̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Islamic

‘Altar tent’ discovery puts Islamic art at the heart of medieval Christianity

ta385 — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

A 13th-century fresco rediscovered in Ferrara provides unique evidence of medieval churches using Islamic tents to conceal their high altars. Dr Federica Gigante believes the 700-year-old fresco could be the only surviving image of its kind, offering precious evidence of a little-known Christian practice.

Astrolabe reveals Islamic–Jewish scientific exchange

ta385 — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 06:30:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��identification of an eleventh-century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever discovered and one of only a handful known in the world. ̽��ֱ��astronomical instrument was adapted, translated and corrected for centuries by Muslim, Jewish and Christian users in Spain, North Africa and Italy.

Female conversion to Islam in Britain examined in unique research project

sjr81 — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:19:19 +0000

̽��ֱ��report, produced by the ̽��ֱ��’s Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS), in association with the New Muslims Project, Markfield, is a fascinating dissection of the conversion experience of women in Britain in the 21st Century.

̽��ֱ��first forum of its kind held in the UK, the study concludes with a series of recommendations for the convert, heritage Muslim, and wider British communities. ̽��ֱ��129-page report also outlines the social, emotional and sometimes economic costs of conversion, and the context and reasons for women converting to Islam in a society with pervasive negative stereotypes about the faith.

Project Leader and Director of CIS, Yasir Suleiman, said: “ ̽��ֱ��consistent themes flowing through the report is the need for increased levels of support for the convert community – and the converts’ own potential to be a powerful and transformative influence on both the heritage Muslim community and wider British society.
“Another of the recurring themes was the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of Muslims and Islam in the UK media and what role the convert community might have to play in helping to redress the balance.

This report seeks to dispel misapprehensions and misrepresentations of female converts to Islam.”

A key revelation of the study was the heavily disproportionate attention, bordering on obsession in some cases, given to white, female converts to Islam by both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities alike.

This is often to the detriment of African-Caribbean converts, thought to be the largest ethnic group of converts to Islam, who are often ignored and left feeling isolated by both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

Added Suleiman: “White converts can be regarded as ‘trophy’ Muslims and used in a tokenistic fashion by various sections of society, including the media. African-Caribbean converts remain largely invisible, uncelebrated and frequently unacknowledged. They can feel like a minority within a minority and this is something that must be addressed. I found this part of the conversion narratives hardest to bear.”

Meanwhile, the project also reveals the complex relationship between female converts and their families, ranging from exclusion, disbelief and denial - to full and open acceptance of their faith. It also brings to light responses of converts to issues of sexuality and gender including homosexuality, ‘traditional’ roles of women and transgenderism.

Project Manager Shahla Suleiman said: “Considering the stereotypical and largely negative picture Islam has in the media and society at large, and considering that quite a lot of this revolves around the position of women in Islam, we wanted to understand the seemingly paradoxical issue of why highly educated and professionally successful Western women convert to Islam.

“ ̽��ֱ��basis of conversion is faith and spirituality - but conversion is also a social phenomenon that has become political. In this sense, conversion concerns everyone alike in society.

“ ̽��ֱ��debate is just starting and we need to have more informed studies about conversion to Islam that directly address public interest and concern. ̽��ֱ��struggle for a better future relies on overcoming the politics of exclusion and absolute difference based on an ideological dislike for multiculturality, not just multiculturalism. Fear of immigration, Islam and conversion to it are a proxy for views on race, prejudice, anxiety and fear.”

̽��ֱ��converts explored the issues of women’s rights and dress etiquette at some length, with the issue of wearing the hijab and other Islamic forms of dress heavily discussed. Although all views were represented in the debate, a common approach among many coverts was the adaptation of Western style dress to accommodate Islamic concepts of modesty and decency.

Women’s rights are a highly charged political issue within Muslim communities and while participants were not unanimously supportive of feminism as defined in the West, the need to raise the status of women within Muslim communities was fully acknowledged. Attempting to realise the practise of these rights has proven more difficult to achieve. Participants were especially critical of the concept of Sharia Council/courts operating in Britain in terms of the courts’ potential to jeopardise the rights of women.

̽��ֱ��report says: ‘Converts serve to confound and challenge negative racist or clichéd narratives depicted in the media of heritage Muslims because their culture and heritage is intrinsically reflective of British culture.

‘But we also find that not all conversions are equal socially in the eyes of some members of the heritage Muslim community. ̽��ֱ��conversion of white women seems to be more socially valued than African women by some. There is also greater depth to the hijab than is thought to be the case among heritage Muslims and the non-Muslim majority in Britain. There is a distinction to be made between wearing the hijab and being worn by it. This puts the convert women in control. ̽��ֱ��hijab signals modesty, but it is not intended to hide beauty.’

