Mosque

In this section, the Muslim prayer mat or prayer rug as a stereotype associated

with Muslim male identity is established. Directly linked with it is the Muslim prayer

known as Salat, and religious centres, Masjid (Mosque) and Madrasa (religious school).

This section informs Chapter Four where the construction of a fundamentalist and

terrorist identity is discussed. This section will also bring religious insights to my

Rug Series, specifically the artworks, Devoid and The Prayer Rug of Necker Cubes,

discussed in Chapter Six, Section 6.23, figure 44.

The Arabic word for a prayer rug is sajada, which comes from the same

root word (Sjid) as Masjid (mosque) and sujood (prostration). In Arabic, a prayer

mat or prayer rug is sajjada or musallah and in Persian and Urdu it is Janamaz.

The identity of a Muslim male is directly linked to the mosque (Masjid)39 meaning

"place of prostration". Subsequently, the mosque is portable. Most Muslims keep a

prayer rug when travelling and invite others to join them in prayers and use the prayer

mat to transform any area into a congressional or individual space of worship.40 Both

the mosque and prayer rug are directly linked to the mark of prostration, (see below)

that appears on the body and has mythical status in the Islamic World.

Muslim men congregate in the mosque for communal worship. The mosque is

considered to be a hive of Islamic spiritualty as well as a space for educational, social,

and religious purposes. During Salat prayer, Muslims stand facing the Kab’ba, in rows

39 Mosque is a French word that is used interchangeably with Masjid. Muslims prefer the term, Masjid.

40 It is recommended that where three Muslims reside, prayers must be offered in a congregation.

Narrated Abu Huraira: the Prophet said, "The reward of the prayer offered by a person in

congregation is twenty five times greater than that of the prayer offered in one's house or in the

market (alone). (Sahih Bukhari Book 11, Hadith 620).

23

behind the Imam (the one who leads) kneeling and prostrating on the bare floor or a

prayer mat. A typical individual prayer rug is a small rectangular, usually about one

meter long, just enough for an adult to fit comfortably when kneeling or prostrating.

The embroidered prayer rugs are similar to oriental carpets. A prayer rug represents a

personal space and an area where a believer converses with his Creator. Such aspects

of size, design and space are also applied to communal prayer rug design.41

Courtyard floors of a mosque are commonly marked with lines to enable those

who pray to form straight lines, and within closed areas the edge of the prayer rug is

used as a guide. Keeping a straight row is extremely important during prayers and

influences the design of the prayer rug.42

Prayer rugs come in various materials ranging from plastic mats to Persian rugs.

The designs are often geometric, floral or arabesque but never have an image of a living

creature. The stereotypical design of contemporary rugs has a focal point in the top

half of the rug that depicts Islamic landmarks such as the Kab’ba in Mecca or Masjid-

Nabuwai in Maddina, Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem or the arch (Mehrab) with a

hanging lantern or a geometric pattern. Decorations are not only of aesthetic value but

also have a deep sense of value in the design of the prayer itself. The centre design

serves as a focal point on which to concentrate.43 When the time for prayer comes, the

worshipper lays the rug on the ground, so that the top points towards the direction of

Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. After prayer, the rug is immediately folded or rolled, and put

away for next use to ensure that the rug remains clean.

The prayer rug has a very strong symbolic meaning and is traditionally treated

as a sacred object. However, it is not universally used by Muslims, nor specifically

required in Islam. The only requirement is that prayers be offered in an area that is

clean, hence any clean area can be used for prayer and even the floor can transform

41 John Renard, Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims, Illustrated ed.

(California: University of California Press, 1996). p. 47-49.

42 As narrated by Anas bin Malik: Once the Iqama was pronounced and the Prophet faced us and said,

"Straighten your rows and stand closer together, for I see you from behind my back.' (Sahih Bukhari

Book 11, Hadith 687)

43 Renard, Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims.

Also see

Friedrich Spuhler, Oriental Carpets in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, trans. Robert Pinar,

Illustrated ed. (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998).

24

itself into a place of worship. Prayer rugs have become a traditional way for many

Muslims to ensure the cleanliness of their place of worship, and create an isolated

space in which to concentrate on prayer. During prayers, worshippers bow, kneel,

and prostrate on the ground in humility before Allah. Such practice on bare floors is

common in many local mosques around the world. Some even prefer to pray on bare

floors and receive the mark of prostration (see next Session 1.2c).

Emblematic to Muslim male stereotypes, a prayer rug became part of

Eastern folklore and later, the West’s fascination with the Orient, with its flying rugs,

thieves, despots and now, insular Oriental men hijacking planes. Despite news of torture

and humiliation in Guantanamo Bay prisons, there are images and reports of arrows

around the camp that point in the direction of [Makkah]. Distribution of ‘comfort’ items

among detainees typically include a copy of Qur’an, “a prayer rug, a perfume oil, and

prayer beads.”44 Furthermore, images of prisons performing Salat in their cells also

‘buzzed’ in the media.

Figure 4: A detainee with prayer rug, Guantanamo

Bay, Image courtesy of www.cnn.com

Figure 5: Comfort items for Guantanamo Bay prisoners

include a prayer rug. Image courtesy of www.cnn.com

44 "Guantanamo Bay: Camp Delta," www.GlobalSecurity.org,

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/guantanamo-bay_delta.htm. (accessed April 2009).

25

Figure 6: Prisoners praying in a Communal prayer.

Guantanamo Bay, Image courtesy of www.cnn.com

Figure 7: Prisoners praying in their cells. Guantanamo

Bay, Image courtesy of www.cnn.com

Such images represent the U.S. government efforts to demystify the torture myth at

War prisons camps, and to project an idea of cultural and religious understanding.

However, such images also have potential to solidify the idea that all those who

perform Muslim prayers are a threat. These factors are represented in the rug prints

and installations (see Chapter Six, Section 6.23)

1.2c Mark of Prostration

In this section, the mark of prostration as a sign of Muslim piety will be

described. Also, various myths within a Muslim culture regarding this mark will be

revealed. This will provide the background to Chapter Four where this mark as an

indicator of terrorist identity, prejudice and racial discrimination is discussed.

The mark of prostration is a prayer bump, also known as a prayer scar, or a

zehbiba (raisin) in Arabic. It is a mark on the forehead of a pious Muslim, caused by the

regular contact of the forehead against a prayer mat, or just above the left ankle due to a

certain sitting position Muslim men take during the Salat prayer. Almost everyone gets

a mark on their ankle after a certain period of time but many never get the mark on their

forehead despite a life time of prostrations.45 Islam requires its adherents to perform

Salat five times a day. This involves kneeling on a prayer mat and touching the ground

with one's forehead. Devout Muslims consider the presence of a prayer bump to be a

45 Matt Bradley, "Focus: Mark of Faith Sparks Debate," The National, August 23 2003.

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080823/NATIONAL/481623452. (accessed March 2008).

In extreme cases, the callus that is formed is thick enough to create a real bump that protrudes from

the forehead. Zehbibas are common among the elderly after years of prostration and also appear

differently on a woman’s forehead and are known as halaa.

26

worthy sign of religious dedication and piety, and interpret the saying of Prophet

Muhammad (s.a.a.w) for its religious importance. Abu Haraira reported:

He would command the angels to bring out those who had not associated anything with

Allah; to whom Allah decided to show mercy among those who would say: There is no

god but Allah. They (the angels) would recognize them in the Fire by the marks of

prostration, for Hell-Fire will devour everything (limb) of the sons of Adam except the

marks of prostration. Allah has forbidden the Fire to consume the marks of prostration.

(Sahih Muslim Book 1, Hadith 267)

Some even refer to a Qur’anic verse in order to understand its importance:

The mark of them is on their forheads from the traces of prostration. Such is their

likeness in the Torah and their likeness in the Gospel. [Al Qur’an, Surah 48 (Al

Fatah) Verse 29]46

Many consider this mark as the dust that sticks to the brow during the act of

prostration, while others say that the ‘mark’ refers to a sign, the reflection of an

individual’s character or inner radiance. The majority agree that such a mark is the light

of humility and goodness shining forth from within; it is the radiance that will shine on

their faces on the Day of Resurrection, as a result of their ablution. 47

Those who have it “deserve to be treated with respect because it is an

earned sign of piety.”48 It has been known for individuals to force this mark on

their forehead by striking the “prayer mat with unnecessary force, application of hot

fried food to growing calluses to make them more pronounced.” And for some the

mark of prostration is not a religious matter but nothing more than a ‘superstition’

and a ‘skin issue’.49

46 Al-Qur'an, (Karachi: Taj Company Limited, 1985).

Complete verse as follows:

“Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with whom are hard against disbelievers and

merciful among themselves. Though (O Muhammad) seest them bowing and falling prostrate (in

worship), seeking bounty from Allah and (His) acceptance. The mark of them is on their foreheads

from the traces of prostration. Such is there likeness in the Torah and their likeness in the Gospel ---

like as sown corn that sendeth forth its shoot and strengtheneth it and riseth firm upon its stalk,

delighting the sowers --- that He may enrage the disbelievers with (the sight of ) them. Allah hath

promised, unto such of them as believe and do good works, forgiveness and immense reward.”

47 Bradley, "Focus: Mark of Faith Sparks Debate."

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid.

27

Whether the zehbiba owes its provenance to divine intervention or a lifetime of

prayer or the diligent application of hot fried vegetables, for many Muslims such

outward displays of faith do little to change the fundamental virtues of Islam. It is said

that Allah knows actions and what is in the heart and hence such a mark cannot be

should be used to judge someone’s character. After 9/11, mark of prostration of alleged

twentieth hijacker Zacrrias Moussaoui (see Chapter Four, Section 4.3) and Osama’s

right hand Ayman Al Zawahri were highlighted and discussed by the media.

Figure 8: Mark of prostration on Ayman Al Zawahri’s

forehead, Image courtesy of www.cnn.com

Figure 9: Mark of prostration on Zacrrias Moussaoui’s

forehead. In court proceeding drawings by the court

artist, Moussaoui mark is exaggerated and

pronounced.50

Image courtesy of www.cnn.com

This discussion provides religious insight into Chapter Four where the mark of

prostration and Muslim extremists’ identity is discussed. Discussion includes its use by

the West to stereotype Muslims, as well as how it is exploited by various Muslim

countries such as Pakistan to glaze innocent minds with false piety and propaganda.

This discussion culminates in the Glazing artwork (see Chapter Six, Section 6.21b).

1.2d Piety of Heart: The Esoteric Emulation of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w)

The following discussion is about the symbolism of the heart and its esoteric

importance in building a true Muslim identity related to concepts of Sufi teachings. It

is a reflective discussion and extremely relevant to the current debate of how Muslims

should concentrate on the esoteric aspects of identity rather than physical appearance.

50 Court artist drawings: http://www.courtartist.com/terrosirm/. (accessed March 2009).

28

It will provide a foundation for Qalb (heart), a series of artwork discussed in Chapter

Six, Section 6.25, figures 57-60.

In recent times, many scholars and schools of thought believe that it is not only

the cleansing of the body, but also the esoteric emulation of Prophet Muhammad

(s.a.a.w) where the heart is the key. To emulate the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w), both

internal as well as external cleanliness is required for the Prophet said, “[A] man who

has as much as an iota of arrogance in his heart will not enter Paradise.” Hearing those

words of the Prophet, a man asked, “What if a man likes to dress in good clothes and

wear good shoes?” The Prophet (s.a.a.w) said, “God himself possesses elegance. And

He likes elegance. This has nothing to do with arrogance. A man is arrogant when he

refuses to accept the truth, and considers others to be inferior.” (Reported by Imam

Muslim (54), Ibn Khuzaymah, Abu Dawûd, At-Tirmithi, Ibn Sa‘d on the authority of

Ibn Mas‘ûd. At-Tabrani reports it on the authority of ‘Abdullah bin Salâm).

This makes the heart the most difficult to conquer. The perfect being whom

all Muslims emulate had his heart cleansed twice, first when he was young.51 The

second time was on the night of the Isra when Allah opened the chest of His Prophet

Muhammad in order to fill it (his heart) with wisdom, knowledge and faith.

In Sufi teachings, piety can only be achieved through passing seven levels of

being or Nafs (souls) and Conditions of Hearts. At every level the heart is tested and

cleansed. On the topic of the Seven Levels of Being, Shaikh Tosun Bayrak al-

Jerrahi said:

The one without a heart has no conscience or fear of God; he becomes a toy of the

devil. He steals, kills, drinks, debauches; there is no limit to the sins he commits. He is

also blinded when he is about to fall into the pit of hell; when his levels, (his) heart will

be filled will love of Allah and shine like gold shaikh and his brothers on the Path try to

51 This was narrated from Anas ibn Maalik: Jibreel came to the Messenger of Allah when he was

playing with the other boys. He took hold of him and threw him to the ground, then he opened his

chest and took out his heart, from which he took a clot of blood and said: “This was the Shaytaan’s

share of you.” Then he washed it in a vessel of gold that was filled with Zamzam. Then he put it back

together and returned it to its place. The boys went running to his mother – meaning his nurse – and

said: Muhammad has been killed! They went to him and his colour had changed. Anas said: I used to

see the mark of that stitching on his chest. Narrated by Muslim (162).

29

hold him, he kicks and tears at them, and there is danger that he may pull them down to

hell with him.52

In this chapter, it is illustrated that all Muslims emulate Prophet Muhammad

(s.a.a.w) either in their physical appearance or in esoteric purification of heart, soul and

mind. Religious significance of beard, prayer rug and its links to Mosque and prayer as

well as mark of prostration is outlined. Purification of the heart as the core to Muslim

piety reveals a duality in the construction of Muslim men’s image and a call for a focus

on an esoteric emulation of the Prophet in current times, when the physical attributes of

stereotypical Muslim male identity is a vehicle for prejudgement and discrimination.

Such themes will be argued further in Chapter Two to illustrate the changes in Muslim

Male identity from a insular and exotic honeybee, to a suicidal killer bee. Political,

economical and social implications will be discuss in Chapter Three and Four, which

inform the analysis of my art practice in Chapter Six.

52 Shaikh Tosun Bayrak Al-Jerrahi, "Seven Levels of Being " Jerrahi Khalwati Order of Dervishes,

http://www.crescentlife.com/spirituality/seven_levels.htm. (accessed April 2008).

30

Chapter Two

Beehive Metaphor

In this chapter, various aspects of bees, hives and associated metaphors will be

discussed. Culturally specific and inter cultural metaphors related to the beehive and

used in the studio practice, derived from natural sciences to philosophy, religion and

politics, will be extracted to support, merge and present various themes related to

Muslim identity.

2.1 Bees, Hives and Paraphernalia

For this discussion, I will be looking at the Apis mellifera,53 commonly known

as the honey bee.54 It is a ‘social insect’, widely recognized as the heart and soul of

apiculture.55 Also killer bees (Apis mellifera scutellate, also Africanized honeybees)56

will be discussed. However, the construction of a wild nest (hive) as well as

commercial, manmade beehives (apiary) of honey bees are used in my studio based

research as visual and conceptual references.

53 The scientific term for the study of study of bees is apiology. Entomologically, within the Apidae

family, honey bees are the only living members of the tribe Apini, and belong to the Hymenoptera

order, based on how honey bees nest. Apis are classified into nine species of three branches that

thrive in various environments from rain forests to deserts. The branches are: Apis laboriosa: the

giant open-nesting honey bees, Apis florae and Apis andreniformis: the dwarf, single-combed honey

bees, and the cavity-nesting honey bees: Apis cerana, Apis koschevnikovi, Apis nuluensis, Apis

nigrocincta, and Apis mellifera.

Pavol Návrat, "Bee Hive Metaphor for Web Search," in International Conference on Computer

Systems and Technologies - CompSysTech’ 06 (Varna: University of Veliko Tarnovo, 2006).

http://ecet.ecs.ru.acad.bg/cst06/Docs/cp/SIII/IIIA.12.pdf. (accessed December 2007)

54 Ibid.

Apis mellifera, commonly known as the honey bee has been studied extensively by natural scientists,

e.g. sociobiologists and behavioural physiologists. “As a social insect bees collect food (nectar) from

sources distanced up to 10 kms from the hive. The colony uses simple rules to dispatch bees towards

the best nectar source available. In this process of foraging, the bees return with nectar and the

information about its source. Since the sources are not constant, new ones appear here and there from

time to time…The colony keeps on adapting itself … and to maintain a sufficient influx of food,

some division of the labour … is necessary…. The foraging bees are able to pass the information

they have on the location of the food source they visited onto other bees, and other bees are able to

receive that information. Important role in the process of communication plays a waggle dance.” p.

II-IIIA.

55 Tammy Horn, "Honey Bees: A History," The New York Times, April 11 2008.

http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/honey-bees-a-history/ (accessed June 2008)

56 Don Causey, Killer Insects (New York: Franklin Watts, 1979). p. 33-41.

Killer bees are a result of failed scientific experimentation to create a hybrid species of African

honey bee with various European honey bees. The killer bees are also called Africanized Honey bees

(AHD) and in Brazil they are refereed to as Assassin Bees.

31

The hive is made of beeswax and it is a densely packed matrix of hexagonal

cells used for food storage as well as for the brood. The worker bees are female bees

that cannot reproduce. They are the largest population (almost 98%) of a colony.

They have the task of collecting, producing and storing honey while maintaining and

protecting the hive. They have a barbed stinger and poisoned gland. Once they sting, it

detaches from the abdomen and kills the bee. The drones are male bees that have no

stings and cannot collect pollen. They are fed by worker bees, produce beeswax and

after mating with the queen, they die immediately. In the fall and winter season, the

worker bees expel any remaining drones out of the hive to starve and die. The queen

bee is heavily guarded by young worker bees that also feed her ‘royal jelly’.57

Currently, all over the world, bees are mysteriously disappearing due to

"Colony Collapse Disorder”, the Varroa mite (also known as Varroa Destructor),

an Asian parasite (Korean origin), which is potentially devastating to crops that

depend on bees for pollination. The devastation is so severe that Australia now is the

only country to avoid the disorder. Honey is still produced without pesticides, but not

for long.58 Furthermore, natural disasters, war, politics and bad management also

affect the population of bees. For example, besides innocent civilians, the bees were

also casualties of war in Iraq. In Iraq the saying goes that “every Iraqi farmer is a

beekeeper”. During the war honey production is plummeting and the Iraqis “ceased t

o continue a practice which was once embraced, that of beekeeping”.59

Killer bees and honey bees are used to represent “US” and “Them” in the

Buzzwords etching installation discussed in Chapter Six, Section 6.24a.

2.2 Beehive Metaphor

The Australian Oxford Dictionary defines metaphor as “[t]he application of a name or

descriptive term or phrase to an object or action to which it is imaginatively but not

57 Horn, "Honey Bees: A History."

58 Tara Brown, "Bee Afraid," in 60 Minutes (Australia: NINEMSN, 2008).

See full transcript and video available on NINEMSN “60 Minutes’ website at:

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=560012

59 Bookishone, "The Future of the Bee in Iraq," shvoong.com, http://www.shvoong.com/exact-

sciences/zoology/1718831-future-bee-iraq/. (accessed January 11, 2007)

32

literally applicable.”60 In my art practice, the beehive and its paraphernalia is used to

represent the post-9/11, Muslim male identity. The Beehive Metaphor is also the title

of an acclaimed book by Juan Antonio Ramirez,61 that examines the beehive and the

cultural, social, religious, scientific, artistic and gender analogies the beehive metaphor

produces. He shows how the beehive’s lucid modular structure has had a considerable

influence on the architects and artists62 who founded the Modern movement and

transformed the urban landscape into a hive of concrete.63 Various visual references in

this book informed my research, such as the inverted parabolic growth of a hive and its

visual and philosophical resemblance of the arches to religious buildings (churches and

mosques), as well as the symmetry and ornamentation of tiling, floor patterns and dome

design and decoration.

Since the age of agriculture, apiculture (bee culture) has been linked to concepts

of perfection, organization, virtuous and ideal societies with the honey bee as its noble,

sacred and ideal resident. 64 The hive, honey and wax have provided the basis for

countless positive metaphors of sweetness, nutritional goodness, medicinal attributes

and productivity. The natural architecture created by bees in their hives can be said to

approach perfection and such notions appear in both Islamic and Western culture.

