A Blog about Middle Eastern & North African Politics, Society and Culture
Cultural historians have often focused attention on Islam’s achievements in architecture, craftsmanship and calligraphy. However, except for poetry scant attention has been given to Islamic culture’s contribution to performance art: theatre, music and dance. This is partly because of the perception that Islam has an aversion to these art forms…. Read more“A Glimpse into Performance Art in the Muslim World: A Clash of the Profane and the Sacred”
Article appeared in Emel magazine Issue 78 March 2011 reproduced with kind permission The brother of a merchant sailor inspired literature from the Spanish novelist and poet. Tam Hussein explores the story of Cervantes. “The loss of my left arm,” quipped Cervantes, “is for the greater glory of my right.”… Read more“How Cervantes Lost His Left Arm”
Article appeared in Emel magazine Issue 77, February, 2011. Reproduced by kind permission. Captivating the minds of writers, artists and scientists alike, Tam Hussein explains how the Renaissance emerged from the Islamic world. Any introductory history on the West will tell you that the roots of western cultural dominance lies… Read more“Renaissance Translated”
Article appeared in Emel magazine Issue 76 January 2011. Reproduced with kind permission. The first in a collection of pieces delving into Islamic history and its relevance today, Tam Hussein explores the power of poetry in the Abbasid Empire and its subsequent influence on the analysis of the Qur’anic language…. Read more“On Abbasid Poetry”
Review By Tam Hussein – Reproduced with the kind permission of Emel magazine Issue 67 April 2010. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 Velidi Togan, leader of the Bashkirt Republic, was arrested and condemned to death by Lenin. Togan managed to escape and joined local forces in Central Asia to… Read more“Ibn Fadlan’s Journey to Russia: A Tenth Century Traveller from Baghdad to the Volga River Trans. Richard Frye”