A ground-breaking report examining the experiences of nearly 50 British women of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds and faiths (or no faith) – who have all converted to Islam - was launched in London yesterday by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

Converts have the potential to be a powerful and transformative influence on both the heritage Muslim community and wider British society

Yasir Suleiman

Beth Rankin

Woman praying

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Islamic scholars head to Beijing for “Cambridge in China” conference

bjb42 — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:00:45 +0000

Researchers from Cambridge’s Centre of Islamic Studies will meet with some of their Chinese counterparts from Peking ̽��ֱ�� for the third in an ongoing series of “Cambridge In…” events, which aims to bring together the views of scholars specialising in Islam around the world.

“Cambridge in China” takes place against a diplomatic backdrop in which that country’s interest and involvement in the Middle East is growing. With China becoming a major player on the world stage, some Middle Eastern and Islamic countries are beginning to see its leadership on issues such as trade, energy and international security as a viable alternative to that of the United States.

In addition, it gives researchers an opportunity to find out more about the study of Islamic society and culture in a country that has long-standing, but often overlooked, links with the Islamic world, as well as a large and established Muslim population.

Professor Yasir Suleiman, Director of the Prince Alwaleed Centre of Islamic Studies at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said: “Like our own Centre, many of the Chinese researchers we will be meeting are interested in Islam less from a theological point of view than from a cultural, or socially scientific perspective.”

“At the same time, their view of the Middle East or the Islamic world is very different because of their different vantage point. Really, what we are trying to find out is whether point of view creates the object. In other words, how are these regions conceived differently in China – and why?”

Some of the papers that will be presented at the conference allude to the diplomatic resonance of understanding China’s perspective of the Islamic world. They include studies of China and the Gulf, and its impact on oil security and commerce in general. Further research will touch on the potential global reach of the Arab Spring, and the notions of trust that appear to underpin trade relationships between China and the Middle East.

̽��ֱ��overall aim of the conference is, however, simply to build a closer relationship with researchers studying Islam, in the spirit of the Islamic saying, or “hadith”, which urges Muslims to: “Seek knowledge, even if you have to go as far as China.” Peking ̽��ֱ�� itself was one of the first Chinese universities to dedicate a department to the study of Arabic and Islamic culture.

As a result, there will also be detailed studies of the language and cultural output of different parts of the Islamic world, such as Palestine and Iraq. ̽��ֱ��reception and perception of this material in China is of considerable significance. ̽��ֱ��country has had a Muslim population since the 7^th century, and even conservative estimates place its current Muslim population at upward of 20 million – a figure which dwarves that of the United Kingdom and is the 18^th largest in the world.

Further information about the Centre of Islamic Studies, including details of previous “Cambridge In…” events, can be found at https://www.cis.cam.ac.uk/

A conference exploring Chinese perspectives of the Middle East and the Islamic world, at a time when China’s interest in the region is growing, will take place in Beijing later this week.

What we are trying to find out is whether point of view creates the object. In other words, how are these regions conceived differently in China – and why?

Yasir Suleiman

Wikimedia Commons

Beijing

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Yes

A shared future based on a shared past

bjb42 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:03:08 +0000

Starting this afternoon (Wednesday, 28 March) the three-day event will deliberately address some of the major issues that have inhibited understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims, especially since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Among the topics under discussion will be the nature of Shariah Law, the wearing of the hijab, Islam’s compatibility with democracy, and allegations that Muslims are trying to “Islamize” non-Muslim countries.

̽��ֱ��participants, who include some of the leading researchers in the field of Islamic Studies from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and the US, will be asked to outline the main findings of their latest research, and consider how they can be accessibly communicated to non-academic audiences.

̽��ֱ��conference will include a media-training workshop for delegates, teaching them how to communicate their ideas through radio, television and the press. In addition a series of E-books, with contributions from everyone taking part, will be published after it has ended.

̽��ֱ��event is being organised by the British Council and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS) at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Organisers say that one of their main aims is to reduce a perceived gulf between academics and the public at large regarding Islam and its integration into non-Muslim societies.

A key concern is that researchers specialising in Islam have an in-depth knowledge of such issues that is not being communicated properly to society as a whole. Many people’s knowledge of Islam comes from what they read, see or hear in the media. And in many cases, the dominant media narrative is a divisive one – stressing the views and activities of a fundamentalist minority.

Professor Yasir Suleiman, Director of the CIS at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said: “Our main aim is to bridge the gap between academic work and public perception, which is not something that academics have always given their full attention. ̽��ֱ��more we can work with the media and other organisations to draw on the specialist knowledge that the academic world has, the more public opinion will be rooted in reliable facts.”

“Sometimes this sort of activity is seen as an apology for Islam, but nothing could be further from the truth. Our main hope is to produce information for public consumption that informs people accurately about the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims and the nature of their co-existence, so that they can make their own judgements and decisions.”

One conference highlight will be a pre-launch discussion of the second phase of “Contextualising Islam in Britain”; a report which represents the collective thinking of a group of British Muslims who sought to answer the question: “What does it mean to live faithfully as a Muslim in Britain today?” ̽��ֱ��final report will be formally launched later this year.