Killer Bees, by contrast, are unequivocally perceived as aggressive and are

widely feared by the public. During the 1990s a widespread fear of bees was triggered

by rumours about a possible attack of ‘killer bees’ that could result in the death of many

Americans,65 a stereotype was lodged in the public subconscious.

60 "Metaphor," in The Australian Oxford Dictionary, ed. Bruce Moore and National Dictionary Centre

(South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004). p. 802.

61 Juan Antonio Ramirez, Beehive Metaphor: From Gaudí to Le Corbusier, Illustrated ed. (London:

Reaktion Books 2000).

Inspired by his own father's obsession with bee-keeping, which wiped out the family's fortune -

Ramirez examines the complex ideological, political and artistic repercussions of apian metaphors,

thereby enhancing our understanding of the relationship between ecology, animal husbandry and

architecture. In The Beehive Metaphors, Juan Antonio Ramirez examined the work of Gaudi, Mies

van der Rohe, Peter Behrens, Bruno Taut and Le Corbusier.

62 Beehive Metaphor Chapter Titles: Sacred bees, Industrial Hive, Spiritual bee, Hive of Terror.

63 Models from both traditional and "modern" or "rational" apiculture were studied and reinterpreted by

such key figures as Gaudi, Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and

Beuys.

Ramirez, Beehive Metaphor: From Gaudí to Le Corbusier.

64 Horn, "Honey Bees: A History."

65 Causey, Killer Insects. p. 33-34

33

2.2a Beehive Metaphors and the Western World

In Judaeo-Christian faith bees are emblematic of the rebirth of Christ,66 honey

representing Christ’s compassion and the bee’s stinger symbolizing “Christ as judge of

the world.”67 In the Old Testament, bees are “associated with armies of enemies” and,

according to ancient tradition, bees collect their young from among the blossoms. In the

Middle Ages this became a symbol of the Immaculate Conception.68 Bees are a symbol

of hope, immortality and vitality. Such metaphorical notions echo through many Greek

myths and social traditions.69 The myth of ox-blood born bees is an ancient superstition

in which bees are reproduced from the decaying flesh of oxen.70 This superstition

remained so strong that it evolved, assuming mythical status, survived the Middle Ages,

existing still in some parts of the world. Metaphorically, the Oriental wasp (a type of

bee terrorist) is a modern day version of ox-blood born bees.71 Bees do not touch the

decaying flesh, as in the superstition, but might however “easily take possession of a

hollow carcase with the dried skin remaining over the bones,”72 or sting, or cover-up a

living body in a form of bee beard. In more recent times, bee bearding, a practice begun

in the 1830s by Russian beekeeper, Perter Prokopovitch, has “spread to various ‘freak’

exhibitions at American carnivals.73 In the series of etchings and drawings [See figures

66 The bee appears to die in winter and return in spring.

67 Udo Becker and Lance W. Garmer, "Bee," in The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols (New York:

Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000). p. 38.

68 Michael Ferber, "Bee," in The Dictionary of Literary Symbols (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2007). p. 38.

69 Hilda M. Ransome, The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore, Illustrated ed. (London: Courier

Dover Publications, 2004). p. 91-94.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=S_rSHkGVDOkC&printsec=frontcover. (accessed March

2009).

The priestesses of Demeter and Diana were called Melissai (bees). Also Apollo's gift of prophecy

first came to him from three bee-maidens, usually identified with the Thriae. The use of honey and

bees wax also contributed to many myths and legends. One of the mountain nymphs, Melissa

(honey-bee) saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by his father Cronus and hid him in hills

where she took care of him, and fed him plundered bee hives and stole goat milk for him. In another

myth, Plutarch introduces us to dead oxen bred bees and wasps in the biography of the exile king of

Sparta, Cleomenes, who had been killed by the king of Egypt and became a hero, a martyr.

70 Ibid.

The myth of the Ox-blood born bees is connected to Aristaeus, “described as a ‘honey Lord,’ of

Greek origins but which evident from the writings of Latin poets, Ovid and Vergil.” The myth of ox-

born bees is also attributed to Egypt as the bull (Api). In Egyptian mythology, bees grew from the

tears of the sun god Ra when they landed on the desert sand. The bowstring on Hindu love god

Kamadeva’s bow is made of honeybees.

71 A large wasp that is found in Iraq and known for sweet tooth for honey bee. It bite the head of the

honeybee right off.

72 Ransome, The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore. p. 115-116.

73 Available online: http://www.squidoo.com/bee-beard. (accessed March 2009).

34

51-56 (Chapter 6 Section 6.24)] the myth of ox-blood born bees are contemporized,

re-interpreted and camouflaged in a form of bee bearding to represent the making of a

terrorist, concealed war crimes, and a stinging economy.

With its polarity, multiplicity and notions of perfection, beehive metaphors

are part of various Western schools of thought and organizations that use it for

their ideological framework, such as the Priory of Sion and the Freemasons Society

who have used bees as a symbol of industry, conformity and rebirth.74 The beehive

Masonic associations gave rise to such interesting speculations, that the founder of

the secret society known as Order of the Illuminati,75 initially considered naming

his order ‘Bees’.76

Besides Vigil, many other philosophers and political theorists such as Aristotle

and Plato have used the beehive community as an example of Utopia. Aristotle in

Politics used Beehive as a metaphor to justify slavery and one-man rule in the state.77

Such ideas can still be encountered today. Jacques Derrida has written a book on

philosophy’s of the bees and on several occasions, called attention to the long tradition

“on the philosophical topos of the bee” that prevails in the West, from Aristotle through

to Schelling, Marx, Heidegger, and Lacan, a tradition of thinking “the sense and senses

of the bee, and the bee’s reason for being”, always in the interests of distinguishing in

binary fashion, the being of the bee from the being of man.78 Furthermore, the

speechless bee, deprived of language, is, to use Heidegger’s word, ‘benommen’: dazed,

stupefied, dumb. Likewise, Aristotle, in the first lines of his Metaphysics, inaugurates

this tradition’s binary model for the difference of species, by explaining that the bee is

dumb because it is deaf: bees are incapable of hearing sound, he claims, thus they

cannot learn or be taught. Through bees, Derrida also reflects on multiplicity as the

74 As a Masonic symbol, it teaches that "Industry is a virtue that should be practised by all created

beings, from the highest seraph in the Heavens to the lowest reptile in the dust". See my Harwood in

The Freemasons, 2006.

75 A‘secret’ society founded by the German philosopher Johann Adam Weishaupt on 1 May, 1776

76 The illuminati with their quest for world domination has a complicated network of spies and “cell-

like” hideouts and an ingenuous communication system where “the bees” report to an unknown

“queen Bee.” This gave rise to the Beehive as a metaphor for control over the proletariat (Latin for

offspring) or the masses.

77 Ramirez, Beehive Metaphor: From Gaudí to Le Corbusier. p. 18.

78 Dawne McCance, "Introduction," Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature I,

no. 42 (2009). p. v.

Also available in pdf format:

http://www.umanitoba.ca/publications/mosaic/issues/_resources/intro_42_1.pdf.

35

metaphysic of identity and difference, a numerical seed and a “Logic set down as a

swarm of bees, a division at work.”79 Nietzsche80 and Foucault delve into various

notions of the beehive in their ground breaking thinking on issues such as the conflict

between nationalism and cosmopolitanism, individual identity versus group identity,

religion and science, and the relationship between politics and culture that eventually

informed Edward Said’s thesis, Orientalism.

Heidegger’s ‘benommen’ bees, Aristotle’s dumb bees, Derrida’s numerically

multiplying swarm of bees, are hiving in all my artworks as discussed in Chapter Six.

2.2b Beehive Metaphors and the Islamic World

The background discussion of this research (see Chapter One) regarding

the construction of a Muslim male identity and various aspects of the Prophet

Muhammad’s (s.a.a.w) life is further explored here through beehive metaphors. Bees

hold a noble stature in Islam and have religious, socio-political, cultural and personal

significance. In Islam, bees represent the Mumin (believer); piety, conformity and

humbleness. There are many characteristics of a bee that Muslims are encouraged to

learn, and the wise already have them embedded in them.

In literal and mystical interpretations of Islam, bees are a highly regarded

creature and considered an epitome of perfection, harmony, sweetness. In Arabic bees

are called Nahl. Besides humans, bees are the only creatures with which Allah directly

converses in a Sura Al Nahl (Verse of bees) in the Holy Quran.

And thy Lord inspired the bee, saying: Choose thou habitations in the hills and in the

trees and in that which they thatch; then eat of all fruits, and follow the [ways] of thy

Lord, made smooth (for thee). There cometh forth from their bellies a drink diverse of

hues, wherein is healing for mankind. Lo! herein is indeed a portent for people who

[reflect]. [Al-Quran Sura 16 (Al-Nahl) Verses 68-69]

Also honey is considered as a heavenly delight as those who will go to Heaven will

drink from a river of honey. Honey is shifa and is known for its medicinal and healing

qualities.

79 Andrew Haas, Hegel and the Problem of Multiplicity (Evanston: Northwestern University Press,

2000). p. 5-16.

80 Laurence A. Rickels, ed. Looking after Nietzsche (Albany: SUNY Press,1990). p. 91-92.

36

Honey and halva (honey sweet) are said to have been favourite treats of the

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w). Bees also helped during a battle where they fed the

Prophet Muhammad and his followers who were unable to find anything to eat. The

renowned Turkish poet Yunus Emre (d. 1320) claimed that “bees hummed blessings on

the Prophet when entering their hive; and others wrote that it was such praise that gave

honey its sweetness.”81 According to a hadith by Abu Daood, the Holy Prophet said that

four creatures should not be killed: Ants, bees, hoopoes and sparrow-hawks.82 Some of

the rules that the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) said should be followed during a battle

also reiterate the preservation of bees. In a hadiah83 by Abu Bakr (r.a)84 he told a

military commander: "I advise you ... Do not kill women, or children, or an elderly,

infirm person. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Do not destroy an inhabited place.

Do not slaughter [animals] except for food. Do not [harm] honey bees. Do not steal

from the [spoils of war], and do not be cowardly." Yazid Ibn Abi Sufian, a general in

the Muslim army at the time of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) followed Prophet’s order:

“Do not burn bees and do not scatter them.” Ali Ibn Abi Talib was also known as the

“commander of the bees” and was said to be seen with a swarm of bees following him,

“once causing a group of people to embrace Islam on witnessing the miracle.”85

Sufis are also called the Bees of Islam. As Sufi poet Hasan Dedem said,

The wandering bee sucks here and there,

It hesitates from tree to tree,

The pious shun our company,

We are the honey and the bee.86

The word Sarmoun mean ‘those who are enlightened.’ In old Persian, the word

Sarmoun or Sarmon is ‘bee’ and it has been said that a Sarmoun Society, a brotherhood of

Sufis which dates back to Babylon time, symbolically use bees and honey as the premise

of their teachings. For them, the brotherhood is about “storing the ‘honey’ of both the

81 Zakariya Wright, "Rupture between Man and Bee?," Islam America.org,

http://www.islamamerica.org/ArticleLibrary/tabid/55/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/138/Rupture-

between-man-and-bee.aspx. (accessed March 2009)

82 Abu Dawud."Book of General Behaviour." Sunan Abu Dawud.

83 Teachings of Prophet Muhammad Life

84 The Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.a.w) successor and the first Khalifa of Islam.

85 Wright, "Rupture between Man and Bee?."

86 Hasan Dede: A fifteenth-to sixteenth-century poet of Bektashi tradition, he seems to have lived near

Ankara and set up a dervish lodge there. What little survived from his is closely connected with the

work of E�refo�lu.

37

traditional wisdom and the supernatural energy or baraka enabling it to be understood,

and sending this double ‘nectar’ out into the world in times of great need.”87

Although in Muslim culture honey bees are considered as small noble creatures

that are quick and efficient, they have also been metaphorically associated with

hierarchy, territoriality, discrimination and domination. For example, bees rebelled

against humans as superior beings in the time of King Suliman. This revolt of the bees

against human hierarchy was extensively argued in the 9th

century Arab text, Ikwan-ul-

Safa (Encyclopaedia of the Brethren of Sincerity). Honey and bees also became the

‘cause and victim’ of jealousy and misunderstanding among the Prophet Muhammad’s

wives.88

During the Umayyad period, a weapon called Zamburak, a cannon for firing

large arrows, which literally means, ‘little bee or wasp’, was used. They were called this

because of the humming sound made by the thick bowstring. In a later Persian time, the

Zamburak name was given to a small canon.89

In the Jawahir al-Qur'an (The Jewels of the Qur'an),90 the 6th century Sufi poet,

Abdu Hamid al-Ghazali used the hexagonal structure of the beehive cells to unravel the

teachings of Qur’an.91 The hexagonal structure of the beehive has a special meaning in

87 Victoria Lepage, "G.I. Gurdjieff & the Hidden History of the Sufis," New Dawn Magazine, March-

April 2008. p. 57.

http://newdawnmagazine.com.au/Article/G.I._Gurdjieff_&_the_Hidden_History_of_the_Sufis.html.

(accessed December 2008).

88 Narrated ‘Ubaid bin ‘Umar:

I heard ‘Aisha saying, "The Prophet used to stay for a long while with Zaynab bint Jahsh and drink

honey at her house. So Hafsa and I decided that if the Prophet came to anyone of us, she should say

to him, ‘I detect the smell of Maghafir (a nasty smelling gum) in you. Have you eaten Maghafir?’"

So the Prophet visited one of them and she said to him similarly. The Prophet said, "Never mind, I

have taken some honey at the house of Zainab bint Jahsh, but I shall never drink of it anymore." So

there was revealed: ‘O Prophet! Why do you ban (for you) that which Allah has made lawful for you

… If you two (wives of Prophet) turn in repentance to Allah,’ (66.1-4) addressing Aisha and Hafsa.

‘When the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to some of his wives’ (66.3) namely his saying:

"But I have taken some honey."

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 63, page 192, Number 192).

89 William Irvine, The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration (London:

Luzac & Co, 1903). p. 136.

90 Ghazali write this short treatise on the Muslim scripture Qur’an at an advanced age, a time when he

had already composed his masterly expositions of Islamic intellectual science in such important

works as Ihya' ulum al-din and Tahafut al-falasifa, The Jewels of the Qur'an presents the

understanding and reflections on the Qur'an of an accomplished Sufi master who had ascended to a

spiritual and intellectual station which would make.

91 Muzaffar Iqbal, "Islam & Science," December 22 2007.

Also see

38

Islamic design and architecture. The tessellation of a hexagon (honeybee comb) is also

the single most common architectonic element in Islamic architecture. It is known as

Muqarnas, and its basic shape is a Necker cube.92 Based on the geometrical principal of

line symmetry and multiplicity, as shown by J. Bourgoin in his collection of interlace

patterning,93 this pattern represents perfection.

The relationships of circle, square, and then the perfection of the hexagon

are intrinsic to the mythical creation of the body, and the construction of identity in my

artwork. The geometry of the hexagon is a perfect example of harmony and

multiplicity. It can be linked to the geometry of Kab’ba. This link is based on a

mathematical diagram by Claude Humbert in Islamic Ornamental Design, which

suggests the possibility of a three-dimensional interpretation of a Necker cube grid.

From a mathematical perspective, the two-dimensional form of a hexagon is a Necker

cube, an ambiguous line drawing, an illusion, which is also a three-dimensional

isometric cube of the square of Kab’ba. On the grounds of Islamic spirituality,

Muqarnas act as a bridge between straight and curved space, or in a spiritual sense, the

linear (earthly) world, and the circular (divine) realm.94 Also from an analysis and a

cosmological approach to Islamic patterns attempted by Keith Crichlow in Islamic

Patterns, the square is representative of the world of the physical elements: “earth, air,

fire and water – the solid, liquid and gas and radiation state of energy.”95 The circle is

the “circle of man, the conscious animal [and] the hexagon is the number of perfection

and “symbolizes the six days of creation, which itself represents perfection.”96

Furthermore, the concept of multiplicity and repetition in the beehive structure

and the performative act of bees is symbolic of circumambulation of the Kab’ba (cube)

performed by the body.97 Mathematically the square root of 2 is used to “represent the

power of multiplicity, which can extend itself both towards the ultimate expansion and

Nora Belfedal, "Honey: The Antibiotic of the Future! Part 3: Healing "Bee Venom","

Islamonline.net,

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1157962488581&pagename=Zone-

English-HealthScience%2FHSELayout. (accessed March 2008).

92 Necker cube is a division of hexagon and vice versa It is derived from the squaring the circle.

93 J. Bourgoin: his collection of Islamic interlacing patterns were originally published

in 1879 as Les Elements de I’Art Arabe: Le Trait Enterlace.

94 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic Art and Spirituality (Lahore: Oxford University Press, 1990). p. 136.

95 Keith Critchlow, Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach (London: Thames and

Hudson, 1976). p. 150.

96 Ibid., p. 150.

97 Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice (Thames and Hudson, 1982). sp. 79.

39

towards utterly minute finiteness.”98 Furthermore, the ubiquitous mathematical concept

of square root or 1: root 2 “relationship is fundamental to the design [star shape based on

tessellation of hexagon] of Islamic floor mosaics as well as to the propositions of the

honey bee.”99

Figure 10: The form and proportions of the Honeybees – relating to the root of 2. Robert Lawlor. art diagram

In this chapter, it is demonstrated that beehive metaphors may be polarised,

having been used both in positive as well as negative aspects of identity, in the East and

the West. In the West, this duality can be traced back to as early as Christ as well as

going back to Greek mythology, and arriving at various discourses of philosophical,

political, social and artistic origins. In the Islamic world, it has been associated with

jealousy and revolts but mostly holds a positive and spiritual connotation and has

inspired prophets, thinkers, poets and artist throughout the Islamic history. A honey bee

symbolises a Mumin who must submit, stay steadfast, realize his purpose to convey the

message of Allah and do good deeds, similar to a bee who was given a goal to produce

honey, never rest until the task is finished and travel far and beyond to get what is

necessary to complete the mission. Such concepts or submission, piety, and singular

purpose, are core aspects of the development of the Muslim male identity through

history. It is at a crossroads in current times, when such notions of piety are marked as

stereotypically fundamentalist (read terrorist here) in the West. This transformation

(true and stereotypical) from Mumin, a honeybee, to fundamentalist killer bees are a

key topic in Chapters Three and Four.

98 Ibid. p. 28-30.

99 Ibid. p. 31.

40

Chapter Three

Identity and Stereotypes

Published images of the nineteen 9/11 terrorist attackers by the Federal Bureau

of Investigation (F.B.I.) showed mostly “generic mug shots of a man of Middle Eastern

ancestry”100 and among them only a handful sprouted the beard or a mark of prostration.

However before the release of such images, the media had speculatively rendered an

image of terrorists as ‘“brown-skinned men with beards … regardless of their actual

faith or nationality” which eventually contributed to casting “Muslims as a race,”101 as

evil. When terrorists appear dissimilar from the dominant Anglo American stereotype,

Dani explains:

“It is easy to extend that label to stereotypically include other people who happen to

share a religion, culture, or physical look, or even to encompass an entire geographical

region as the home of terrorist. 102

In this chapter the emergence and nature of such labelling and stereotypes

will be discussed. Edward Said’s thesis of Orientalism will provide the theoretical

framework while Homi Bhabha’s notion of the stereotype as mimicry (camouflage) will

support the notions of identity as the Other and Self-Othering in a Muslim male’s

identity construct, post-9/11. This will be supported by stereotypes noted from

literature, art, and media.

3.1 Definition of Terms

3.1a Islamophobia

The term 'Islamophobia' literally means, fear of Islam, and many refer to it as

unfounded hostility and fear towards Islam and Muslims.103 It is a new addition to the

100 Deni Elliot, "Terrorists We Like and Terrorist We Don't Like," in Images That Injure: Pictorial

Stereotypes in Media, ed. Paul Martin Lester and Susan Dente Ross (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger,

2003). p. 52.

