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POPSIlluminating Beauty, Illustrating Harmony Interactive Show at the source. Illuminating Beauty, Illustrating Harmony: A Gallery celebrating the 25th Anniversary of The Institute of Ismaili Studies ...invites the viewer to the large and complex subject of the artistic and intellectual heritage of Islam. Ranging in date from the ninth to the nineteenth century, and produced in lands as far westward as Tunisia and as far eastward as China and India, the artefacts reflect the great diversity and range of a distinctive visual culture with its own unique artistic language. ‘Illuminating’ and ‘illustrating’ are appropriate from with the perspectives of calligraphy and the arts of the book, and are also linked to notions of knowledge and learning in Islam. A significant number of items in this exhibition are, therefore, related to the arts of the book, in particular the Qur’an.
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POPSAn uplifting, happy faith...That’s the view of Islam from the Aga Khan’s collection I’ve walked past the Ismaili Centre countless times on my way to and from the V&A, and never before ventured inside – partly because it is such an ugly building, but chiefly because I didn’t have much of a clue about who or what the Ismailis actually were. I now know that they are a branch of Shi’ite Muslims, and that their leader, the Aga Khan, is the 49th imam, descended directly from the prophet’s daughter, Fatima. I don’t know for sure that the 49th imam set out deliberately to challenge the prevailing attitudes to Islam with his exhibition. But I suspect he did. He certainly knows that art doesn’t lie.
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POPSThe War Within Islam An interesting read from Slate, on the growing conflicts between Islam's two major sects. By Christopher Hitchens.
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POPSIslam Isn't Monolithic, Says Muslim Nanji added that "these are difficult times in which to conduct dialogue," and referred to films such as "The Da Vinci Code" and cartoons of Mohammed, stating that "We cannot allow fiction to be the only forum to inform about what Christianity or Islam is." "The relationship between Islam and the West cannot be reduced to the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire or immigration," he continued. Nanji instead called for meetings on concrete subjects such as bioethics and poverty.
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