Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Temple >

Islamic iconography

matsya

23:30 / 18.07.04

Wondering if anyone can help me with the story or meaning behind this islamic poster I saw on a US solider's web site, which shows a man holding a baby seemingly dead from a very large arrow in its chest.

Image is here (scroll down for it).

cheers

m

grant

18:59 / 19.07.04

I'm guessing it's meant as an illustration of one of the surahs of the Quran, but which one I'm not sure.

For those who don't want to check the link, it's one of three similar posters, done in the same style as those old Catholic saint prayer cards, showing a man I presume is Mohammed holding aloft a dead toddler pierced by an arrow, surrounded by dayglo butterflies and doves.

I bet it's a verse about the innocent suffering in wartime or some such -- there's quite a bit of the Quran that talks about conflict, how to conduct yourself virtuously in war and that. But that's a guess.

Grey Area

20:27 / 19.07.04

I think it refers to a surah in which boy got a king opposed to islam to kill him (with an arrow) so that his village would adopt Islam as a religion, and the subsequent mass conversion of the villagers to islam. Their conversion and aherence to the islamic faith led to their slaughter at the hands of the king and his soldiers.

Some clerics use this surah, amongst others, as an example of how it is glorious to die in the name of Allah and therefore provide a moral justification to sucide bombers and similar martyr actions.

JohnnyDark

22:08 / 19.07.04

I thought there was a serious prohibition against the depiction of natural figures and particularly Mohammed in Islam (hence the predomination of pattern-working in Islamic art), so I'd be surprised to hear that it is a representation of him. Mind you, I know there are plenty of subtle variants of interpretation and many sub-branches of Islam so I may just be showing my ignorance.

(Nothing like an authoritative post, huh? I think I'll go and do some reading now...)

matsya

00:55 / 20.07.04

cheers, grant. any ideas about the other two posters on that page?

yeah, I got to thinking about the nondepiction of humans in islamic art, too, but you know I really actually know squat about islam so what would i know?

the "dying for islam" theme seems to work with who the posters belonged to, though...

m.

Add Your Reply