101 Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, "9/11: Five Years Later, Typecasting Muslims as a Race," San Francisco

Chronicle, September 03 2006. p. A1.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/03/MNG4FKUMR71.DTL (accessed

January 20, 2008).

102 Elliot, "Terrorists We Like and Terrorist We Don't Like." p. 52.

41

English language, used for the first time in print in 1991 and became commonly known

after the publication of Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All by the Runnymede

Trust in 1997.104 The report identifies eight components, in which Islam is seen as

“monolithic, unresponsive to change, separate, and 'other'. It is also seen as inferior

to the West, barbaric, irrational, primitive, sexist as well as aggressive and threatening.

Islam is seen as supportive of terrorism and engaged in a ‘clash of civilisations’

based on a political ideology that is used for political or military advantage. Anti-

Muslim hostility is seen as ‘natural or normal’.105 However, for al-Maktabi, the term

‘Islamophobia’ does not effectively articulate “the full range and depth of antipathy

towards Islam and Muslims in the West today,”106 and he finds “anti-Islamic racism”

as more accurate “for it combines the elements of dislike of a religion and active

discrimination against the people belonging to that religion.”107

3.1b Stereotype

The Australian Oxford Dictionary defines stereotype as “a preconceived,

standardized, and oversimplified impression of the characteristics which typify a

person, situation etc.”108

103 Parvez Ahmed, "Prejudice Is Real and Exacts a Heavy Toll," in Islamophobia and Anti

Americanism: Cause and Remedies, ed. Mohamed Nimer (Beltsville: Amana Publications, 2007).

p.15.

104 See full Islamophobia report by Runnymede Trust, Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All. Rydl

Report. http://www.runnymedetrust.org/projects/commissionOnBritishMuslims.html.

According to the Runnymede Trust, the Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All (1997) document is

widely recognized even among the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. Under

the chairmanship of Professor Gordon Conway, Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All is a

consultative research report on British Muslims and Islamophobia. Under the Runnymede Trust

commission, it was launched in November 1997 by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, and later

recommissioned and republished as a follow up report in 2004. In this report Islamophobia had been

studied in relation to a British Muslim population with tangible responses, from the general public

and policy makers. Various aspects of this report echoes the concerns raised internationally, hence it

received a global recognition.

105 Islamophobia: Issues, Challenges and Action by the Commission on British Muslims and

Islamophobia, 2 June 2004. Published by Trentham Books.

106 al-Maktabi, "Islamophobia," salam.co.uk, http://www.salaam.co.uk/maktabi/islamophobia.html.

(accessed April 21, 2009).

In Greek 'Phobia' means dread or horror. Also the term xenophobia, fear of Others, It is an

inadequate term. For our discussion, as al-Maktabi also pointed out, that based on the such basic

terms, Islamophobia means “fear of foreigners or dread of strangers [read Muslims here]. Attitudes

and policies towards Muslims in America, Britain and Europe have a mixture of dread (phobia) and

outright racism. Thus attitudes towards Muslims combine fear and active hostility.”

107 Ibid.

108 "Stereotype," in The Australian Oxford Dictionary, ed. Bruce Moore and National Dictionary Centre

(South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004). p. 1268.

42

Because in this research the focus is the theme of Muslim male identity in

contemporary visual arts - recurring, mimicking, efficient and increasingly multiplying,

represented through advertising and media - the above definition does not completely

specify the needs of this research. Linguistically, ‘stereotype’ has a close association

with “journalism as a trade.” The original stereotype was a printing plate, sometimes

called a fong. The typesetter created this plate by imposing a rigid mold on the subject.

These plates are for repetitive use to mass-produce the same material without losing

quality and offers mechanistic efficiency. In my research, I promulgate this repetitive

and multiple use of a stereotype and extend it beyond its original social and physical

intent to the realm of visual language.

3.2 Orientalism and its Others

Long before September 11, Postcolonial theorist Edward Said in his ground-

breaking thesis, Orientalism, called the Orient a “European invention, a place for

romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes.”109 As a “cultural

contestant”, according to Said, the East was always one of the West’s “deepest and

most recurring images of the Other.”110 Images on one hand are exotic and ‘mysterious,

duplicitous’, and on the other hand are ‘dark’ and ‘barbaric’. The East (read Muslim

culture) is the focus of a thesis on the ‘clash of civilizations’ by Western scholar

Samuel P. Huntington who in 1997 argued that the “cause of the renewed conflict

between Islam and the West thus lie in fundamental questions of power and culture….

Who is to rule? Who is to be ruled?”111 He further prophesied that,

Islam and the West will clash “[s]o long as Islam remains Islam (which it will) and the

West remains the West (which is more dubious). This fundamental conflict between

two great civilizations and ways of life will continue to define their relations to the

future even as it has defined them for the past fourteen centuries.”112

Other Western scholars also share Huntington’s views that Islam does not encourage

democracy. Bernard Lewis writes about the decline of Muslim civilization and its

incompatibility with democracy, whereas Francis Fukayama declared, “radical Islamists

109 Edward W. Said, Orientalism, Reprint ed. (London: Penguin Books, 2003). p. 1.

110 Ibid. p. 1.

111 Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, 1 ed. (New

York: Simon & Schuster, 1997). p.211.

112 Ibid. p. 212.

43

are the fascists of the modern world.”113 Said challenged such views and called them

stereotypical, based on an Orientalist imagination and hostile generalisations about

Muslims and Islam in the West.

For Said the basic condition of “otherness” in an Orientalist sense is ‘muteness’

as he made apparent on the very first page of Orientalism where he quoted Karl Marx:

“They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented.”114 Hence the Orientalist

(the West) became the speakers for the mute Orient (Arabs). However, for Meecham

and Seldon the conditions of muteness are not arbitrary and “have arisen out of a set

of complex historical circumstances in patriarchal, imperialist and capitalist trade

dealings.”115 In current times imperialistic America seems to know the importance

of such “Orientalist dealings” in the Arab region, and further, Asia. Said agrees:

“Orientalism has also spread in the United States now that Arab money and resources

have added considerable glamour to the traditional ‘concern’ felt for the strategically

important Orient.”116 For Said, “Orientalism has been successfully accommodated to

the new imperialism, where its ruling paradigms do not contest, and even conform,

the continuing imperial design to dominate Asia.”

‘The deprived Others of the East’ are heavily embedded and further stripped in

post colonial discourse where the binary nature of Empire is revealed as a traumatised

‘them’ and triumphal ‘Us’. Using ideas derived from Fanon and Freud, post colonialist

theorist Homi Bhabha has seen the colonial stereotype as essentially “colonial

ambivalent”, that is, largely based on the Lacanian idea of mimicry.117 For Bhabha,

mimicry “emerges as the representation of a difference that is itself a process of

113 Samer Shehata, "Popular Media and Opinion Leaders Are to Blame," in Islamophobia and Anti

Americanism: Cause and Remedies, ed. Mohamed Nimer (Beltsville: Amana Publications, 2007). p.

86.

114 Said, Orientalism. p. xxvi.

115 Pam Meecham and Julie Sheldon, Modern Art: A Critical Introduction (London: Routledge, 2004).

p. 94.

116 Said, Orientalism. p. 322.

117 “Mimicry reveals something in so far as it is distinct from what might be called an itself that is

behind. The effect of mimicry is camouflage.... It is not a question of harmonizing with the

background, but against a mottled background, of becoming mottled - exactly like the technique of

camouflage practised in human warfare.”

Homi K. Bhabha, "Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse," in The Location

of Culture (London: Routledge, 1994). p. 85.

Also see:

Jacques Lacan, The Line and the Light, trans. Allen Sheridan (London: The Hogarth Press and The

institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1977). p. 99.

44

disavowal. Mimicry is thus the sign of a double articulation; a complex strategy of

reform, regulation and discipline, which 'appropriates' the Other as it visualizes

power.”118 Furthermore, “In mimicry, the representation of identity … is like

camouflage”. It is a form of resemblance that displays itself in part, metonymically

to protect its true identity.”119

In The Other Question: Stereotype, Discrimination and the Discourse of

Colonialism, Homi K. Bhabha explains the complex nature of the stereotype in

colonialist discourse. For Bhabha, “[s]tereotyping is not the setting up of a false image

that becomes the scapegoat of discriminatory practices.” Furthermore, in decoding

the true nature of stereotype and to “resist the totalizing effect of the simplification

of knowledge generated by stereotypes” more information and fresh methods to

accumulate new knowledge are required.120 This new knowledge, in Bhabha’s view,

“is a non-repressive form of knowledge that allows for the possibility of simultaneously

embracing two contradictory beliefs, one official and one secret, one archaic and one

progressive, one that allows the myth of origins, the other that articulates difference and

division”.121 Such contradiction culminates in a type of ‘self-othering’ where one “see

itself” as other, and ‘mimicised’. Furthermore, such self-othering identities “change

their conditions of recognition while maintaining their visibility: they introduce a lack

that is then represented as a doubling or mimicry.”122

For Hall, such self-identities position themselves within the narratives of

the past.123 Others argue in a similar vein that Muslims are looking for ways to

“contemporize” and, find themselves in a mist of duality, facing self-othering. On

the one hand it is “the colonial experience” in Said's 'Orientalist' sense, but also a

construction of “different and other within the categories of knowledge of the West by

those regimes, that make us see and experience ourselves as 'Other’.124 As Edward Said

118 Bhabha, "Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse." p. 86.

119 Ibid. p. 90.

120 Jonathan Brennan, ed. Mixed Race Literature illustrated ed. (Stanford: Stanford University

Press,2002). p. 81

121 Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture (London: Routledge, 1994). p. 80.

122 Ibid. p. 161.

123 Stuart Hall, "Cultural Identity and Diaspora," in Identity and Difference, ed. Kathryn Woodward

(Sage, 1997). p. 51-52.

124 ———, "Cultural Identity and Diaspora," in The Post-Colonial Studies Reader ed. Bill Ashcroft,

Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin (New York: Taylor & Francis, 2006). p. 425.

45

pointed out, a chief characteristic of colonial discourse is to deny dialogue, to deny that

the others are capable of representing themselves – in the case of Orientalism, experts

claim to “know more about Islam than Islam knows about itself.”125

It seems that the self-othered Muslim identity is crippled and deformed with

their inner expropriation of a conflicted cultural identity - the weight of becoming

totalitarian and pure, or, modern and reformed. They became, in Fanon’s eyes,

“individuals without an anchor, without horizon, colourless, stateless, rootless - a race

of angels”126 that fell from grace. And, using the bee metaphor, stung by its own sting.

3.3 Muslim Male Stereotypes: From Orient to the Present

For visual clues and interpretations of Muslim male stereotypes as Other, Said

suggests looking for truisms. He writes:

“The things to look at are style, figures of speech, setting, narrative devices, historical

and social circumstances, not the correctness of the representation nor its fidelity to

some great original. The exteriority of the representation is always governed by some

version of the truism that if the Orient could represent itself, it would; since it cannot,

the representation does the job, for the West and faute de mieux, for the poor Orient.127

As a journalist, Mark Twain recast many of the centuries old stereotypes into

American minds when he set off to visit the Orient and recorded his views on Arab

culture in Innocent Abroad. He introduces Arab culture as ‘filth’, ‘violent’ and

‘confused’. He found Arabs “the ugliest” and “wickedest-looking villains” and veiled

women like mummies, and the narrow streets of the Arab world as “swarmed like a

hive with men and women in strange Oriental costumes.”128

According to Meecham and Sheldon, Said “exposed Orientalism as a peculiarly

western discourse based largely upon stereotypes of turban-wearing despots, boasting

exotic harems of scantily clad odalisques attended by eunuchs.”129

125 Edward W. Said, "Orientalism Reconsidered," Cultural Critique Autumn, no. 1 (1995). p. 89-107.

126 Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (London: Penguin, 2001). p. 175-177.

127 Said, Orientalism. pg. 21.

Faute de mieux means ‘for want of something better’.

128 Nancy Beth Jackson, "Arabs and Arabs Americans: Ancient Middle East Conflict Hit Home," in

Images That Injure: Pictorial Stereotypes in Media, ed. Paul Martin Lester and Susan Dente Ross

(Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2003). p. 81.

46

Such images of sexualised and exotic Muslim males were also a “fashion in art”

for Orientalist painters such as Gerome and Eugene Delacroix. They represented the

‘other’ as “a white male who belonged to a colonial nation.” 130

3.4 Muslim Male Stereotypes: Post-9/11

“Islam’s relationship to the West [remains] marked by mutual ignorance, stereotyping,

contempt, and conflict…. Western fears and antipathies are fed … by media reports and

headlines events.… Old stereotypes of ‘the Arab’ and Islam in terms of Bedouin, desert,

camel, polygamy, harem, and rich oil sheiks have been replaced by those of gun-toting

mullahs or bearded, anti-Western fundamentalists.131

Long before 9/11, print media propagated the stereotypical images of Americans

using turban, beard and Muslim clothing as symbols of terrorism. Eli Sanders, Seattle

Times staff suggest that this tendency “may stem from the Iran hostage crisis of the late

1970s”.132 Time magazine printed, on the cover in 1979, Jean Leon Gerome’s painting,

The Call to Prayer, where a Muslim man is shown with beard and turban, on the

minaret of the Mosque, calling for prayer in a serene and exotic environment with a

heading, "Islam, The Militant Revival”. 133 After twenty-three years, Gerome’s praying

man will emerge on a Time magazine cover as a small portrait of Osama Bin laden

hidden among the white smoke of photoshopped clouds with a caption, “Why Can’t

We Catch Him?” This image seems to echo a photograph by Associate Press (AP)

photographer Mark D. Philips who “caught in a picture’s frame smoke that evokes an

eerie combination of eyes, nose, mouth, and horns that some viewers saw as the face of

Satan and others saw as an image of Osama Bin Laden.”134 Another example is the

illustration for the lead article in Atlantic Monthly’s September 1990 issue, “The Roots

129 Meecham and Sheldon, Modern Art: A Critical Introduction. p. 93.

130 Ibid. p. 119.

131 Susan Dente Ross, "Unequal Combatants on an Uneven Media Battlefield: Palestine and Israel," in

Images That Injure: Pictorial Stereotypes in Media, ed. Paul Martin Lester and Susan Dente Ross

(Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2003). p. 58-59.

Also see:

John L Esposito, The Islamic Threat, Myth or Reality? (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

p.25.

132 Elliot, "Terrorists We Like and Terrorist We Don't Like." p. 52.

133 Time magazine cover, issue date April 16, 1979

134 Elliot, "Terrorists We Like and Terrorist We Don't Like." p. 51.

Available online: http://www.newcovenantfellowship.us/The_Kingdom/Faces_of_Evil.htm

47

of Muslim Rage” by Lewis. The cover of the magazine features “a bearded, turbaned,

glowering, dark-skinned Muslim with American flags reflected in his piercing eyes.

For the article, two illustrations are used. “In one, a snake marked with stars and stripes

slithers across a desert; in the other, the snake rears for attack behind a praying Muslim.

Clearly the theme is one of mutual antagonism, confrontation, and threat.”135

Figure 11: Time magazine cover, issue date April 16,

1979. Image from www.time.com

Figure 12: Time magazine cover, issue date November

25, 2002. Image from www.time.com

The covers of other major U.S. news magazines, Newsweek, The Economist,

and the New Yorker, were no exception. In March 2009, Newsweek uses the headline,

“Radical Islam is a fact of life. How to live with it”136, and in October 2008 printed a

photograph of Muslim men with long beards and raging eyes caught in a frozen moment

of protest and anger with the tag line, “The Most Dangerous Nation in the World isn’t

Iraq. It’s Pakistan.”137 Ironically, similar images of Muslim rage and protest, which were

plastered all over the Western media, are mostly a result of a Western call for “freedom

of expression”, either in the form of a publication of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w)

cartoons in a regional Danish newspaper, or after the Pope’s speech.138 Furthermore, as

illustrated by Susan Ross, the rhetoric on such right-wing radio talk shows by religious

135 Ross, "Unequal Combatants on an Uneven Media Battlefield: Palestine and Israel." p. 59.

136 Newsweek magazine cover, issue date March 2, 2009

137 Newsweek magazine cover, issue date October 29, 2008

138 "Pope Sorry for Offending Muslims ", BBC News, September 17 2006.

48

leaders who were often invited by government officials and politicians, such as Jerry

Falwell and Pat Robertson,139 have called Islam “‘a wicked religion”, the Prophet

Muhammad ‘a terrorist,’ and Muslims ‘worse than Nazis.”140 On 60 Minutes, the

popular American news show, Jerry Falwell141 declared, “‘I think Muhammad was a

terrorist …Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses, and I think Muhammad set an

opposite example.”142 Pat Robertson described Muhammad as “’absolute wild-eyed

fanatic … a robber and brigand … a killer.” 143

Well before 9/11, Arabs and Muslims were frequently presented as terrorist and

religious fanatics in American popular culture. This has long been demonstrated by

such works as Jack Saheen’s The TV Arab (1984),144 Real Bad Arabs (2001)145 and,

Real Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (2001),146 Melani McAlister’s Epic

Encounters: Culture, Media, and US Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000, (2001).147

Edward Said classic Covering Islam, (1981) is another prime examples where the

stereotypical and Orientalist mind set of Western media towards Islam is uncovered.

For Said, the Western media sees Islam as “a scapegoat for everything” and asserts that,

“For the right, Islam represents barbarism; for the left, medieval theocracy;

for the center, a kind of distasteful exoticism. In all camps, however, there is

agreement that even though little enough is known about the Islamic world there

is not much to be approved of there.”148

Since 9/11 many more movies came out with Islamophobic storylines and

stereotypes of the Muslim male. It seems that Hollywood's description of Arabs and

139 Popular televangelist on Christen Broadcasting Network and the founder of Christian Coalition

140 Mohamed Nimer, "Introduction: Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism Are Mutually Reinforcing," in

Islamophobia and Anti Americanism: Cause and Remedies, ed. Mohamed Nimer (Beltsville: Amana

Publications, 2007). p. 1.

141 Baptist Minister and founder of the Moral Majority

142 Shehata, "Popular Media and Opinion Leaders Are to Blame." p. 85.

143 Ibid. p. 86.

144 Bowling Green State University Popular Press: 1984.

145 Interlink Publishing Group: 2001.

146 Jack G. Shaheen, Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (London: Interlink Publishing

Group, 2001).

A survey of more than 900 American movies (mostly) that show portrayals, appearances and role

that Arabs plays in Hollywood.

147 (University of California Press: 2001)

148 Edward W. Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest

of the World, Reprint ed. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1981). p. xv

49

Islam became the script of U.S. foreign policy149 which resulted in the ‘War on Terror’.

The most common traits of the Islam and Muslim male identity in late twentieth

century Hollywood, as well as television, lie at two ends of the stereotype spectrum. At

one end it is barbarism, cruelty, violence and horse riders with large swords who torture

and kill senselessly, similar to the critically acclaimed movie, Lawrence of Arabia

(1962) as pointed out by Jack G. Shaheen.150 On the other end is the Muslim male from

the Orient who is exotic, goes to bath houses, a Sultan, a despot, who owns mysterious

lamps and beautiful prayer rugs that can also fly. Movies like Academy Award winning

Disney’s Aladdin (1993) with its main character, Aladdin, as a big turban wearer, a bare

chested boy with a big nose who has a magic lamp and flies on a magic rug singing,

“I come from a land, from afar away place, Flat and intense and the heat is immense.

It’s barbaric but hey, it’s home.” The movie was heavily criticized and a successful

protest launched in 1993.151

Right after the destruction of World Trade Center, various incidents of prejudice

and stereotyping were being reported. Muslims across the world began to feel the

impact of Islamophobia and were faced with discrimination and prejudgment due to

their appearance and cultural practices. Strict security was applied to Muslim males

with beards or suspicious acts (read prayer). In January 2004, The United States border

authorities were advised by the Department of Homeland Security to check for certain

"suicide bomber indicators” such as “a shaved head or short haircut … [and] recently

shaved beard or moustache. Furthermore, suspects “may smell of herbal or flower water

…, as they may have sprayed perfume on themselves, their clothing, and weapons to

prepare for Paradise." They were also told to look out for suspects who may have been

seen “praying fervently, giving the appearance of whispering to someone… [and

suspects may] have also placed identity cards in their shoes because they want to be

praised and recognized as martyrs.”152

149 Jack Shaheen, "Interview with Bart Griffion. Factory of Stereotypes," Socialist Review, June 2008.

150 Examples of other movies that also portrayed Muslim as barbaric and terrorist are: True Lies (1994),

The Siege (1998), The Mummy (1999), Rule of Engagement (2000), and most recently Iron Man

(2008).

