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National Geographic Releases New Book on "The World of Islam"
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discusses new book on the World of Islam |
by Ayesha Ahmad, IOL Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (IslamOnline) - Four bejeweled young Tunisian women in billowing bloomers and twisted, fringed headdresses, lounge beneath soaring palm leaves inside an ornate house in Qairowan in 1911.
Orderly troops of dirt-smudged Afghan infantrymen stand at attention, bayonets slanting over their left shoulders and glinting in the sun, their turbans, tunics and jackets startlingly familiar after the past three months of Afghan war coverage in 1921.
A proud Kazakh chief, splendidly outfitted in a snow leopard coat, poses regally on horseback against a breathtaking mountain backdrop as he rides out of China into exile in 1954.
Rows of men kneel on carpets on a train station platform in Alexandria, Egypt, their foreheads touching the ground in humility despite the littered tracks and rushing travelers about them in 1999.
These images, among others, capture a century's worth of change and timelessness in the Western world's view of Islam, as seen through the lenses of some of the country's most respected photographers and journalists at National Geographic magazine.
They are compiled with their stories in a new book, "The World of Islam," which was released in a program Monday night at the National Geographic Society (NGS) in Washington, DC.
Book editor Don Belt, the magazine's Middle East specialist, said that the volume displays a history of journalists who "go into tough places, reporting as honestly and accurately as we possibly can," and have sometimes been the first Westerners to document some areas of the Muslim world.
Belt, whom magazine editor-in-chief Bill Allen described as "a pretty good camel rider," narrated the evening's journey through nearly a century of the magazine's images of the Muslim world, punctuated by readings of excerpts by National Public Radio correspondents Susan Stamberg and Neal Conan. National Geographic veterans Mike Edwards and Thomas Abercrombie read from their own works.
The slide show was followed by a panel discussion of experts and journalists, including Abercrombie - who embraced Islam himself during his travels - and Edwards; Muslim Student Association president Altaf Husain; Richard Murphy, director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Yvonne Haddad, an Islamic history professor at Georgetown University.
The panel discussion flowed forward under Belt's moderation, but snagged around the sensitive topic of the Western media's coverage of Islam.
Husain attempted to explain the gap between what Muslims feel is true Islam and the Islam portrayed by mass media, "the one that tells them to blow up other people, to fight the infidels until there are no infidels left.
"That is really not the Islam we know of; even Muslims were shocked that it was Muslim who did this," he said, referring to the deadly September 11 attacks.
Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Syria and the Philippines, disagreed. He claimed that Husain "went too far" in saying that American mass media are "spawning a wave of hostility towards Islam.
"I think that both our political leadership and our media have been remarkably careful to distinguish between the mainstream Islam and the radical Islam," he said.
But Husain argued that, although there has been appreciation for Islam after September 11, the media - after the president described the conflict with the black-and-white statement, "You're either with us, or you're against us" - did choose sides, saying that "if we present the other picture, we must be with 'them.'"
Haddad argued that the fall of Kabul in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan made the difference, "because the war was won and we didn't need anybody." She said there is once again an emphasis on "jihad" as a holy war, and on Muslims' hatred of the West - "a great deal of journalists trying to fill up space."
The panelists, however, did agree on the internal turmoil of the Muslim world and its distance from the West. Abercrombie, who said he was "shocked and outraged… but I was not surprised" at the September 11 attacks, said, "the perception [among Muslims] of the U.S. and the West in general has declined considerably."
Edwards said that with new communication technologies, people in the Muslim world were quick to form opinions of the West from what their leaders and media provide to them. Murphy described the Muslim world as "coming to terms with a vision of its past - that is idealized, mythologized - of unity."
And Haddad, described the new "hunt for moderate Islam" as a reinterpretation declared by the U.S. government. She added that the 18 million or so Muslims living in the West "are going through a trauma trying to adjust to the idea that Islam is the other," that Islam is often shown in the West to be violent and oppressive.
In an interview with National Geographic News, Belt said that the timing of this book provided "an opportunity not only for the National Geographic to help to do some good… but also for our culture to reach out and understand more."
As Gregory McGruder, National Geographic's director of lectures and public programs, said at the start of the program, "It's not a perfect book… sort of like a half-silvered mirror… moments of crystal clarity and moments that one can only describe as somewhat cloudy."
The earliest stories carry a decidedly Orientalist tone, but the latest have a sensitivity that is often found lacking in mainstream media coverage of Islam. All have elements of startling accuracy, emotion and richness of description, and their accompanying photographs tell stories of their own.
Belt told IslamOnline that one of the Society's most profound aims is to "build bridges of understanding between peoples, between different cultures, by showing life as it is lived" around the world.
He said that he hoped this book would do the same - "build bonds of understanding" to heal the wounds between what only seem to be impossibly distant worlds.
The book, from start to finish, was compiled in a matter of weeks, Belt said. The decision to launch this effort was made about a month after September 11, and therefore, shaped in the context of the attacks and the changes wrought worldwide by their aftershocks.
The Society received hundreds of telephone calls after the attacks from readers and members "seeking geographic context for the religion, history and politics of the Islamic world," Belt said. He added that most callers were asking for back issues of the magazine that contained articles on Muslims.
"The World of Islam" was seen as "the most useful thing" that could be done. Belt expressed his hope that it would "educate readers about the incredibly rich history and culture of the Islamic world."
Because it was put together in so short a time, however, Belt said it was far from complete. "It's what reality forced us to do," he said. "If I got my wish, it would be a 500-page book that took a year to put together."
Belt climbed on board as Middle East specialist after Abercrombie retired from the position in 1994. He had already been once to northern Israel, "steeped in conflict," and called the experience "trial by fire… a real education."
Afterwards, he said, "It just sort of got in my blood," fueling more than a dozen visits to the region and several articles from the Muslim world.
His most remarkable experience, he said, was "going to a mosque" on his first Middle East assignment. An Israeli Jewish guide took him to an Arab mosque in an Israeli village. It was early morning, before the dawn prayer on Eid al-Fitr - the day of celebration after the month of fasting is completed - and he recalled the "sense of joy" in the pre-dawn hours there.
"It was just spectacular," he said, the awe of his experience seven years ago still echoing in his voice. "It's still one of the most memorable moments of my life."
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