Late in the Day (…Unless it’s Early)

(Click on image for larger version)

I’ve been holding on to this picture since it appeared on the NYT front page a couple weeks ago.

I was interested in it before, but it seems more significant now following the outbreak of independence activity in Lebanon, and President Mubarak’s gesture to hold elections in Egypt. The picture is significant because it doesn’t make sense. Except, it seems not to make sense in the same way the combination of ethnic and religious entities that were stitched together out of the old Ottoman Empire (that are now coming unglued) don’t make sense.

To elaborate what I mean, I have to share the caption with you. It reads:

“Thamther Joma, a Shiite, watched election results with her children and neighbors’ children on Al Aras Island, a former park in the Tigris River.”

You just rarely see a front-page photo that is simultaneously so rich and so mysterious. After I sent it to my occasional guest blogger, Karen, a medievalist who just returned from Egypt, this is what she wrote back:

So she’s with other kids who aren’t necessarily in her family, on an island that used to be a park. Do we know that that’s her home? Or could this be some sort of community center?

There’s a picture that looks like Jesus; not strange in itself, since Jesus is an important prophet in Islam. (Is that more or less true for Shiites?) But what’s he holding? Is that a scepter, or a trumpet, rising out of his hand on the left? Is that a child in his hands, with hair falling down on the left? What kind of religious iconography are we dealing with? Not any that I’m familiar with!

The thing that strikes me, honestly, after my combined four weeks or so in Egypt, is how roomy that space is. And how many kinds of electronics are in the room (what are all those things under the TV? A VCR? A cable box? A DVD player?).

Why are they on the floor? Where’s the furniture? Why are there pillows/blankets/quilts piled up behind and above the kids’ heads? Why does it look as if 100 kids have written in crayon on the wall behind them? Is the woman at work, looking after these kids?

I think it’s an odd photo to have taken, and to have published.

I agree. The fact that the Times would run a photo that is so thoroughly ambiguous implies just how confusing and confused the Arab world is to us — especially now. The scary part is how easily a picture like this can be taken for granted. Perhaps the most deceptive thing about the region is that it presents so many symbols that seem so familiar. If that’s the case, perhaps it’s our tendency to identify with discrete symbols without more thoughtfully considering the way they interrelate. What specifically worries me is the difficulty (and, in this government, the ignorance) in recognizing the more complex relationships between various ethnic, cultural and political entities in Iraq, and the greater Middle East.

On the other hand, maybe things are a lot more straight-forward than I think. Maybe, looking at this picture, there’s only one simple question to figure out, which is:

How do you deal with Jesus in the same vicinity as the Dome of the Rock when it’s getting late in the day (unless it’s actually very early); and there are babies floating around; and you’re getting some kind of important picture from cable news, but you don’t know if it’s coming from our news or theirs, and which brand; and you find people together who don’t necessarily make sense together; and some people seem to be rooting one way, while others are sticking out their tongues; and birds are flying; and angels are descending; and, for some reason, nobody has a proper place to sit?

(image: Max Becherer for The New York Times)

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Your Turn: “What Dean Means”

She Who Laughs Last Looks Best?

BSD

Storm Clouds(?): for the democrats? for the republicans? for Dean?
Hand: the “left” is reaching out to/for Dean; is he listening? (cell phone)
Flag: America is actually “left” of Dean’s possible centrist bargain on social and economic issues.
Clothing: will Dean be the suit and tie centrist, or the ruffled and gruff idealist?
pt

The iconography on the wall is most likely supposed to be Imam Ali (nephew of the prophet whom the Shia believe was the first rightful succesor to the Prophet Muhammad as the leader of the community) or one of his sons Imam Hasan or Imam Husayn, also viewed as rightful leaders of the community.
See http://www.imamali.8m.com/gallery/ for other examples.
Quentin

The preceding poster (pt) is right: it must be Imam Ali. Iran is full of such pictures, everywhere. I went with a fairly young Iranian to the museum of Vank Cathedral in Isfahan. He had never before seen such a collection of Christian images and wondered how anyone could know what Jesus looked like. That was a good one, I thought: he and Imam Ali look similar. Curiously the Shia have chosen what could be considered a basically western and/or Christian type (Greek, Roman, Byzanitine, Italianate, etc.) to represent Imam Ali.
Quentin

The picture is doutless of a children’s refuge of some kind, I’ve finally decided.
http://www.islamfrominside.com/ Irshaad

The picture on the wall is of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the prophet (and 3rd Imam of the Shi’ites) who, along with his many of his family and companions, was massacred on the orders of the “Muslim” government of that time. They were prevented access to water for 3 days before the final massacre took place. The picture depicts Husayn requesting water for his infant son, Ali Asghar. The child was killed by an arrow fired by one of the soldiers who participated in the massacre. In the picture, Husayn is showing holding the bundled child who has just been struck by the arrow (that’s what you see sticking up out of the bundle). These paintings are commonplace across the mideast and especially visible during the month of Muharram – it was on the 10th of Muharram (Ashura) that the massacre took place. Similar paintings can be found on the net if you do a google image search for Muharram, Karbala, or Ashura.
As for sitting on the floor, when my family and I travelled (some years ago) through parts of the middle east – we were invited to many homes for meals, and more often than not we all sat on mats or cushions on the floor – sofas and chairs were rare – slim mattresses, throw pillows were usually pulled out for the occassion to accomodate the extra guests.
pt

thanks irshaad for your explanation
The BAG

I add my thanks to pt, Quentin and Irshaad.
I hope my own lack of familiarity with these cultural symbols only understores how problematic it is for the U.S. to make too many assumptions and generalizations about the cultures of the Middle Eastern.
the pigeon

Note that these pictures of holy men would only appear in Shia households. The Sunni consider it blasphemy to represent any saint or prophet with pictures or statues. As for the television and VCR, these are actually relatively cheap compared to the price of land and housing. Hovels, tents, shacks, and mud huts all over the third world sprout TV antennas and satellite dishes. They get to watch the Jerry Springer show.
http://atruett.typepad.com Adrianne Truett

Looks very similar to most non-rich south Indian houses I’ve been into… it’s only unfamiliarity that makes people think it’s weird, or a “refuge”, or otherwise not fit to be a regular person’s regular house….
Izzet

I think, the fact that Sunni Islam prohibits pictures of holy figures makes these pictures an identity issue for Shi’ites. In Turkey, Alevi Turks (a branch of Shia) generally have pictures of Imam Ali in their homes and even in their businesses. When I see these pictures I always feel like they are telling me “Yes, I am an Alevi and proud to be one”. They are minority in Turkey (in terms of population not rights) and I bet these pictures serves more as establishing their identity, showing their differences than hanged for just religious sentiments.