151 American Arab Anti-Discrimination committee (ADC) accused Walt Disney’s studio of Arab

bashing in Aladdin and successfully argued the case, forcing the movie studio to amend the offensive

lyric and promise for be more sensitive and vigilant.

152 Paul Sperry, "When the Profile Fits the Crime " The New York Times, July 28 2005.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/opinion/28sperry.html?_r=1, (accessed March 2008).

50

Since 9/11, many cases of racial and religious ethnic profiling have being

recorded where people were being taken off flights because of their stereotypically

Islamic looks, actions or ‘alien’ language. For example in 2005 six imams were

handcuffed, detained, and thrown off a US Airways flight. For Legal Director of CAIR,

Arsalan Iftikhar, “Imam case is another example of flying while Muslim” and says that

“reactions like this to Muslims praying really strike at the heart of the fear and prejudice

that’s still so prevalent in this country.”153 And even today, similar incidents are

recorded where overheard discussion between bearded men of finding the “safest” seat

on the plane get nine Muslim family members removed from the AirTran flight on

January 1, 2009. For Aziz, one of the off loaded family members thinks that people

“see one Muslim talking to another Muslim and they automatically assume something

wrong is going on.”154

Many Muslim men decided to shave their beard to avoid such humiliation.

The August, 2006, "USA Today" Gallup poll155 found that almost 40 percent of

Americans admitted to harbouring feelings of prejudice against Muslims. With phases

like “Muslims are the new Jews”,156 the post-9/11 stereotyping and biased portrayal of

Muslims, specifically Arabs is compared, under the microscope of racial discrimination,

to pre-Nazi Germany “where Jews were painted as dark, shifty-eyed, venal and

threateningly different people.”157

This camouflaged hostility, anxiety and fear is manifesting as self-othering,

among Muslims, specifically among those who adhere to traditional Islamic laws,

values and rituals and facing challenges and stigma within community and cultures,

such that does not share their views and holds them as archaic and undemocratic. Benn

and Jawad write that hostility towards Islam and Muslims is "closely linked to media

portrayals of Islam as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist." In some societies,

Islamophobia has materialized due to the portrayal of Islam and Muslims as the national

"Other", where exclusion and discrimination occurs on the basis of their religion and

153 Jessica Bennett and Matthew Philips, "'Flying While Muslim'," Newsweek 2006. p. 1.

154 Mike M Ahlers, "'Safest' Seat Remarks Get Muslim Family Kicked Off Plane," CNN, January 02

2009.

155 See, http://poll.gallup.com/content/Default.aspx?ci=24073)

156 Kuruvila, "9/11: Five Years Later, Typecasting Muslims as a Race."

157 Narmeen El-Farra, Arabs and the Media (California: California State University, 1996).

Afrasiabi Kaveh, "A Failed Kingdom," Asia Times December 1 2008.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IJ02Ak03.html

51

civilization which differs with national tradition and identity. Examples include

Pakistani and Algerian migrants in Britain and France respectively,158 and, perhaps,

Lebanese in Australia.

In this chapter, it is revealed that the Muslim male stereotypes that have

emerged in recent times are based on the notion of Islamophobia and still persist after

nine years. Also the duality of Muslim male identity as Other is argued through notion

of mimicking. This discourse has brought forward ideas of “in-between spaces” for

communications, which “provide the terrain for elaborating strategies of selfhood -

singular or communal - that initiate new signs of identity, and innovative sites of

collaboration, and contestation, in the act of defining the idea of society itself".159 The

representations of contemporary constructions of Muslim male identity in my artworks

take account of these complexities. In the next chapter, the turning of these stereotypes

into a terrorist image, a martyr and a jihadi will be demonstrated. Also a discussion of

economics, American foreign policy and wars will bring forth reasons behind the

construction of such identities.

158 Ellis Cashmore, ed. Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies, Annotated ed. (London:

Routledge,2003). p. 216s

159 Bhabha, The Location of Culture. p.1-2

52

Chapter Four

Buzzing: War, Disguise, Economy, and the Making of a Terrorist

In this chapter, the anxiety and fear of a bearded Muslim terrorist and the attacks

from Muslim fundamentalist organizations, distrust, and extreme security measures and

subsequently created laws that radicalize and discriminate Muslims based on their faith,

appearance and name will be discussed. Furthermore, through beehive metaphors,

various factors such as economy, shortage of oil and its rising cost, concealment, selling

and use of weapons, false premises, promises and propaganda for the Crusade or Jihad

by both the East and the West, will illustrate the making of a post-9/11 Muslim identity

as jihadi, martyr and terrorists.

4.1 Swarm of Bees: War Planes, Kamakzi and Jihadi

The fear in the American culture of a ‘swarming’ enemy can be traced back to

World War II when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. According to one observer,

"flash red" alerts came one after another as the enemy planes “stirred like a nest of

angry bees.”160 Lt. Lawrence Ruff recalls, "The Japanese bombers swarmed down on us

like bees.”161 Ironically, the main weapon, the B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers used

during the Gulf War, and later in both the Afghan and Iraq Wars, looked innocuous,

like a swarm of bees to radar systems instead of billion dollar bombers.162 The air raid

formations of the US air force attacks were described using beehive metaphors. “Think

of bees swarming together in a hive and then flying off again … That’s the military

formation of the 21st century – lots of small joint air-land-sea configurations that

combine instantaneously for a big attack and then separate out just as fast.”163

160 "Wilkes-Barre," in Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (1981). p. 315-318.

Also available online: http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cl103.txt

161 Robert Sullivan, "Pearl Harbor Timeline," Time, May 24 2001.

http://www.time.com/time/sampler/article/0,8599,127924,00.html. (accessed March 2008).

162 The basic fear of the stealth technology developed during B-2 research was to use radar absorbent

black matte body covering, structural design and other technologies to reduce the radar signature.

163 Robert D. Kaplan, "The Plane That Would Bomb Iran," Atlantic Monthly, August 11 2007.

Available online:

http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/Defence_Arms_13/The_Plane_That_Would_Bomb_Iran.shtm

l. (accessed March 2008).

53

The associative fear of swarming bees among Americans, and America’s use of

swarming bomber planes, drone planes, and carpet bombing to win the ‘War on Terror’,

translates into dual interpretations of the installation, The Flying Rug of Drones (see

Chapter 6, Section 6.23, figures 46-47).

The threat of ‘killer bees’ as war planes, amplified by sensationalist movies and

media reports,164 reinforced repeated footage of commercial planes crashing into and

destroying the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Having to live and travel

under extreme security surveillance such as the US Patriot Act, the fear of terrorism,

unemployment, and recently the financial crisis, have infected the American society

with fear, anxiety and paranoia about safety. Bush’s use of the beehive and Africanized

killer bees as a metaphor to describe Islam seems to be embedded in the American

nation’s apiphobia.165 Regarding Bush’s comments, Times noted that it "brings back bad

memories … a Roman emperor in Gladiator", a block buster Holly-wood movie in

which the emperor tells a story about the conspirators against his predecessor, the

Emperor Claudius, calling them "busy little bees" whose plots were foiled when

Claudius said to one of them, "Tell me what you've been doing busy little bee or I shall

strike down those dearest to you. You shall watch as I bathe in their blood."166

4.2 Attack on Muslim Hive: Honey Pots, Oil and Death of Innocent Bees

Some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, including the Gulf and Iraq Wars, have

been attributed to oil, also known as “black gold”. Oil represents life for the industrial

hive of America’s economy and without its steady availability America’s economy and

way of life would perish. It has been projected that U.S. oil dependency will grow to

nearly 70% over the next few decade. Alas, America does not have enough ‘honey

pots” for oil drilling and finds it increasingly difficult to import oil as 80 percent of

164 Ibid. p. 40-41.

Refer to Arthur Herzog’s fantasy book about the bees that was made into movie, depicted huge cloud

like swarms of killer bees sweeping across the country, forcing people to stay in their homes and

eventually bringing business and everything else to a halt.

165 Fear of bees.

166 David Edwards and Muriel Kane, "Washington Times Mocks 'Bush the Bee Killer'," rawstory.com,

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bush_explains_beehive_theory_of_confronting_0519.html.

(accessed January 2009).

54

global oil reserves are located in politically unstable regions of the world or on

territories which do not have ‘friendly’ relations with the U.S.A, for example Iran. 167

America’s presence in the heart of the Muslim spiritual hive, Saudi Arabia,

which is considered the world's largest oil producer and the only guarantor of liquidity

in the oil market168 has increasingly become problematic due to opposition from the

orthodox factions in Saudi Arabia, the homeland of Osama Bin Laden and most of the

9/11 hijackers. It is interesting to note that prior to 9/11, in April 2001, America decided

to invade Iraq and the official reason provided was to “improve Western access to Iraqi

oil” which proclaimed “the US 'military intervention' is necessary."169 Since the

invasion and occupation of Iraq, a consistent buzz spread that besides torturing and

killing civilians, the U.S.A was also mishandling the Iraqi treasures and income from oil

sales. Furthermore, the United Nations involvement and America’s repetitive stance that

the war on terror and “Operation Iraqi Freedom” were to liberate the Iraqi people from

the shackles of Saddam Hussain terror regime, and locate weapons of mass destruction,

did not help. Subsequently, the U.S.A struggled to win the hearts and minds of Muslims

because of its deceptively justified militarism resembling a modern day Crusade against

Islam, its unconditional support of Israel, the release of images and stories of inhumane

torture and humiliation of prisoners at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay170 and

increasing civilian casualties. All these factors led to alienation from the Islamic

World and a strengthening of the rhetoric of Terrorist organizations, and helped to

recruit new broods.171

America’s failure to safeguard funds and oil to cover the cost of the war and its failure

to find weapons of mass destruction is now official and did not help resolve the

167 www.ciaonet.org/pbei/cato10069/index.html. (accessed May 2009).

168 Gal Luft and Anne Korin, "Terror's Next Target," no. December (2003).

Also available online: http://www.iags.org/n1216041.htm. (accessed January 2009).

169 Ibid.

170 Available online:

http://www.thewe.cc/weplanet/news/americas/us_terror_state/make_it_hell_for_prisoners.htm

171 While the Bush administration propaganda war was immensely successful at home, garnering

support for its Afghanistan war from 85-90% of those polled, a number of polls done in the Arab and

Muslim worlds revealed a striking lack of support for U.S. policies, and the majority polled did not

even believe that Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network were responsible for the September 11,

2001 terror attacks.

For a variety of polls on Arab attitudes toward the U.S. pre- and post-September 11, visit

http://www.zogby.com/main.cfm.

For the 2002 Gallup Poll on the Islamic world, see http://www.gallup.com/poll/summits/islam.asp.

55

situation.172 The increasing call for the boycott of Western products in the Muslim

world, dwindling investment interest and refusal to accept oil payments from America

in U.S. dollars173 as well as the emergence of Euro-centric markets stung the currency

rate of American dollars around the world and badly affected the ‘bull financial

market’174 turning it into a ‘bear financial market.’175 The spiral economic downturn

since 9/11 is attributed to the Bush and Clinton administrations’ failure to pay heed to

warnings of imminent terrorist attacks, failure of the intelligence network, and hyper

coverage by the news and media of the events that took place on 9/11 resulting in higher

oil prices and inflation. The bearish market seriously impacted the U.S. financial system

and global economy. The U.S.A. government’s desire to get ‘honey’ with vinegar has

failed. Furthermore, this failure gave rise to a plethora of conspiracy theories about the

9/11 attacks and America’s War on Iraq.176

4.3 Honey and the Hive of Killer Bees: The Making of a Terrorist

On the other hand, Osama Bin Laden is using bees and honey for deception and

breeding terrorist cells and training ‘killer bees’ to kill those who do not belong to their

hive. In 2001 American officials announced that evidence was found that “Osama bin

Laden is using shops that sell honey in the Middle East and Pakistan” to finance

weapons and drug trade. 177 Suddenly, honey became one of the exports, along with

opium, that supports terrorism. Christopher Dickey in his article, How are Terrorists

172 Frank Willis, a former senior American official in Iraq, tells NBC News that “the United States failed

to safeguard the oil money known as the Development Fund for Iraq.”

Neil Mackey, "Official: Us Oil at the Heart of Iraq Crisis," The Sunday Herald, October 6 2002.

Available online: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1006-03.htm

Also see:

Dilip Hiro, "Oil, Iraq and America " The Nation 2002.

Available online: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20021230/hiro20021216

173 Iran is one of the Muslim countries which has refused to accept oil payments from America in U.S.

dollars and on May 5, 2006 “did in fact move forward to grant a license for the euro-denominated

market. It is speculated that other Muslim states could follow.

Sarwar A. Kashmeri, America and Europe after 9/11 and Iraq: The Great Divide (Published by

Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007). p. 80.

174 In a capitalist market, bull market (symbol bull) is short for bullish market in which stocks are

bought and traded higher, resulted in high market prices of the stock, and increased value of the

company.

175 In a capitalist market, Bear Market (symbol bear) is short for Bearish Market in which stocks are sold

and traded lower, resulted in low market price of the stock and decreased value of the company.

176 Alex Sehmer, "'Many Still Have Doubts' over 9/11," Al Jazeera.net,

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/09/200891133339749344.html. (accessed January

11, 2009).

177 MTM Archive, "Osama's Honey," Iowa Public Television,

http://www.iptv.org/mtom/archivedbazaar.cfm?Bid=129. (accessed January 2008).

56

Made? revealed that Abu Zubaida, one of Osama bin Laden's closest aides, travelled

under the guise of a honey merchant to Peshawar, Pakistan during the 1990s with a

mission to “recruit would-be jihadists” and to “[assign] them to the same ilk of terrorist

cells that would ultimately stage the horrendous atrocities against the USA, here and

abroad.”178 Furthermore, according to Kris Hinterseer, “al-Qaeeda drew on financing

from a variety of sources and this leads to a brief discussion on the sources of terrorist

financing.” It is said that besides money laundering, profits of organized crime, Bin

Laden would have drawn on money from legal businesses such as “honey trade and

al-Shifa Honey press for Industry and Commerce, al-Nur Honey Centre, and al-Nur

Honey Press Shops.” Under the US Presidential Order 13224, these companies

have been blacklisted.179 Besides the logistics, honey was the ideal medium in which

to smuggle money, weapons, and other illegal items. It is because the “smell and

consistency of the honey makes it easy to hide weapons and drugs in the shipments.

Inspectors did not want to inspect that product, it was too messy.”180 Furthermore, for

Bin Laden the economics of the honey trade were a good proposition due his family

name that carries substantial influence in the Middle East, a name that represents the

market for honey. A similar set up was arranged by Bin Laden in Yemen, the major

honey producer in the Middle East and his family home yielded the profit to be used for

al-Qaeda’s operation expenses. 181 As Judith Miller and Jeff Gerth comment:

“The use of honey shops demonstrates al-Qaeda’s financial dexterity as well as its

creativity in terrorist logistic. It also suggests the difficulties inherent in efforts to clamp

down on the wide range of financial markets that support Mr. Bin Laden’s violence.”182

Economic factors cannot be denied in the carving out of a terrorist (read Muslim

here) identity. Besides the finance to harbour and train the ‘new bees’ in the hive,

178 Christopher Dickey, "How Are Terrorists Made?," Newsweek, September 24 2001.

http://www.rickross.com/reference/alqaeda/alqaeda8.html. (accessed April 2009).

179 Kris Hinterseer, Criminal Finance: The Political Economy of Money Laundering in a Comparative

Legal Context (London: Kluwer Law International, 2002). p. 19.

180 Judith Miller and Jeff Gerth, "Honey Trade Said to Provide Funds and Cover to Bin Laden," The

New York Times, October 11 2001.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/11/international/11HONE.html?searchpv=past7days&pagewanted

=1. (accessed March 2009).

181 National Honey Board in the United States noted that in 2000, “1,800 tons of honey from the United

States alone was exported to the Middle East.”

Ibid.

182 Ibid.

57

various other methods have been used to brainwash and to strip ‘secular’ and

‘amalgamated’ views from Islam. It has been said that those who join the training

camp of al-Qaeda are from all strata of life and are victimized by society, alienated

and perhaps facing lack of financial and moral support. In addition to this, the second

generation of Mujahidden (both in Afghanistan and Pakistan), have the legacy and

heroic exploits of those who fought and defeated Russia, and were trained by US

Forces, to buoy their resolve. The Klashnikov and TT Pistol culture that Pakistan

is immersed in is the gift of this legacy. The constant war, political turmoil and

insufficient economic infrastructure has never stabilized the Muslim governments

across the globe - in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and Bangladesh and even Indonesia.

The Arab world is no different. Saudi Arabia has similar issues but they are born out of

‘hierarchy’, ‘kingship’ and Sharia laws that eventually materialized into the Wahabism

mindset, and gave birth to the Western concepts of Islamic Fundamentalism. Another

aspect of this Muslim identity is the constant brain washing through the media, which

is invariably buzzing from both the Western media as well as the Arab news channel,

Al-Jazeera, which “has ‘scooped’ the Western media conglomerates many times.”

With its exclusive access to Osama Bin Laden and the ranks of the Taliban, Al-

Jazeera’s reputation was burnished quickly through its exposure on CNN. During the

2003 war in Iraq, Al-Jazeera seemed to be everywhere, reporting dramatic stories and

images, even as it strived to maintain its independence as an international free press

news network. However, it is nothing compared to American media, uninformed,

stereotypical, and biased reporting where sensationalism precedes journalism.183

With all this buzzing and the eternal promise of ‘seventy virgins’184 in heaven

with a river of honey and milk, coupled with heroic martyrdom and on top of this a

monetary recompense to the families of martyrs185 the new recruit views ‘Jihad’ as their

only viable option. This is an option that proves, in their thinking, to the world and to

Allah that they as individuals were worthy and with purpose, and would go from this

world with a stinging bang. Against this backdrop, post-9/11 identities have formed.

183 For example Fox Channel. See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_Channel_controversies.

184 David Brooks, "The Culture of Martyrdom," The Atlantic 2002.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200206/brooks. (accessed April 2008)

185 Jeroen Gunning, "Terrorism, Charities, and Disaspora: Contrasting the Fundraising Practice of

Hamas and Al-Qaeda among Muslims in Europe," in Countering the Financing of Terrorism, ed.

Thomas J. Biersteker, Sue E. Eckert, and Nikos Passas (London: Taylor & Francis, 2007). p. 102-

103.

58

Terms such as jihad and fatwa have been part of various organizations’ everyday

rhetoric and these have distorted the real concept and employ it to escape reality.

Bush’s ‘crusade’ and ‘axis of evil’ comments and Pope Benedict XVI portrayal of the

Islamic Prophet Muhammad’s teachings as “evil and inhuman”186 are a few examples.

The Western media have used similar rhetoric to justify the claim that “Islam is

inherently evil” whilst forming prejudiced notions of Muslims as irrational, terrorist and

fundamentalist. The West has traced the development of such identities, stereotypical

and legitimate, and back to illegal madrasa (uncertified school of religious education)

in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia

and sees them as cells of a larger terrorist hive. This cannot be denied since many

madrasas in countries such as Pakistan exist, specifically in areas where the parallel

public education system does not work and everyday life and the religious training of

the child in terms of reading the Qur’an are considered the religious duty of a parent.

Many of the Mullah (unqualified Imam) sometimes elevate themselves to a status of

Muftis with long beards, turbans or topi and marks of prostration, which is used to

inculcate respect for their uninformed pious identity and authority to issue fatwas. The

Mullahs and self-appointed, uninformed Muftis, knowingly or unknowingly became the

operatives of brainwashing young minds with their uninformed views on the Qur’an and

Sunna, and various orthodox mindsets and organizations. The fatwa and Mufi or Mullah

became the bee brain and nervous system in Fatwa print (see figure 53).

According to Italian and French officials, the entry process to join al-Qaeda is

rigorous. New recruits, handpicked by Bin Laden messengers, travel to Pakistan where

every recruit undergoes a background check and is required to submit their personal

belongings including cash, passport and other documents. Then they are moved to

training facilities in Afghanistan. Throughout this process, “[al-Qaeda] was watching

and selecting the best and the brightest, with those from the Persian Gulf particularly

prized.”187 No firm evidence has been found of “how many of the September 11

hijackers visited Afghanistan, although U.S. intelligence officials have said that Mr.

Atta [one of the nineteen hijacker who is considered as one of the master minds of 9/11

186 "Pope Sorry for Offending Muslims ".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5353208.stm. (accessed April 2009).

187 Peter Finn, "Hijackers Depicted as Elite Group: European Officials See Greater Sophistication," The

Washington Post, November 5 2001. p. A02.

Available in pdf formate: http://old.911digitalarchive.org/crr/documents/1006.pdf

Also see: http://www.rickross.com/reference/alqaeda/alqaeda23.html.

59

attack] … made the trip, probably in 1997 or 1998.”188 At these training facilities the

new recruits shed their old identities and accept their new identities as jihadi.

The recruitment for broods for future attacks is an ongoing process. There are

buzzing, repetitive messages that one can see and hear in the form of al-Qaeda’s and

Taliban’s propaganda videos and films, purchased from the local shops in Pakistan and

Afghanistan. Moreover, Osama bin Laden’s infamous and popular message videos are

available on the internet, available for download.189 One of the most popular among

these videos is where one begins to see Osama as a mentor and a leader due to his good

looks, grooming in Islamic attire accompanied by a camouflage jacket to suggest a state

of war. He has a humble attitude, confidence, and makes well-articulated and informed

speeches. Recordings on the prayer rug, prayer actions and use of words such as

Inshallah (With Allah’s blessings), Allah Hu Akbar (Allah is Great) solidify the main

cause for Islam and Allah. The prayer rug connects to the idea that he is ready to shed

his blood and give his life for Allah while praying like the fourth Khalif and Prophet’s

Muhammad’s son-in-law, Hazrat Ali (a brave warrior known for his legendary Sword

‘Zulfiqar’)190 who was killed by kufar (infidels) while praying in Al Kufa Masjid in

Najaf. The deceptive ideas of ‘Martyrdom’ used by Osama and his followers with the

promises of heavenly honey and virgins to attract innocent ‘victims’ only delineates the

sanctity of Jihad in Islam and purity of ‘Hazrat Ali’s blood.’ Such deceptive blind

intentions, false pretences and ‘victimization’ translates into a series of drawing Buzzing

and Martyr where the blood becomes the rose dye and paper becomes the buzzing hive

(see Appendix, figures 61-64).

For his followers, and even among the general population in the Islamic world,

Osama became ‘the brother’, ‘the Imam’ and ‘the Sufi’, the symbol of doing the right

thing. Western media also find him fascinating. There is a video where Osama appears

in a short and presumably dyed black beard causing a quite a stir as the shortened size

188 Ibid. p. A03.

189 Osam Bin Laden’s videos can be downloaded from:

http://www.metacafe.com/tags/osama_bin_laden/page-3/

190 Al-Zakir, "Re: Zulfiqar: Shamshir, Sher-E-Khuda " in Zulfiqar: Shamshir, Sher-e-Khuda (Pakistan

Defence Forum, 2008). http://www.defence.pk/forums/general-images-multimedia/20868-zulfiqar-

shamshir-sher-e-khuda.html. (accessed March 2009).

60

and the colouring of the beard does not fit the image of him who has been known to

follow the strict rules of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w).191

Figure 13: Osama in 2004, Osama’s phoney beard

speculation. ABC News, September 07, 2007.

Figure 14: Osama Bin Laden in 2007

Similarly, some of the operatives and close allies of Osama seems to follow

the same pattern, such as Ayman al-Zawahri, and the alleged twentieth terrorist of 9/11

attacker Zacarias Moussaoui, with his beard and mark of prostration. He openly called

himself, ‘Slave of Allah’ and was a victimised through “symbolic violence” by the

Western system of law.192 Katherine C. Donahue marked Maussaoui’s submission to

Allah an “important part of his identity.”193 In the beginning, the Maussaoui case was

secondary and relatively unimportant but it became the “government’s most important

single trial over the century” once the media got involved and his image with beard, topi

and mark of prostration became the household signs of terrorist identity. Evidence that

Moussaoui ever participated in the events of 9/11 was not found but he was convicted

anyway.194 Donahue takes Hill and Wilson’s scholarship of “Identity Politics and the

Politics of Identities” to shed light on the construction of Moussaoui identity:

“Moussaoui engaged in both identity politics and the politics of identity, for he framed

his identity in the context of very public areas of law, politics, international, and extra-

state relations while he is using culture (through his use of language, metaphor, word

play and acronyms) to present himself to the world, and to resist the metaphorical

symbolic violence which he faced in court.”

191 Brian Ross, "New Videotape from Bin Laden; Al Qaeda's No. 1 Still Alive," in The Blotter (ABC

News, 2007).

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/09/new-videotape-f.html. (accessed April 2009).

192 Katherine C. Donahue, Slave of Allah (London: Pluto Press, 2007). p. 51.

193 Ibid. p. 51.

194 Ibid. p.52-52.

61

The way Zacarias represented his social and personal identity as a member of al-Qaeda

and its global struggle for power and as “an individual in a search for redemption, for

purity, for place”, explain much about his choices and those made by others quite

similar to him. Zacarias’s use of metaphor, word play and acronyms translated into my

studio practice strategy and can be traced in Make-Over series (see figures 54-56).

Through the discussion above of various issues and themes, specifically Bush’s

use of the “little busy bees” metaphor to describe the presence of evil, strengthened the

post-9/11 Islamophobia. Samuel Huntington’s thesis, The Clash of Civilizations,

reiterates Edward Said’s critique of the Western Orientalist and the colonial mindset

that underlines the making of the Muslim identity as Other as argued in Chapter Three.

Furthermore, the use of bees and honey to conceal weapons and identities as well as

generate funds for the ‘holy’ cause, and war propaganda are reinterpreted in post-9/11

Muslim male stereotypes and identity politics informed my practice. In the next chapter,

I will discuss other artists’ works and then report my studio practice, methods and

experiences and research outcome in the form of artworks.

62

Chapter Five

Survey of the Field

This section reviews the field of contemporary visual arts practice that addresses

issues of ‘Islamocentricism’ and Muslim identity. Influences, events and experiences

that have evolved and shaped contributions to this field of research have been described

in Chapters Two and Three. Although beehive metaphors and its paraphernalia have

been extensively used by many contemporary Western artists notably Joseph Beuys,

who used the Queen bee to pollinate (re-feminised) the Art world, along with Wolfgang

Laib, Matthew Barney, Lauren Bon, Rebecca Horn, and Fiona Hall in this chapter, I

will discuss examples of the works of artists whose ideas and concerns are

Islamocentric and that argue various notions of the emergence of pre and post 9/11

Muslim identity. Further more, their works are either stylistically, or in content closely

reflective of the issues that are focused on in my own work. This survey of the field is

followed in Chapter Six by a detailed description and analysis of my visual arts

practice, produced during the candidacy as an outcome of this research on

Islamocentrism and my identity as a Muslim male.

Since 9/11 the West has become the Mecca for Islamic Art. Exhibitions range

from Oriental paintings through to the post-colonial canon, collections and exhibitions

of contemporary art from the Islamic world, to art devoted to healing and knowledge.

These initiatives have been undertaken to promote a greater understanding of Muslim

cultures, to bridge the cultural gap between the Judeo-Christian and Muslim worlds.195

By exhibiting a “respect for Islamic culture” Muslim immigrant families are encouraged

195 In 2006, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) presented three special shows – one of Islamic-

Indian metalwork, one of Mughal jewellery and one of glasswork. The three largest-ever Islamic art

exhibits came at a most opportune time to scrub away the violence that had stained Islam in the

weeks before. “Treasures of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals” attracted

the biggest crowds with its gem-crusted scabbards, swords, and other jewellery” and “increased

interest in the Met’s permanent Islamic art exhibit.”

Also The Arts of Islam: Treasures of the Nasser D. Khalili Collection presented by the Art Gallery of

New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (June 2007) is another example that highlighted the great

tradition of Islamic art and culture. According to the website, “The Ages of Islam will draw examples

from history to show how a multi-faith, tolerant and ideas-laden civilisation could develop, and will

pose the question: Is this a lesson the West has yet to learn?”

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/whats_on?eventid=2277 (access April 2009).

63

“to take pride in their past.”196 In certain quarters these initiatives have met with grave

criticism, claiming such “interest” as hasty, politically and religiously incorrect197 and/or

simply business. For example, Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking (Museum

of Modern Art, New York, 2006) is criticized for having “unfocused” intentions.198

For this discussion I have selected artists whose work, like mine, engages with

post-9/11 stereotypes, artists who have introduced uncertainty and ambiguity into their

art practice, and whose interpretation might vary from one culture to another. These

artists, like myself, look inward and reflect upon the pressing issues of identity as an

emotional and instinctive construct. I selected artists whose work is intercultural, just as

my experiences in the US, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Australia have greatly influenced

the development of my practice.

5.1 Anas Al-Shaikh

“The most important thing for me as an Arab person in the Islamic World is the

observation that in many fields such as politics, human rights and democracy, we are

not progressing. We don’t seem able to produce a new culture or a new art. I am

therefore trying to establish a dialogue amongst ourselves, with our ego … how to focus

on certain things in an artistic way, how to use the new media to express our selves, our

ideas, our problems, and our confusion, under which we are suffering most.”199

Born in 1968 in Manama, Bahrain, Anas Al-Shaikh’s experimentation in

Confusion, a video and sound installation, is loosely based on the concept of ‘Killer

Identities’, to borrow Amin Maalohuf’s terminology.200 One of the driving forces in

196 Alan Riding, "In London, the Victoria and Albert’s New Gallery Shows the Islamic World as Oasis,

Not Caldron " The New York Times, August 7 2006.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/arts/design/09vict.html?pagewanted=print. (access April 2009).

197 In Art After 9/11, Gene Edward Veith, a professor of English at Concordia University-Wisconsin

writes, “Though one would think the terrorist attacks and the subsequent war against Al-Qaeda

would prove that all values, all cultures, and all religions are not equally valid, postmodern relativism

keeps persisting in the teeth of all evidence. The difference may be that before 9/11, the common

assumption was that all religions are equally good. Now, many are thinking that all religions are

equally bad.”

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=11450. (accessed April 2009).

198 Lee Siegel, "East Meets West," Slate, March 15 2006.

http://boundlessmeanderings.wordpress.com/2006/03/22/new-art-exhibition-at-moma-islamic-or-

not/. (accessed April 2009).

199 Mohammd Al-Abbas, "Anas Al-Shaikh," in Zone of Contact: Biennial of Sydney, ed. Charles

Merewether (Sydney: 2006). p.251.

200 A novelist and author from Lebanon living in Paris.

For Maalouf, identity creates a false sense of self. It does so by proclaiming that one of our many

allegiances is to who we really are. This primary allegiance is not determined by introspection but

typically in relation to which allegiance is most under attack. Thus, our identity is often formed in

relation to our enemy: the groups we fear, hate or most importantly, resent.

64

history is, in Maalouf's vision, the urge to triumph over a narcissistic wound. Once a

group feels humiliated, it is possible for agitators to rise up and convince them that they

should come to understand themselves around this humiliation. In this way, many of the

group's other allegiances are suppressed, and the way is open for lethal violence.201

Confusion is concerned with such conditions in the Arab or Islamic world. Al-Shaikh

writes his wish to express that "we are still not settled and have many confusions in our

visions and beliefs, in everyday life, politics, economy, culture, religion, and develop-

ment. Most of us are still looking for democracy, human rights, women’s rights, social

justice, and civil establishments, but for various reasons some of us don’t want that, so

that in the Islamic world itself, there is a clash between different opinions."

In Confusion, four monitors project ‘mummified’ images of the artist in

different frozen poses. The featureless faces of the artist neither communicate, nor

express any desire or ability to engage in dialogue. At the front of the installation, one

of the monitors reflects on contemporary, social diversity. Although it is enclosed in a

cage-like structure it allows spectators to simultaneously watch and analyse the scene

as if from behind. This gives the impression of a moving image, as if the artist, who

features on the three facing screens, is walking towards the viewer while having a

dialogue with himself, perhaps a self analysis. On the gallery walls, vinyl texts reaffirm

the messages communicated by the work. In both Arabic and English, the artist

emphasises the word ‘death’ alternately in red and black. The soundtrack has a poetic

texture, the embodiment of humanitarian values.

Figure 15: Anas A-Shaikh, Confusion, 2003, detail,

video and sound installation, dimensions variable.

Detail: Confusion, 2003

201 Al-Abbas, "Anas Al-Shaikh." p. 251.

65

Anas Al-Shaikh also employs text and self-portraiture in various prayer poses

in his work. In one of his installations, The New God! (2002), the text on the wall is a

quotation by George W. Bush: "The United States is presenting a clear choice to every

nation: stand with the civilized world, or stand with the terrorists. And for those nations

that stand with the terrorists, there will be a heavy price." In close proximity to this text,

a video is projected on a hanging cloth of a man, presumably the artist himself, praying

on a prayer rug. Hence the "new God" is an insinuation that the US uses its power,

culture, belief, ideas, and military to impose its mentality on other nations.

In Memory of Memories (2001), the installation juxtaposes Anas Al-Shaikh’s

childhood and youth memories with the most recent events of history, recorded in

collective memory, such as the Iraq-Iran war, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the

subsequent first Gulf War. "Concerning many things that take place in our region,

we act as spectators instead of getting the strength together to articulate a change

ourselves". Anas explains one of the large photographs of this work with geometric

shapes relating to a

“…the image reflects our situation in the Arab world. There is an authority above us –

be it a local ruler or a power from outside the region – to give us orders. We are always

being told what to do. On the photos, the men follow with the movement of their arms

the military commands '1 2 3 up ... down ...'.I am saying that we are told what we have

to think and see, what we are allowed to say, and what we should believe in. We are not

allowed to develop our own abilities, visions, or thoughts, or to decide for ourselves

what we believe in."202

Figure 16: Anas Al-Shaikh, The New God, 2002, video

and sound installation, details, dimensions variable.

Figure 17: Anas Al-Shaikh, Memories of Memories,

2001, details, Mixed Media Installation

202 Haupt & Binder, "Anas Al-Shaikh," Nafas Art Magazine, June 2004.

http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas. (access April 2009).

66

Anas Al-Shaikh’s artwork objectively yet subjectively critiques the social

conditions that have fostered extremism in the Arab world.

5.2 Khaled Sabsabi

Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, and currently based in the South Western suburbs

of Sydney, Australia,203 Khaled Sabsabi started his career as a youth producing hip-hop

in the mid eighties, performing in community theatre. In the nineties he created art

installations, and then went on to explore technology and video. However, he thinks

of himself primarily as ‘a sound person’.204

A decade ago the word ‘terrorism’ was not a common turn of phrase amongst

suburban Australian society. Khaled Sabsabi’s work looks upon the very real fears

of people who exist in a world dominated by civil war and whose fears are continuously

fuelled by an onslaught of media propaganda. Sabsabi migrated to Australia with his

family in 1978 due to the civil war in his homeland. A sense of displacement and

identity pervades in his work, challenging the audience to question their own place

and purpose.

The artwork, You (2007), effectively captures the role of media in civil

disturbances, presenting two simultaneous images. Overwhelming in its intensity,

one half of the work portrays the apparent image of Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary

General of Hezbolla, 205 making a speech. The single screen is divided into three

identical images of Nasrallah from the chest up and, as time passes, his likeness

multiplies until hundreds of images fill the screen. Interestingly, approximately half

of the images are unrecognisable as a white light radiates from Nasrallah's face. One

art critic interprets this image to be “reminiscent of religious art from the Renaissance

period, in particular, depictions of Christ and the Virgin Mary, as the white light is

203 "Interview with Khaled Sabsabi," Design Federation,

http://www.designfederation.net/interviews/interview-with-khaled-sabsabi/. (accessed April 2009).

204 Ibid.

205 Hizbullah, which in Arabic literally means “part of god”, is a Shi’a Islamic political and paramilitary

organization. Although it is regarded as a legitimate resistance movement in most of the Arab and

Muslim countries, it is considered a terrorist organisation by some governments. Defence of its

reconstruction programs, which even its opponents have recognised as remarkable or praise for the

tenacity and efficiency of the resistance which it led, is still viewed as support for the forces of evil

that threaten Western civilisation.

67

suggestive of a halo or some other higher purpose.”206 However, within Islamic tradition

this “censoring” with white light or a blank space dates backs to the time when painting

images of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) was understood to be a taboo. Persian

artists either used the veil to cover the face of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) or

drew a featureless, white faced Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w). From another pers-

pective, the halo or the blanking of white space can be construed as hidden identities.

Accompanying this visual display is what sounds like a rally. A man is making a speech

amongst cheers and applause, the same phrase is repeated over and over again. A

second screen shows another grid formation with Arabic writing, which appears to be

running through it. There is a sense of chaos here that presents a direct contrast to the

control of the first image and this chaos with the grid and cell like formation, evokes

visual images of a beehive.

Figure 18: Khaled Sabsabi, You, Multi Channel Video, 2007

206 Naomi Dall, "On' N on'," Artlink 28, no. 1 (2008).

68

5.3 Sharif Waked

Palestinian artist, Sharif Waked, interrogates Muslim Palestine male identity

through a parody of fashion for Israeli checkpoints in a seven minute video, Chic Point.

The work documents the moments in which Palestinians are daily forced to bare

themselves in the face of interrogation and humiliation as they attempt to move

through the intricate and constantly expanding network of Israeli checkpoints.

In Chic Point video, male models appeared on a ramp that is buzzing with a

heavy rhythmic beat and walked “one design after another in an exploration of form

and content. Zippers, woven nets, hoods, and buttons serve the unifying theme of

exposed flesh.”207 Body parts such as chests, abdomens and lower backs are exposed

through cuts, holes and splits.

The atmosphere of the fast paced catwalk is combined with the display of

photographs as backdrops, taken between 2000 and 2003, taking the audience back to

the West Bank and Gaza where Palestinian men are shown “crossing the profoundly

violent, but commonplace Israeli checkpoint.” One man after another lifts shirts,

robes, and jackets while some kneel shirtless, others naked, with guns poised at their

exposed flesh. Among Israeli forces, the body of a Muslim male, here a Palestinian,

is increasingly perceived as a body with a hidden weapon. Waked’s work “peels the

layer of fabric off the Muslim male and exposes him to “viewer’s eye in the flesh.”208

I found Waked’s use of clothing in Chic Point reflective in terms of my own

use of clothing and ‘fashion ornaments’ in my work to argue religious taboos and

socio-political conditions. The work reflects on the hijacking of the Lal Masjid

(Red Mosque)209 by students in Pakistan, who ended up as a human chain of bearded

students with their ankle high shalwars tied with their own shirt, marching out of

the Lal Mosque.

207 Sharif Waked, "Sharif Waked: Chic Points Fashion for Israeli Checkpoints," Nafas Art Magazine,

March 2005. http://universes-in-universe.org/nafas/articles/2005/waked. (accessed April 2009).

208 Ibid.

209 Lal Mosque incident images available online: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6265354.stm.

69

Figure 19: Sharif Waked, Chic Point, Fashion for

Israeli Checkpoint, 2003-2007, video stills.210

Chic Point, video still II

Chic Point, video still III

Chic Point, video still IV

5.4 Rashid Rana

Pakistani born artist, Rashid Rana211engages with composite issues such as

politics, faith, tradition, popular culture and the contradictions within self and society

which he terms as “perpetual paradox”.212 As an artist, Rana sees himself as “someone

who can rearrange, re-edit and re-phrase meaning,”213 He considers his prints as

paintings and draws upon the history of miniature painting in which he was initially

trained. In his composite photomontages, each image is comprised of countless smaller

photographs of diametrically opposite subjects. There is a moment of sudden

210 Images from http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2005/waked/photos/waked_05.

and http://www.aestheticsofterror.com/index.php/artists/comments/sharif_waked/ (accessed 2009).

211 Rashid Rana has emerged as a leading figure among Pakistan's younger artists. First educated at the

National College of Art, Lahore, and earning an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art,

Boston, Rana also studied fashion design in Paris in 1996. He now divides his time between Toronto

and Lahore, where he works at the Faculty at the School of Visual Arts, Beaconhouse National

University.

212 The Nukta Art Team, "Nukta Art in Conversation with Rashid Rana," Nukta Art 2008.

213 Shalini Singh, "The Rules of Deception," Tehelka Magazine, December 1 2007.

70

withdrawal when the viewer moves closer to each beehive of a picture and becomes

aware of the tiny images that compose the larger one. His work has a beehive like

organization where each image is juxtaposed to fit into its cell as an independent entity

while connecting with others on all four sides like a piece of jewellery. The jewel-like

quality of his prints also evokes the tradition of Islamic decoration.

In the seminal installation such as ‘Meeting Point’ (2006), Rana presents a

forewarning of terrorism by projecting two airplanes, which are about to collide on

two adjacent walls. The installation is accompanied by the loud white noise of airspace.

When they are about to crash the airplanes retreat and the action is repeated in a loop

indefinitely, not only suggesting the ongoing debate of security, privacy and anxiety

between the East and the West but also speaking of the embedded fear in our minds and

the stereotyping in the post-9/11 world. This stereotyping is further articulated in Twins,

2007 that depicts the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as a composite image

made from ‘pixels’ of everyday Pakistani street scenes.

Figure 20: Rashid Rana, Meeting Point, 2006, video,

Image courtesy of the artist and Albion, London

Figure 21: Rashid Rana, Twins, 2007, C-type print and

Diasec mount, 114.3 x 171.5 centimetres.214

Like my approach, Rana uses his native urban environment for inspiration.

He combines the two cultures tackling the underlying issues of inequality and Diaspora

through the lens of Muslim identity construct with an underlining of dualities of

violence and love and acceptance and rejection of an identity. ‘Carpet’ (2007), a photo-

montage of the image of a Persian carpet that is made up of photographs of scenes

from a slaughterhouse, cleverly offers an alternate view of how popular ideas and

prejudices are created.

214 Image from http://www.artpublic.ch/artists/rana/rana2.php. (accessed April 2009).

71

Figure 22: Rashid Rana, Red Carpet 3, 2007, C-type print and Diasec mount, 182.9 x 133.4 centimetres.215

5.5 Taraneh Hemami

Iranian-born artist Taraneh Hemami’s work is influenced by Persian art,

architecture and poetry, her multi-disciplinary works explore the complex cultural

politics of exile through personal and community projects and installations.

In Most Wanted (2007), Hemani showcases some stereotypes of Muslims in

America by illustrating the relationship between image and identity in a blurred visual

collection of convicted men and women, who are labelled terrorists. Not long after the

September 11, 2001, Hemami found a jpeg image of seventy-two blurred faces on the

Federal Bureau of Investigation’s online “Most Wanted” list. The list was posted before

the destruction of the World Trade Center. “It was basically a reflection on the way

we, as a community, have become the defined enemy now … and exploring the idea

of ‘us versus them,’” Hemami says Most Wanted investigates the nature of perception,

recognition and representation while examining the construction of the image of the

new enemy. Interpretations of a series of faceless portrayals of the most wanted

terrorists contemplates the ways in which stereotypical perceptions of people are

created, while pondering the relationship between image and identity. 216

215 Image from http://11after11mo.wordpress.com/2008/05/. (accessed April 2009).

216 http://www.taranehhemami.info/ (accessed March 2007).

72

Figure 23: Taraneh Hemani, Most Wanted, 2007,

Installation with light boxes, archival prints on

translucent paper, steel, dimensions variable.217

Figure 24: Taraneh Hemani, Most Wanted, 2001,

Installation with 87.000 6mm faceted beads, string, pole

curtain replicating a jpg of a most wanted terrorist poster

found online. Installation with shattered glass and ashes,

dimensions variable.218

In works such as Transcendence (2004) and Passage (2004) from the

Landscapes of War series, Taraneh responds to the on-going wars and conflicts in the

Middle East. Piles of shattered glass of various colours create three prayer rugs facing

eastwards to Mecca, each decorated with symbols of paradise, for example, various

manifestations of the tree of life, with ash filling the spaces in between. Another pile

of glass is positioned next to the window, and completes its pyramid shape in its

reflection, transposing its borders into space.

Figure 25: Taraneh Hemani, Transcendence, 2004,

Installation with shattered glass and ashes, dimensions

variable.

Figure 26: Taraneh Hemani, Passage, 2004, Installation

with shattered glass and ashes, dimensions variable.219

217 Image from http://www.taranehhemami.info/ (accessed March 2009).

218 Ibid.

219 Ibid.

73

In the Hall of Reflections (2002), a multi-dimensional archive of personal

photographs and narratives presents a wide range of immigrant experiences, countering

the dehumanising and hostile images of Iranians and Muslims portrayed in the popular

media. By bringing personal stories out of isolation and presenting them collectively

as part of a larger narrative of a people, the project gives voice to a community that

has been rendered invisible or reduced to negative stereotypes. Hall of Reflections

installations are inspired by the traditionally mirrored gathering halls of historical

buildings in Iran. The construction of such intricate design seems inspired by the beehive

pattern, as I have been, whereas use of mirrors multiplies ones reflection endlessly.

Figure 27: Taraneh Hemani, Hall of Reflections, 2001, Installation with digital transparencies, silk-screen, glass,

mirrors, resin, sand on wood panels or variable size, dimension variable. 220

5.6 Specific Works and Series

Mona Hatoum’s prayer mat is an example of the duality of Muslim identity in

the Diaspora and the irony of a faith that calls for struggle and pain to find the pleasure

of Divine presence. This aspect informs my Rug series, specifically Devoid (figures 48-

50). Whereas Shirin Nishats’s portraits are mirror images of my self portrait series, I am

… (figures 34-40) with their stereotypical persona critiquing the Western “Orientalist”

220 Image from http://www.taranehhemami.info/. (accessed March 2009).

74

mindset, as well as delving into two emerging sides of Islam, one perceived as violent

revolt, and the other Palestinian, spiritual and submissive.

5.6a Mona Hatoum’s Prayer Mat

Sculptor, performance and installation artist, Mona Hatoum’s Prayer Mat

(1995) is magical yet disturbing and painful. Her work is said to have two sides,

personal and political, from which she has drawn her inspiration. Following the

minimalist tradition of simple forms and repetitive use of material and objects, it

provides a glimpse of Hatoum’s native Middle East which is radically changed due

to Islamic fundamentalism in the recent years. The rug is a turf of straight pins that

Hatoum pushed up through a hidden surface. In the middle is a special compass that

Muslims use to find the direction of the Kab’ba for prayer. The black surface evokes

a sense of void, whereas the compass is a heart, a centre point and a navigator that

provides guidance through pain and pleasure. These suggest a duality between religion

and belief. It is an “Aladdin’s magic carpet and DuPont’s latest acrylic pile blend, an

Islamic prayer mat and a miniature bed of nails.”221

Figure 28: Mona Hatoum, Prayer Mat, 1995,

Sculpture, Mixed Media; nickel plated brass pins,

compass, canvas and glue, 67.15 x 112.08 x 1.59

centimetres.222

Detail: Prayer Mat, 1995.

5.6b Shirin Neshat’s Self Portraits

Through photography, video installations and performance, Iranian born Shirin

Neshat explores issues of cultural ideology, the identity of post-revolutionary Iran and

221 "Mona Hatoum," LACMA Collections online, request=record&id=83899&type=101. (accessed

January 2009).

222 Ibid.

75

the transformation of Muslim women’s stereotypical image to a unique idiom of revolt.

In her early photographic series, Women of Allah (1993-1997), she photographed

women in typical black veil with guns adorned with Arabic text. She contextualizes her

work within her Iranian heritage and religious upbringing. Neshat also questions and

challenges the Western stereotypes of Muslim women. Her video trilogy, Turbulent,

Rapture, and Fervour focuses on this gendered stereotype. 223

Figure 29: Shirin Neshat, Women of Allah: From Way

In Way Portfolio (published 1996), 1994, Pen and ink

on Photograph, 30.5 x 22.9 centimetres.224

Figure 30: Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, 1994,

B&W RC print and ink (photo taken by C. Preston);

27.9 x 35.6 centimetres.225

This chapter demonstrated the wide variety of approaches that are taken

by contemporary artists to argue the various issues surrounding Muslim identities,

specifically stereotypical, violent and suspicious. Hive like multiplicity is deployed

as one image focuses on the self and is also reflected back to the Muslim world.

Artists seemingly combine different traditions and multiple languages into works

of great emotional intensity where personal appearance is denied and the body

becomes the target of a suggestive arsenal of ‘terror’ and ‘mobility’ in the light of

cultural and religious conflict.

223 Castello di Rivoli, "Shirin Neshat," ed. Museo d arte contemporanea (Charta, 1997). p. 189.

224 Image from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/11/wai/ho_1997.129.8.htm. (accessed May 2009)

225 Image from Gladstone Gallery, New York. http://www.gladstonegallery.com/neshat.asp?id=624.

(accessed May 2009).

76

Chapter Six

My Studio Practice: the Research outcomes

Before reporting the outcomes of my studio-based research, the studio method-

ology for this research project, Buzzing: Post 9/11 Muslim Male Identity, Stereotypes,

and Beehive Metaphors, is introduced. For example, information investigated using

academic research, including fieldwork, is processed and synthesised in my art practice.

Descriptions and analysis of the artworks follow. After these explanations, the personal

achievements and breakthroughs arising from engaging in the creative process to

synthesise aesthetic and conceptual ideas will be summarised in the conclusion.

6.1 Methodological Process

As an artist, I am not bound to one medium or technique. Rather, concepts

of identity involving the construction of the self, the ego and its negation provide a

grounding for my art practice. My studio practice is based on a thorough, scholastic

method of accumulating historical, ontological and epistemological knowledge. Having

gathered this information in words, materials, experiences and thoughts, it is cross

referenced and synthesised. This leads to new, often unexpected connections and helps

strip away the excess to expose the core idea. Due to an ‘attachment’ to technology and

computers as a designer, the computer screen is my sketchpad and objects and images

are collected to draw upon and reference. For example, use of vector based software for

The Prayer Rug of Necker Cubs concept illustration. Also play with words and the

creation of axioms may lead to new ideas and connections, such as in Buzzwords,

Bee-Loved and Beauty is in the Eye of the Bee-holder. Having collected a large pool of

visual material, texts and metaphors, the construction of objects and ornamentations

begins, juxtaposing them with a sense of self. The majority of the work revolves around

the subjective body and issues of identity as a Muslim male.

77

Figure 31: Abdullah Syed, Computer generated

concept illustration for Prayer Rug of Necker Cubes.

See finished artwork figure 44.

Photography or typography is often the starting point for this ‘ritualised’

creative process. After a photo shoot, a process of editing begins, of every recorded

stage of the evolution of my ideas about representing identity. This activity is carried

out until it arrives at a point of “void” where nothing remains on a piece of paper, and

the idea self destructs. Subsequently the archive of this process is retraced and stages

selected that represent my idea in the most compelling and unique way.

Figure 32: Abdullah Syed, grooming and preparation for I am … series, photo-shoot I, Sydney, Australia, 2007,

See finished artworks figures 34-40.

78

Here the concept is matched to material and techniques. Consequently, I

have learnt a lot of new techniques, such as braille.226 Changes to my appearance, for

example with a beard, hair, and digital manipulation of self portraits is also used in the

studio methodology along with the invention of unique methods to achieve a particular

materiality, aesthetic or imagery. These experiments were often begun with research in

the field to investigate the conceptual relevance and creative possibilities of various

non-art practices, technologies and disciplines.

During the course of this research, I undertook fieldwork in Australia and

Pakistan. In Australia the fieldwork was mainly to find local apiculture experts to

research how beehive products might be applied as an art material. In St. Marys,

Sydney, an apiarist imparted a great deal of knowledge about bees, honey manu-

facturing, bee keeping and the local plant species that bees use to make honey.

Initially I wanted to create sculptures with the help of local bees. Human body parts

were produced with beeswax for the local beekeeper to use as a “wax support” in one

of his hives so the bees could build on it and change its appearance. However, that

project did not take place; by the time I mastered the casting of beeswax, winter had

arrived and the project was pushed forward to the next year. Since then I have not

been able to locate a local beekeeper to collaborate on this project.

I also came to know the fear of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)227 among bee

keepers who are concerned about the dwindling bee population around the world. Bee

keepers see it as only a matter of time before the Varroa mite228 terrorizes Australian

226 Abdullah M I Syed, "Continuous Thoughts," (Karachi: V M Art Gallery, 2006).

227 According to Green Earth Friends, a third of the total honeybee population in the US has been lost

due to Colony Collapse Disorder, and it will further decline by almost 8% every year. Areas such as

agriculture, which relies on honeybees to” produce roughly one third of the food we consume”, are in

serious trouble. It is interesting to note that, “Albert Einstein estimated that “If honey bees become

extinct, human society will follow in four years.” Furthermore, based on the current scientific data, it

has been predicted that” honeybees will be extinct in the US by 2035.” Also in “the UK, bee losses

are averaging around 33% annually and are predicted to be extinct there in less than 10 years. CCD

cases have already been confirmed in Canada, France, Germany, Italy” and recently in New Zealand.

Statistics from: http://www.greenearthfriend.com/2009/01/colony-collapse-disorder-ccd-honeybees-

dying-by-the-millions/ (access June 2009).

228 Varroa mites also known as Varroa destructor are external parasites of bees. They are bout the “size

of a pinhead, use specialised mouthparts to attack developing bee larvae or adult bees, resulting in

deformed bees, reduced lifespan and ultimately the destruction of the colony or hive. These mites are

the most important pest of honeybees around the world.”

"Varroa Mite," ed. Fisheries and Forestry Department of Agriculture (Australian Government, 2008).

http://www.daff.gov.au/animal-plant-health/pests-diseases-weeds/animal/varroa-mite, (assessed May

2008).

79

bee colonies leading to an infestation that will be an environmental disaster.

Australian honey is pesticide free and therefore is a precious and significant export.

This realization changed my own attitude towards local honey, elevating it to the status

of “heavenly” in my mind.229 Similarly, I came to know more about apiculture in

Pakistan during my field trip there. The local farmers in Pakistan still use the old ways

to produce and extract honey. In Pakistan I also gathered local traditions and folklore

as well as the religious insights related to bees that has informed this research.

Visits to mosques in Sydney as well as mosques in Pakistan were an imperative

part of my research. In Sydney, every Friday, a sermon by the local Imam discussed

on-going issues faced by the Muslim communities in Sydney as well as in Australia

and internationally. Discussions ranged from those of a political and economic nature

to dress codes and community building. Some Friday sermons attempted to demystify

the stereotypes of the Muslim image and neutralize the negative attitude towards Islam

and local the Muslim population. A deep sense of concern, disbelief and remorse was

notable amongst local Muslim populations over various inflammatory comments by the

former Mufti, Shaik Al Halali230 and the 2004 Cronulla Riots231 in Sydney. For many,

such actions and comments did not help and only solidified the prevalent negative

perception of Islam among the general population in Australia.232

229 Local bee farmers take pride as well as extra caution in bee breeding and honey production.

However, the bee farmers and local suppliers in Sydney have concerns about the honey exports from

countries like China which is sold in local markets for fraction of a cost and do not meet the high

standard of Australian honey, for example pesticides are used in China. The cheap brands are

impacting upon the local industry. Farmers desperately need incentives, tax breaks and support from

the government to keep their hives alive, to cut prices to compete with the foreign cheap brands. In

current financial conditions there is increased pressure on local farmers to look else where for work.

230 Deborah Hope, "Islam's Hender Crisis," The Australian, October 28 2006.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,20656733-28737,00.html. (accessed May 2009)

231 Peter Manning, Us and Them: A Journalist's Investigation of Media, Muslims and the Middle East

(Sydney: Random House Australia, 2006). p. 257.

232 The reactions of locals to various issues concerning the Muslim population and Islam, specifically

construction plans of Islamic schools and mosques in areas such as Camden were negative, indicating

fear, anxiety and an embedded negative misconception towards Islam as a religion to be feared. Also

incidents such as this exploited this embedded fear toward Islam and Muslims for political causes in

the form of propaganda posters by the Liberal Party during the election in 2007.

Phillip Correy, "Liberal Shame over Fake Pamphlet," The Sydney Morning Herald, November 22

2007.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/22/1195321873077.html?from=top5]. (accessed May

2009).

Various political leaders have made inflammatory comments against Islam that the media

overzealously projects, especially the media darling Pauline Hanson. This not only indicates the

media’s insensitivity but also increases the sense of cautioned, generally negative, bias among

government officials towards Islam and Muslims in Australia.

80

I made two visits to Pakistan during my MFA candidacy. The first time I came

to curate and take part in a drawing exhibition. The second time I visited Pakistan to

install my first Flying Rug series work in an exhibition called Simply Paper!233 (2008)

in Karachi. For the drawing exhibition, Let’s Draw the Line234 (2008), I created my first

artwork as an emphatic commentary, and perhaps my first ‘Cover-Up’ and ‘Make Over’

drawing series, a methodology I refer to as “re-propaganda”. For example drawn on an

‘The Economist’ magazine cover (January 5, 2008 issue) is the image of a grenade with

a headline, “The World’s Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan.” I used a ballpoint pen and

covered the grenade with an image of a pomegranate. I also used a typewriter without a

ribbon and typed Anaristan235 repeatedly on the cover. This imagery and text is drawn

from the history of the pomegranate, which was initially imported to Pakistan from

Afghanistan. Hence it relates to the idea of ‘importing’ a Taliban mindset which is now

increasingly a threat in Pakistan.

Figure 33: Abdullah Syed, Anthology of Pome-granade series, 2008, ball point and typed on ‘The Economist’

magazine cover with tagline “The World’s Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan.”

I incorporated this ‘re-propaganda’ technique in my research for the Make-Over series,

discussed next.

233 Roohi Ahmed, "Simply Paper!," ed. Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (Karachi: IVS

Gallery, 2008).

234 Ibid, Abdullah Syed and Roohi Ahmed, "Let's Draw the Line," (Karachi: Chawkandi Art Gallery,

2008).

235 Anar in Urdu means Pomegranate, it is used an addition and for the land, example, Pakistan, the land

of the pure.

81

6.2 Discussion of Artworks (Research Outcomes)

The research outcomes range from elaborate mixed media installations,

animation, objects, hand prints to embossing, to doodling on magazine covers and

collaborations with local craftsmen. The works revolve around identity, in essence

my identity, as a Muslim male divided between two cultures, in the Diaspora, The

artworks go beyond the notion of stereotypes and the buzz of current global affairs,

which are currently jeopardised by the abuse of religious and social norms, and the

deteriorating world situation. At the personal level, the process of making art is a

gradual stripping of visual material and texts to their conceptual essence. This results

in one image, action or icon that multiplies and repeats itself endlessly, or a piece of

text that becomes an axiom. This method is evident in all my works as a means to

unravel my thoughts in a concrete way. The use of diverse materials makes the work

deceptive; an intricate pattern of charm, mystery and wonder woven through with a

swarm of painful memories of horror and grief. Yet the pleasure that comes with the

successful visual realisation of such deceptions are undeniable.

6.21 Self-Portraits Series

6.21a Digital Photographic Prints: I Am …

I Am …236 is a self portrait series consisting of six portrait size photographic

prints (Lambda) that argue the pre and post condition of Islam, and within that, the

various stages of the construction of Muslim male identity. The portraits shift from a

muffled exotic past entitled I Am Not Lawrence, to a razor-sharp and painful present,

I am Fun-dada-mentalist 1 & II. This leads to the mute hope of the future in the form

of a mediative silence, I am the Bee, I am the Hive I & II. Also among them is a

transitional portrait, I am what Allah wants me to be. In this series of photographs,

beehive metaphors and the buzz between an Orientalist imagination and Imperialist

fears creates a mask. The mask, for Ronald Bathers, “is the meaning, insofar as it is

236

Abdullah Syed, I am …, 2009, Series of six photographic Lambda metallic prints on aluminium and

acrylic, 25.5 x 38 centimetres.

82

absolutely pure (as it was in the ancient theatre).237 These photographs with their mask

dictate what makes a face the product of society and of its history238 - in this case, both

the Western and the Islamic.

The self portraits are personas created with a combination of stereotypical

idioms, and true, representative, Muslim images of piety, creating an amalgamated

identity that is recognizable, but at the same time represents the Other. These images

reveal a tale of “con-joint twins”, or Adam’s sons Habel (Abel) and Kabel (Cain) who

have been separated in the midst of modernization where one is destined for Sufi fana

(the ultimate spiritual annihilation in the love of Allah), and the other bound for Dadaist

nihilism.

At the heart of every image is a hanging sculpture that can be perceived as

an ornamental beard, a protective armour, or a false beard. These sculptures are

designed to look like hanging hives as the growth of the beard resembles the growth

of the beehive in nature. Honey glazed beards made of beeswax, bronze cast in metal,

are patterned with the Necker cube hexagonal design inspired by the aesthetics of

ornamentations, jewellery and objects of Islamic art. Specifically, the art of great

Ottomon and Mogul empires is referenced, an art which is based on perfection,

harmony and glorification but has been lost somewhere in its lustrous past, its self-

indulgence and disparate ideologies.239

For the artworks I groomed myself in accordance with the Prophet

Muhammad’s teachings with kohl in my eyes, a beard, trimmed moustache and a

skull cap. Each beard has a dual function. The first is to exaggerate a prescribed

standard of Muslim male appearance and delineate the corresponding stereotype and

vice versa. I am what Allah wants me to be with the beeswax beard, and I am the Bee,

I am the Hive I & II with metal cast beards and embossed leather skullcaps act as

hanging cells as well as a support for the beard armour protecting the most essential

facet of Muslim male identity. This facet, that is under threat, acts as a measuring

device to calibrate the growth of the beard up to the standard of Muslim piety.

237 Ronald Barthes, Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography, trans. Richard Howard (New York:

Hill and Wang, 1981). p. 34.

238 Ibid. 34.

239 Said, Orientalism.

83

The poses in each portrait shifts from a direct confrontation with imposing frontal

views, to submissive and mediative profiles. Actions such as the praying hands in

I am what Allah wants me to be in one glance are empty, but they do hold something,

perhaps a promise. The gazing eyes pose questions whereas the mouth when open or

filled with the rose resembles a hexagon and acts like a cell. Here it is a source of

murmurs and buzzing of a “speechless bee” that is “deprived of language”, and as

Heidegger’s calls it, “benommen: dazed, stupefied, dumb”.240 In I am not the Lawrence,

the gazing and muteness are transfixed in an Orientalist and post colonial legacy, not

just as a protest but also in disbelief. Furthermore the plugging of my mouth with the

rose is representative of a protest towards the West where the Muslim male identity

has been spoken of in terms of the Muslim female identity. References of Harem,

concubines, four wives, seventy virgins and Burka have continuously been used, cited

and drawn in the West to portray the dismal state of Muslim women in Islam. In

retrospect, such a portrayals only reflect the Muslim male in a negative light, marking

him an oppressor and a sexualized beast who only sees women as objects of pleasure.

Figure 34: Abdullah Syed, I am not the Lawrence,

2009, Lambda metallic on aluminium and acrylic, 25.5

x 38 centimetres, (photo taken by Caterina Pacialeo).

Figure 35: Abdullah Syed, I am what Allah wants me be,

2009, Lambda metallic on aluminium and acrylic, 25.5 x

38 centimetres, (photo taken by Caterina Pacialeo.

240 Stupid bees, See Chapter 2, Section 2.2a

84

On the other hand, the hanging hives also act as false beards, a camouflage,

an ornamented postiche (metal false beard and artificial hair used for disguise or

adornment) that links back to pre-Islamic civilizations, such as Egypt. This instan-

taneously makes the sculpture a ‘taboo’ ornament of an ‘infidel’, and rejects the

sculpture’s utility for arguing Islamic spiritual significance since Islam strictly

prohibits the use of false hair.241 This Western connection is evident in shaving.

The U.S. branded Gillette blade beard suggests the Dadaist practice of

appropriation and a nihilistic approach to objects,242 as well as Western contemporary

abjection and theatrics. I am Fun-dada-mentalist 1 & II, where a platinum and gold

plated beard made of Gillette safety blades, worn with a semi nude body, reflect sinister

yet humorous theatrics of ambiguity. There are two plots. One plot is fixed in our

memory as the horrific event of 9/11 terrorist attack, filled with dark undertones of

pain, terror and vengeance. The other one unfolds everyday for Muslims across the

world at airports, security check points and unlawful prison camps. This plot is the

Figure 36: Abdullah Syed, I am Fun-dada-mentalist -I,

2009, Lambda metallic on aluminium and acrylic, 25.5

x 38 centimetres, (photo taken by Caterina Pacialeo).

Figure 37: Abdullah Syed, I am Fun-dada-mentalist - II,

2009, Lambda metallic on aluminium and acrylic, 25.5 x

38 centimetres, (photo taken by Farah Mahbub).

241 The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) Sunna

242 Time Johnson, "Tradition 'against' Revolt: Dadaism 'against' Modernism," Canon Magazine.

http://www.canonmagazine.org/march08/johnson.html. (accessed May 2009).

85

metal buzz search and forced shavings that lead to strip searches, leaving men with

feelings of humiliation, alienation and discrimination.

Figure 38: Abdullah Syed, I am the Bee, I am the Hive

- I, 2009, Lambda metallic on aluminium and acrylic,

25.5 x 38 centimetres, (photo taken by Farah Mahbub).

Figure 39: Abdullah Syed, I am the Bee, I am the Hive -

II, 2009, Lambda metallic on aluminium and acrylic,

25.5 x 38 centimetres, (photo taken by Farah Mahbub).

The use of flowers and blades also refers to the state of the artists in the Muslim

world, such as Pakistan where both genders seem to prefer the male body as a subtext

and heavily rely on signs and props to represent the male form. From appropriation of

classical images, masculinity from a variety of sources to drawing them from personal

experiences and narratives, contemporary artists have woven myths, stereotypes and

taboos of masculinity in artworks. In the past, the props such as flowers (specifically

the rose, tulip and lotus), swords and knives were used in Persian and Mogul miniature

paintings to portray the Prophets Muhammad (s.a.a.w) (in veil) and his disciples.

The juxtaposition of flower and sword is in accordance to Islamic (specifically Sufi)

teachings of balanced masculinity in Islam. This balance in Western view is a duality

of the masculine and feminine either as a gender divide or gender switch, such as in

the works of Joseph Buyers and Mathew Barney. However, when this balance is

contextualized and analyzed in the Islamic World, it represents an image of the male

body of a warrior with the soul of a poet. The soft expressions and gentle poses of such

bodies, always clothed, mimic the performed acts of public responsibilities (war and

86

protection) and private commitments (romance, sexual desire for protraction and

religious submission) of a ruler. This pattern of contradictions and repetition is evident

in Buzzing and Murmuring digital prints (see figures 42-43).

In Beauty is in the Eye of the Bee-holder, the mouth is open like an eye. It is

buzzing with a bee. The honey filled mouth is a trap or a hideout, as well as the opening

to reach the heart, the hive of humility, beauty and love as well as ego, revolt and hatred.

Figure 40: Abdullah Syed, Beauty is in the Eye of the Bee-holder, 2009, Lambda super-gloss mounted on

aluminium with acrylic, 61 x 76 centimetres

6.21b Glazing: Digital Photographic Print

The honey glazing on beards in I Am …, and on my mark of prostration in

Glazing, have a dual purpose. First honey is naturally antibacterial243 hence there is the

metaphoric concept of a preservation of identity, and protection from the fire on

Judgment Day. The glazing also metaphorically protects the sanctity of Prophet

Muhammad’s prescribed identity for Muslim men who prostrate and submit to Allah.

243 Melissa Mundo, "Antibacterially Active Honey Is Preservative.," Microbial Update International,

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-4311602/Antibacterially-active-honey-is-preservative.html.

87

The application of the glaze changes the appearance of the black challis244 to a radiating

mark of gold, deluding the eye and hiding its reality from those who are attracted to its

shine as an emblem of a pious identity. But on FBI check lists, it is the mark of terrorism.

Figure 41: Abdullah Syed, Glazing, 2009, Lambda super-gloss mounted on aluminium with acrylic,

51 x 76 centimetres.

6.22 Buzzing and Murmuring: Digital Photographic Prints

At first glance, both prints resemble an Oriental rug’s stereotypical Islamic

pattern. Upon close inspection the arrangement reveals itself as a hive of mouths and

hearts. Both Buzzing and Murmuring are grounded within Bhabha’s notion of mimicry

as camouflage and Said’s discourse of muteness for a Muslim identity as the Other (see

Chapter Three, Sections 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4)

In Buzzing, the hive of a mouth is plugged with roses surrounded by a beard that

is prickly barbed wire to protect the blooming garden of exotica. Only those who abide

the rules of this garden and conform in a given pattern are welcome to buzz around. The

image personifies those who are at the receiving end of this political rearrangement. In

Murmuring, the hive of hearts came as a surprise as my intention was to use honey to

244 See Chapter One, pages 19 and 20.

88

glaze and groom my chest hair in the form of a hexagonal cell. However, the result

seemed to me more organic, and, close to my chest, represented a heart. Hence the

“surfaced” exploration of my identity takes a spiritual route and pushes me to look

inside and explore my identity within. At this stage, my investigation moved from

physical to esoteric and from buzzing to simply a murmur, a word that is also used

to describe the irregular heart condition. Hence the design pattern is in the form of

an undulating Electrocardiogram (ECG).

Figure 42: Abdullah Syed, Buzzing, 2009, Lambda

super-gloss mounted on aluminium with acrylic, 76 x

127 centimetres

Detail: Buzzing, 2009

Figure 43: Abdullah Syed, Murmuring, 2009, Lambda

super-gloss mounted on aluminium with acrylic, 76 x

127 centimetres

Detail: Murmuring, 2009

89

6.23 Rug Projects

The Rug project consists of three rugs and a series of embossed prints.

The projects begin with the making of a traditional prayer rug and gradually explores

in different narratives and materials until it is stripped and devoid of stereotypical

meanings, perceptions and identity to create new knowledge and information.

The Prayer Rug of Necker Cubes is a hand-woven prayer rug. It follows the

Oriental prayer rug making tradition. The rug is made from all hand-spun wool and

vegetable dyes. In this tradition artisans and craftsmen create abstractions and nature’s

beauty using imagery in accordance with Islamic teaching and keeping the purpose

of the rug in mind. The design of this rug reflects and preserves this tradition but in a

post modern way. The standard size of the rug is designed, drawn on graph paper and

produced in collaboration with the local Pakistani carpet craftsmen. The Necker cube

pattern on a prayer rug echoes the core Islamic geometric pattern of tessellation which

is based on the belief that Allah is one and only and has an infinite presence. The

pattern is therefore composed of multiples of one element, a point and a line. The

middle isometric cube also forms a Necker cube,245 the traditional image of the Kab’ba

(means Cube and Baitullah or the House of Allah) on the rug that provides a focus for

the person praying. However here, it acts as a spectacle, a focal point where the design

radiates and to where it converges back. The rug is designed in such a way that when

the same rugs are placed side by side, like in a mosque, the pattern visually connects

and strengthens the design. This connectivity again reflects the duality where Muslims

are advised to connect, stay communal, and unite just like bees. But in today’s world,

such connections are severed and the hives operate in a self-destructive mode. The

design evokes the fundamental idea of Muslim prayer and Muslim men standing in

rows, shoulder to shoulder. This creates a hive like order that unites every space and

leaves no gap. The Prayer Rug of Necker Cubes also suggests a strong link between

the modernist grid and the ancient method of a weaver’s grid, or in other words,

tradition versus modern, high versus low. The isometric cube is a religious symbol

of Muslim tradition and spiritualty.

245 See Chapter 2, Section 2.2b.

90

Figure 44: Abdullah Syed in collaboration with Afghan

Carpets Karigers (craftsmen), Karachi, Pakistan, The

Prayer Rug of Necker Cubes, 2008, Hand spun wool

and vegetable dyes, 80 x 135 centimetres.

Detail: The Prayer Rug of Necker Cubes, 2008

The Flying Rug is made up of US dollar bills folded into basic paper planes and

reconstitutes an intricate Islamic geometric design from an oriental rug. The name, The

Flying Rug refers to Arabian tales of magic rugs, and the shadows on the wall suggest

an Oriental dream of a flight of fancy. However, the moment the rug deconstructs as a

hive of planes in viewer’s mind, this dream changes into the current reality of our post-

9/11 world - anxiety and fear of air travel, terrorist attacks and Islamophobia. On the

other hand, the installation also suggests the culturalisation of the economy and

colonisation for oil.

Figure 45: Abdullah Syed, The Flying Rug I, 2008,

Installation, Folded US dollar bills and staple pins,

dimensions variable. IVS gallery, Pakistan and Ivan

Dougherty gallery, Sydney, Australia

Detail: The Flying Rug I, 2008

91

The Flying Rug of Drones installation consists of planes made of blades

suspended in a way that forms a flying rug. The underlying idea of a flying rug of

floating planes made from utility knife blades246 is non-utilitarian. In essence the

installation represents diametrically opposing totalitarian and egalitarian philosophies.

On one hand it refers to fundamentalist organizations such as Al-Qaeda, Taliban and

LT with their goal of creating totalitarian Islamic states and their vision of an Ummah

restored to its former glory. On the other hand, it critiques the egalitarian rhetoric of

the West which professes to liberate the ‘oppressed’, establishing democratic political

systems in the world whilst bombing them.

The spaces between the planes form a hexagonal shaped pattern adorned with

sharp edges that gives the illusion of a rug that resembles a suspended ‘beehive’ as well

as a swarm of drones. The blade planes as ‘drones’ have a dual function and meaning.

First, it reflects on post-9/11 anxiety, fear and racial profiling. Though utility

knives are not considered weapons, their usage in the September 11, 2001 attacks by

terrorist ‘drones’ has irreversibly changed commercial travel and created new laws

and rules of airport security. Furthermore, soon after the attack, the Aladdin’s sword

became synonymous with the household knife and the flying rug with commercial

jet planes. Ultimately these translations had a profound impact on Muslim males,

especially those who matched the profile of a “terrorist” suspect either due to their

race, name or appearance. Here, under the radar of US prejudice and rhetoric of

safeguarding the American concrete hive from a swarm of terrorists, the box cutter

blades that hijackers used as ‘weapons’ became emblematic of terror and subsequently

implied Muslim male identity as Terrorist.

Secondly, the installation draws our attention to the current state of the ‘War on

Terror’ overwhelmed with buzzing media coverage alongside the death of many

civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently in Pakistan. This war is implemented

246 The hijackers who seized the airliners on September 11 had used box cutters to attack some of the

crew and passengers according to government officials and accounts from passengers in-flight who

phoned relatives before their plane crashed.

Mike Boettcher, "Box Cutters Found on Other September 11 Flights," CNN International, September

24 2001.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/23/inv.investigation.terrorism/. (accessed April 2006).

92

using the menace of carpet bombing247 of napalm and cluster bombs, attacks by B-52

and B-2 stealth bombers like a swarm of bees. While surveillance and attacks take place

through the US military arsenal, drone planes also known as UAV’s,248 include their new

and improved version, Killer Bee UAV249 technology. This improved version of the

drone plane has been developed to spy on and kill potential targets, along with innocent

civilian victims within the target range. Like a pattern used in war games, the space

between the hanging planes forms a hex-grid pattern. Ironically the hexagonal grid is

also used in Islamic geometric patterns and reiterates the current state of Islamic culture

which is under constant threat from both the international and local communities. This

shift from East to West and then East again, completes the narrative.

Figure 46: Abdullah Syed, Blade Plane, Sculpture for

The Flying Rug of Drones, Installation, 2009, Box

cutter knife blades and stainless steel fastener, 26 x 20

x 4 centimetres

Figure 47: Abdullah Syed, The Flying Rug of Drones,

Computer generated illustration, Box cutter knife blades,

stainless steel fasteners and wire, Installation concept

247 Carpet-bombing is a systematic and extensive pattern, so as to devastate a large target area

uniformly. US B-2 bombers are specially designed for such attacks and first used during the Gulf

War and later in Afghan and Iraq wars.

248 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is an unpiloted aircraft, developed for surveillance and reconnaissance

and in the autumn of 2001, used for combat operations. They are either controlled from a remote

location or others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex

dynamic automation systems. Currently, UAVs perform reconnaissance as well as attack missions.

Bill Yenne, Attack of the Drones: A History of Unmanned Aerial Combat, illustrated ed. (London:

Zenith Imprint, 2004).

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=H_LuJ8nZYfQC. (accessed April 2009).

249 Northrop Grumman and Raytheon has developed versions of Killer Bee, a low-altitude, long-

endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the U.S. Air Force, highlighting its ability to provide

real-time streaming video and precision targeting information to war fighters. They are also used in a

small but growing number of civil applications, such as fire-fighting. UAVs are often preferred for

missions that are too "dull, dirty, or dangerous" for manned aircraft. According to the manufacture,

“antagonisms against the US in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq will be reduced when we actively

respond to the reality of the poverty and lack of infrastructure revealed to us by the drone’s own

surveillance cameras. Human interaction, negotiation, diplomacy and dialogue, not surveillance and

bombing by robots, will ensure a more peaceful future at home and abroad.”

"Ground the Drones…Lest We Reap the Whirlwind," Voices for Creative Nonviolence,

http://vcnv.org/ground-the-drones-lest-we-reap-the-whirlwind.

93

In Devoid, the embossed rugs on paper reveal themselves only partially. Light

and darkness play an important part in reiterating Allah’s promise to reveal himself to

those who seek his light in the midst of darkness. The embossed prints are records of

the past and present. Their stark white surface subliminally invites the viewer to reflect.

Each embossing is a monolith that has a mysterious appearance and its embedded

symbols, a scripture, requires a surface mapping to decode it. It is a simulation, a

seduction that evokes a sensation of melancholia and pleasure. The rugs are dualities

hovering between acceptance and rejection, submission and revolt, but always

remaining loyal to their past, remaining beautiful. It hangs like a stripped and naked

monolith. The viewer recognises the form as foreign and familiar, private and public.

The feeling of softness and the humility of an Islamic prayer mat is intermingled with

sharpness and pain - a miniature bed of thorns embed in the meaning, submission.

For this work, I used my prayer rug for embossing. The gruelling process of

papering the rug for the actual emboss was surreal, a ritual like a prayer. Every day,

three times a day for almost a month, shellac was sprayed onto the rug to strengthen

it and to take away its “inner” softness. Using this method, the rug was made resistant

to the repetitive pressure of the etching press. The rug could also support the blades

and the hive pattern. The newly “strengthened” rug surface is re-ornamentalized with

blade patterns such as the isometric view of Kab’ba250 as hexagon. Islamic geometric

patterns such as floral or arabesque star patterns and beehive patterns are heavily laden

with meanings due to their religious, political implications and aesthetics, hence

suggesting a dichotomy.

On the one hand, prayer itself is about submitting to Allah and prostrating to

His will which is a step towards self annihilation (fana) and reflects on the fragility

of the identity of a Muslim male in current times where Muslims feel pressured to

denounce their identity. On the other hand, the same rug becomes the support for

extremist claims and materializes as an emblem of stereotypes and myths. Combined,

the rug and blade draw on Minimalism's physical, material presence and the generative

effect of repetition. Both the rug and blade became models for a Muslim male identity,

250 See Chapter One, Section 1.2b and Chapter Two, Section 2.2b.

94

and an overt social and political commentary. Together they evoke a sense of

displacement and loss, ultimately leaving an impression of life and death.

The Devoid series is a personal reflection on my inner conflict between the

East and the West. It is a re-ornamentation or a negation, a way to strip every myth and

embellishment leading to self-othering, and eventually to nihilism.

Figure 48: Abdullah Syed, Devoid I, 2009, Emboss on BFK Rives paper, 76 x 120 centimetres

95

Figure 49: Abdullah Syed Devoid I, 2009, Detail

Figure 50: Abdullah Syed, Devoid III, 2009, Detail

6.24 Prints and Drawings

6.24a Buzzwords (Portfolio of Seven Etchings)

Visual stereotypes and the endless use of ‘Buzzwords’ like Jihad, Fatwa,

War on Terrorism and the Axis of Evil from “experts of Islam and terrorism”251 in

the Western media and the media in Muslim countries, have stripped the complexity

of an issue to mere clichéd words. These etchings combine references to the various

theoretical and philosophical views argued in Chapter Two and Chapter Three, and

the lack of understanding of the seven buzzwords that summarize the post-9/11 world

dictionary that has only words but with no clear definition. These words, Fatwa,

Jihad, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Islamophobia, War on Terror, Us & Them and

Axis of Evil, became the Seven Cardinal Sins or seven chapters of human history.

Their arrangement in a hexagonal installation suggests the power of words for the

purpose of propaganda. It is reminiscent of a game of Chinese whispers where the

word once spoken changes and mutates getting hijacked and losing its meaning and

identity. Within the beehive pattern, each word is like a puzzle accompanied by a

bee or its internal and external parts.

251 These words became the Time magazines’ top 10 word list of 2002 and other followed in later years.

96

Figure 51: Abdullah Syed in collaboration with Cicada Press (COFA), Sydney, Australia, Buzzwords, 2009, Set of

seven photo-etchings, hard ground, aquatint and colour roll on two hexagonal plates on paper, 18.25 x 21

centimetres each, Installation dimensions variable.

Fatwa: This depicts the bee brain and nervous system filled with the Arabic word,

Mufti. The artwork represents the genius of the fatwa and simultaneously alludes to

the problem of unauthorized and unqualified muftis that are spreading like bees

across Muslim states. It draws attention to the fact that these muftis use fatwa as a

brainwashing weapon to ensure compliance with their, or someone else’s, “orthodox”

and “fundamentalist” ideas, whilst corrupting the minds of men and women across

the Muslim world. In the West fatwa is now synonymous with beheading and death

because of various highly publicized fatwas in the past and present.

Jihad: This depicts internal parts of bee stings filled with venom and floating words,

Mujahiden, written in Arabic.252 The word Jihad is stereotypically synonymous with

terrorism in the West and used by various fundamentalist organizations around the

252 Venom as it is perceived in the West and representative of the blood of a true martyr in Islam. Also

in venom of Bee is used for medicine.

97

world to lure new recruits to fight against the infidels (the West) with a promise of

martyrdom and eternal life in heaven.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: This shows the evolution of honey/oil drops with

the stages of growth that a bee goes through. These drops, as crude oil, allude to idea

that the War on Iraq was more of a strategic economic war for America whereas same

droplets became the harbouring cells for new terrorist recruits as well as honey as a

concealment for their identities and nourishment. This reflects back to the fact that

Osama bin Laden owned a honey export business and used honey and its fragrance

to disguise the weapons smuggling to support his jihadi war against the West (see

Chapter Four, Sections 4.2 and 4.3).

Islamophobia: This etching shows Muslim Men with beards constructed with Bees.

War on Terror: Bee wings with 9/11 words imprinted. Wings not only indicate the

destruction of World Trade Center but also US air attacks on Muslim countries such

as Pakistan where America’s UAV drone planes (some are nick named as “Killer Bees”)

are not only used for spying but also for blind carpet bombing on ‘suspect’ areas, killing

any innocent in the process.

US and Them: Here we see two types of bees facing each other. For US and Them,

two types of bees are used. One is in a charged in a state of motion whereas the other is

passive mode. Which one is US and which is Them is ambiguous.

Axis of Evil: A Varroa mite replaces bees in this artwork. These mites live, feed, and

reproduce inside a bee's breathing tubes, blocking oxygen flow and eventually killing

the bee. The Varroa mite is filled with the words ‘bush’ in Arabic, each one carrying

the stamp of ‘Bush’, proclaiming itself a product of the West. This reflects the idea of

a Western hegemonic mindlessness. Varroa mites are the cause of the destruction of

entire colonies of bees and it is said that Australia is the only country that is unaffected,

enabling the local production of high quality, natural honey. Because of these mites,

honey cannot be produced without pesticides. Although it is thought that Varroa mites

came to the Western hemisphere from the East, here they represent a Western mindset.

98

Figure 52: Detail: Us & Them - Buzzwords, 2009

Figure 53: Detail, Fatwa -Buzzwords, 2009

6.24b Make-Over (Drawings and Silkscreen Series)

In the Make-Over series of drawings I drew symbols, such as beards, and

sentences or words, with multiple meanings, onto Western male figures to re-orientate

them and see what happens after a stereotypical ‘Muslim terrorist make-over’.

Over a period of time, newspaper cuttings and magazines were collected,

specially Time, Newsweek, The Economist and men’s fashion magazines, mainly for

their covers. I was interested in covers that either had an image of a Western male with

a tag line that could be used to stereotype the West with icons of Muslim stereotypes

such as the beard in a humorous yet sensational manner. Furthermore, bees are also

hiving on a few covers as an allegorical symbol of hope and dreams as well as, for

some, protest and terror. This method of appropriating and assimilating pop culture and

media, which I refer to as ‘re-propaganda’ is an on-going series. I was also interested in

cover stories that in some way related to post-9/11 Islam: resurgences, fundamentalism

and terrorism and their link to war, economy and political instability. I was surprised to

find the frequency of sensational images and gloomy headlines and above all, was very

disturbed to see Pakistan’s name appear as a “troubled nation” and “the most dangerous

place” on earth. I doodled and print on magazine covers either to “re-ornament” images

or to “de-mystify” headlines.

99

Figure 54: Abdullah Syed, Make-Over series, 2009,

Silkscreen and hand embossed on ‘Newsweek’

magazine cover with tagline “The Most Dangerous

National in the World isn’t Iraq, It’s Pakistan.”

Figure 55: Abdullah Syed, Make-Over series, 2009,

Silkscreen and hand emboss on ‘The Economist’

magazine cover with tagline “Barack Obama: But

Could He Deliver?”

Figure 56: Abdullah Syed, Make-Over series, 2009, ball point, blade and typed on ‘Details’ magazine cover

100

6.25 Qalb (Heart) projects

The Qalb projects explore the esoteric construction of Muslim identity where

the heart is considered to be the hive of love and evil.253 This duality marks the current

state of the Islamic World. The work sheds light on my experience of the Diaspora as

a Muslim man whose qalb (heart) exists in the East while the jism (body) lives in the

West. The work reflects upon my own insights living in the West post-9/11 and my

upbringing in the East in a Muslim family. Furthermore, it delves into the complex

relationship between dislocation and the constant evaluation of one’s beliefs and values.

The Rhythm animation is a reflective critique. It is a conceptual interpretation of

the seven stages of Nafs,254 or conditions of the heart (see Chapter 1, Section 1.2d), and

addresses the transformation of a transgressed Nafs (heart) from the first condition of

the heart being that of the Commanding Nafs (Nafs-i-Ammara) to the last stage of the

Purified Nafs (Nafs-i-Safiyya). The narrative, in a form of a rhythm, moves from a self

absorbed ‘persona’ with pride, enmity, cruelty, lust and selfishness to a condition of the

heart free from all dualities, filled with the love of Allah and freedom from expectation

and contentment leading to fana (annihilation).

This transformation is represented by a red beating heart appearing within

confined hexagonal cells like a buzzing bee: self absorbed, bitter and arrogant. Soon

others start to appear to form a hive of ‘celled bees’. The buzzing sound of a heart

beat becomes a murmur, the irregular beating of many. However, as the celled bees

multiply, the first one begins to change its colour and become a honey drop. Other

bees follow and soon all the hearts are transformed and they begin to swell and cannot

contain the sweetness. Here the sound of the heart becomes the dhkir (a rhythm),

neither a confused high noise nor a very low hidden sound. The love they hold bursts

out and fills the cells with honey, creating a collective reservoir of love and tolerance

where the individual does not matter, but the collective does. In this process the heart

becomes a part of the infinite, a part of Allah Himself achieving the dream of every

pious Muslim. This concept is in conflict with the post-modern appreciation for

253 According to Sufi tradition and general perception among Muslim across the Ummah

254 1. Nafs-i-Ammara, the Commanding Nafs, 2. Nafs-i-Lawwama: Blaming Nafs 3. Nafs-i-Mulhama:

Inspired Nafs, 4. Nafs-i-Mutmaina: Tranquil Nafs, 5. Nafs-I Radziyya: Satisfied Nafs, 6. Nafs-i-

Mardziyya: Satisfying Nafs 7. Nafs-i-Safiyya: Purified Nafs

101

individualism where the individual defines the whole and the emphasis is on indivi-

duality. I must clarify my position here that I am by no means referring to the political

(socialist) aspect of the individual and collective, but rather at a more spiritual aspect.

Here Robert Bly’s version of Antonio Machado’s poem, Last Night, as I was Sleeping,

seems to sum up my own errors and dreams.

Last night, as I was sleeping,

I dreamt -- marvellous error!—

that I had a beehive

here inside my heart.

And the golden bees

were making white combs

and sweet honey

from my old failures.

Last Night As I Was Sleeping

(Antonio Machado, version by Robert Bly)

Figure 57: Abdullah Syed, The Rhythm, 2009, stills, animation, 5 minutes: 15 seconds

102

Bee-loved, a mixed media installation, is about Muslim’s desire to witness the

beauty of Allah and imitate, physically, by emulating Muhammad, and esoterically, by

cleansing heart.

Come, sweep out the chamber of your heart,

make it ready to be the home of the Beloved.

Only when your self-love leaves it,

will the Beloved enter it.

In you, without you,

He will display His beauties for all to see."

(Mahmud Shabistari)

Bee-loved is also grounded on the seven stages of Nafs that every Muslim has to

go through in order to cleanse and prepare his heart to a level of purity where he can

invite the Beloved and see Allah’s reflection. The seven hearts in the series are made of

the following materials: rose petals, rose thorns, caramelized honey, bees wax with

beard hair, currency notes, bitumen, and a jewel-encrusted gold heart. These hearts are

enclosed in hexagonal acrylic chambers and arranged in a pattern of a flower shaped

beehive. These references are derived from Islamic geometric patterns. Each heart is an

abstract representation of one, and in some cases more, of the following stages.

To clarify, the gold heart with rubies, sapphires and pearls could be interpreted

to describe the third condition, Nafs-i-Mulhama (inspired Nafs), whose traits are

generosity, gratitude and ardent desire. The associated habits are liberality, lacking

discrimination, mystical inflation, and tendencies toward spiritual greed. The same

sculpture could also denote condition one, Nafs-i-Ammara, the commanding Nafs,

whose traits are narcissistic, non-reflective and impulsive. The habits are pride, enmity,

cruelty, lust, and stinginess.255

255 Al-Jerrahi, "Seven Levels of Being ".

103

Figure 58: Abdullah Syed, Bee-loved – Cast rose petal

heart, 2009, sculpture, dimension variable

Detail: Cast rose petal heart- Bee-loved, 2009

Figure 59: Abdullah Syed, Bee-loved – Cast honey

heart , 2009, dimension variable

104

Figure 60: Abdullah Syed, Bee-loved – Gilded jewelled heart, 2009, sculpture, 24 carets gilded heart with

precious rubies, emeralds, pearls and two large imitation gems, 12 x 7 x 4 centimetres approximately, Front

Back: Gilded jewelled heart- Bee-loved, 2009

105

6.3 Achievements and Breakthroughs

New techniques and a deeper understanding of my own art practice were

acquired over the research period. The significant skill sets learnt were metal casting,

the use of embossing and silk-screening in my drawings use of beeswax, honey and

rose petals for casting. Furthermore, it was exciting to work in collaboration with the

Pakistani local carpet-makers and jewellers, especially since I have been designing

jewellery and objects for almost a decade.

One of the more important achievements of this research was the construction

of the blade plane and the use of currency for sculpture making. The use of currency has

also led to the identification of economic issues as a possible direction for my future art

practice. Shadows were formed unexpectedly with the installation of a currency rug in

an exhibition in Pakistan in 2008 that demonstrated the importance of lighting. The

construction of a beehive beard was achieved after many trials and errors, and the rug

embossings that I began exploring in early 2008, after many experimentations were

accomplished in mid 2009.

My residency at Cicada Press, Sydney, where the task of designing, planning

and printing of the Buzzwords etching portfolio was a major responsibility. At a

personal level the most important breakthrough was in my own art making process.

I always assumed that I am a method oriented, logical and well organized artist,

whereas, I came to know that that artist is interlinked to my design persona. I came

to realize that the possibility of being a spontaneous artist exists. With that, despite

all the logic and planning, I find it comforting that I created pieces that pose more

questions than answers. Over the course of this research, through various discussions

and dialogues, I recognized the marks I make and how I can use them for maximum

output. I still feel uncomfortable facing the blank surface of the drawing, or in terms of

sculpture a white cube, but I at least I know now how to devoid, terrorize and deface it.

106

Conclusion

As I write this conclusion, three events have recently occurred that highlight

the pertinent issues of Muslim male identity and related stereotypes. First, the inves-

tigation of Air France, flight 447, which crashed into the ocean on June 11, 2009,

killing all passengers on board. Various theories emerged, including that of a terrorist

attack. More recently, the French Secret Service revealed that two passengers, who were

on a suspect list, were related to Islamic terrorists.256 On one hand it suggests that any

anonymous act of terrorism and hijacking is now synonymous with “Islamic terrorism”

and Muslim males as “Muslim militants”, a threat for the Western culture. However,

this also reveals the tactics of such terrorist organizations who use aircrafts as ticking

bombs to simply remind the West who is in ‘control’. This ‘stealth’ tactic not only

keeps old wounds open but also puts an extra pressure on the West to tighten security

and increase spending on resources after such attacks, revealing their ‘growing

prejudice’ towards Islam. The physical war has now become a psychological one.

The second event is the conflict between Pakistan Forces and the Taliban

in northern Pakistan, displacing almost eleven million locals from their homes. The

United Nation’s refugee agency declares “the displacement the largest and fastest to

occur anywhere in the world in recent years.”257 These displaced identities can become

easy prey for organizations such as al-Qaeda, LT and Taliban, who will try to recruit

new broods for their hive through brainwashing them into thinking that there is a

Western enemy controlling the Pakistani government and not wanting Islam to

prevail. America’s consistent use of UAV’s planes to attack is not helping either as

it is killing innocent people.

Lastly is the landmark speech by the forty fourth President of the United

States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, given in Egypt on June 4, 2009. He

promised to mend the ties between the Muslim world and the West. He calls for new

understanding and cautions the media to act responsibly and avoid any generalized

256 Mark Hosenball, "Terror Connection Unlikely in Crash," Newsweek, June 10 2009.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/201547. (June 2009).

257 UN Refugee Agency, "Displacement in Pakistan Largest and Fastest in Years," UN News Centre,

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30846&Cr=pakistan&Cr1. (accessed June 2009).

107

or stereotypical notions about Islam.258 This is in stark contrast to the Bush

administration’s repetitive promise of an all-out war against the “Axis of Evil.” The

‘War against Terror’ has helped generate fear and mass hysteria. Mainstream corporate

media have failed to develop an understanding of the serious threats to the US, the

global economy, and the possible responses to the 9/11 attacks, their respective merits

and possible consequences.

Here, I must admit that some Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, formed on the

basis of Islamic ideology, have been plagued by the feudal system, abuse of law, poor

political leadership leading to repeated martial-law regimes. Such leadership issues give

birth to incoherent systems of law and order, ‘aid from the West’ economy, illiteracy

and helplessness in the nation, specifically men who want to find ways to channel their

energies and prove themselves worthy. Such innocent, betrayed and fragile minds are

easy prey for organizations like al-Qaeda and Taliban. The gradual penetration of

Taliban gave rise to the fundamentalist mindset, leading to further degeneration of

society where violence is prevalent and the suppression of women is widespread.

However, amid such gloom, inspiring individuals and organisations provide a ray of

light in Pakistan and the Muslim World. One can hope that the post-Bush era will

promise dialogue rather then force and will find some grounds for mutual co-existence.

Islam has no uniform approach to its representation and social construction.

Today, the perceptions of ‘Islam’ are dictated by the compulsion of sporting a beard,

religious markings and dress-codes. Islam professes modesty for both men and women

with emphasis on physical and spiritual cleanliness and asks Muslims to show this

modesty in their actions and behaviour. The idea that certain dress codes or physical

appearances are a sure ‘entry to paradise’ undermines the core teachings of Islam and

unnecessarily shifts focus from the real essence and meaning of Islam.

This paper intends to address this complexity by tackling the comparative

dimensions of recent representations of Muslims from different nations, political

institutions, media institutions and cultures. An ambiguity has arisen as a result of

distorted analysis in the media, channels of communication such as interviews, speeches

258

"Full Text of Barack Obama's Speech to the Muslim World," The Australian, June 4 2009.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25588866-15084,00.html. (June 2009).

108

or political discourse, and the visual arts. This ambiguity is the objective of this

research. Whilst it does not offer an explicit solution, it is a self-reflective critique

on the numerous religious and political problems facing both the East and the West.

Many such problems are a direct result of the Western rhetoric, “the clash of

civilizations”. The West’s hegemonic pursuit of resources in the East resulted in a

negation of its highly preached civil liberties, and the Western media’s constant rhetoric

of ‘freedom of speech’ undermines other cultures, values and beliefs. On the other

hand the destabilization of the East is attributed to overzealous religious fanatics,

unapprised religious education, and political corruption.

There remains a concluding remark: embarking on the road to a cross-

cultural discourse, the role of the economy in the development of Muslim identities and

the identity of terrorists cannot be underestimated. As suicide bombers use the body

as a weapon, when mosque after mosque is destroyed in Pakistan, imams mercilessly

slaughtered, innocent worshippers cruelly maimed, and the walls of mosques are

covered with human flesh and prayer rugs drenched in blood, such economic issues are

too briefly touched on in this paper. This paper perhaps of above all reveals my own

otherness. The blanck spaces and ambiguities may provide a unique perspective for

future understandings through the process of my art practice in the future.

109

Appendix

Figure 61: Abdullah Syed: Buzzing I, 2008, Tea, rose

dye, graphite, charcoal, embossing, needle tool and

gold leaf on Vasli (handmade paper), 9.75 x 10.25

centimetres

Figure 62: Abdullah Syed: Buzzing II, 2008, Tea, rose

dye, graphite, charcoal, embossing, needle tool and

gold leaf on Vasli (handmade paper), 9.75 x 10.25

centimetres

Figure 63: Abdullah Syed: Martyr I, 2008, Tea, rose

dye, graphite, charcoal, embossing, needle tool and

gold leaf on Vasli (handmade paper), 15.75 x 17.25

centimetres

Figure 64: Abdullah Syed: Martyr II, 2008, Tea, rose

dye, graphite, charcoal, embossing, needle tool and

gold leaf on Vasli (handmade paper), 15.75 x 17.25

centimetres

110

Declarations

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT

‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge

it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial

proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree

or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due

acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by

others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in

the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my

own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and

conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’

Signed ……………………………………………..............

Date ……………………………………………..............

111

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and

to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in

all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright

Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to

use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation.

I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in

Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only).

have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have

obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I

have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or

dissertation.'

Signed ……………………………………………..............

Date ……………………………………………..............

112

AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT

‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially

approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are

any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital

format.’

Signed ……………………………………………..............

Date ……………………………………………..............

113

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