More broadly, the event will touch on five key themes. These are:

Citizenship and identity: ̽��ֱ��session will examine the presiding narrative that Muslims cannot be fully integrated into western society and address accusations that some are seeking to “Islamize” the west.
Political participation: Drawing on the recent events of the Arab Spring, this will examine how far the traditional view that Islam is incompatible with democracy has been challenged, and whether it offers a set of values that in fact support democracy.
Islam, knowledge and innovation: Delegates will address the ongoing failure to acknowledge Islam’s contribution to science, culture and intellectual history in the west – and ask whether changing this picture would really make a valuable contribution to present debates.
Religion and the public space: ̽��ֱ��session will tackle the debate about the expression of religious beliefs in the public sphere in secular societies – with topics ranging from the hijab to halal food in schools – and ask how religious belief might best be articulated.
̽��ֱ��power of words and images: A “Clash of Civilizations” narrative has dominated debate about Muslim and non-Muslim communities since 9/11. This discussion will ask whether academics can contribute to a more nuanced view of the dynamics underpinning such cultural encounters.

̽��ֱ��conference is called “Acknowledging a Shared Past to Build a Shared Future; Rethinking Muslim non-Muslim Relations”. Partner organisations contributing to the event include the Woolf Institute; the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (UK); Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, ̽��ֱ�� of Edinburgh; the Carnegie Corporation of New York; the Vodafone Foundation; the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Further information can be found at: http://www.cis.cam.ac.uk

A conference which aims to bridge the gap between academic research on Islam and public opinion regarding Muslims in the West will take place in Cambridge this week.

We hope to inform people accurately about the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, so that they can make their own judgements and decisions.

Yasir Suleiman

Martin Pettitt from Flickr.

Cambridge

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Yes

Newman: ̽��ֱ��Catholic pin-up pinned down

bjb42 — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:42:44 +0000

John Cornwell's interest in Cardinal Newman began when he was a young seminarian at the age of 19. Rather against his will, a friend and enthusiast took him on a long trip across Birmingham, involving multiple bus-rides and lengthy walks, to find Newman's grave. It was the one day of the year when they were let out of the seminary for the entire period between mass and evening prayers, and Cornwell felt that the opportunity had been squandered on this seemingly needless mission. Afterwards, however, he had a sense that the spirit of the Cardinal was tugging at his sleeve, however, and it has never really left him since.

Cornwell has just written a study of Newman's life, but the process was a difficult journey in itself as his identity remains something of a mystery. Few people nowadays know who Cardinal Newman was and a mixture of often sharply contrasting interpretations of his life prevails. Before he began his work, a colleague in Cambridge suggested to Cornwell that Newman was a "pin-up boy for you Catholics". Just as many Catholics again, however, will have nothing to do with the man's memory.

Newman was born in 1801 and died in 1890, beginning his life in the age of sail and horsepower and ending it during the full flourish of the Victorian age. He was educated at Oxford and decided to become a priest in the Anglican Church, where he was one of a number of theologians who set about attempting to reverse the Church's perceived decay. Eventually, however, he became what Cornwell described as "perplexed" about the Anglican faith and switched to Catholicism. He became one of that Church's most eminent thinkers, a prolific writer, particularly on Christian apologetics, and eventually a Cardinal.

This unusual trajectory is one of the main reasons why his reputation is so mixed. In the mid-19th century, the number of people who saw him as a "Catholic pin-up" was matched by those who saw him as an apostate, (or pervert, to use the terminology and meaning of the age), who had abandoned the religion of his own family and thrown himself on the mercy of the idolatrous whore of Babylon. Within the Catholic Church, his liberal-minded theology caused a similar split in opinion. Pope Benedict is not a fan of Newman, for example; in the 19th Century, Leo XIII also found it hard to make him a Cardinal because of opposition within the Vatican from those who saw him as the most dangerous man in England.

̽��ֱ��same confusion about Newman continues to affect his reputation. When in 2008 an attempt was made to dig up his body for purposes of beatification, it emerged that he had not been buried alone, but with a close friend, Ambrose St. John. Media excitement about Newman's sexual proclivities ensued - Peter Tatchell went on Newsnight to announce that he had read letters from Newman referring to St John as "my first and my last", but others claimed the Cardinal was "irrefutably heterosexual". Even his portraits leave us with a mixed picture, some showing him as thin, sallow and troubled, others depicting him as warm, strong and comfortable within himself. When in 1863, Newman was accused by Charles Kingsley of favouring the idea that it was acceptable to tell lies, he set about writing his great Apologia, to stop "the phantom that gibbers instead of me". According to Cornwell, a variety of such phantoms never stopped their gibbering.

In attempting to pin Newman down, Cornwell found the consistency he was looking for in his life as a writer. " ̽��ֱ��sheer range of his writing is what hits you first," he said. Newman wrote monographs, hymns, prayers, meditations and so many letters that, to date, 32 fat volumes of his correspondence also exist. It was the letters which Cornwell found especially compelling. As well as illustrating aspects of Newman's religious thought, they reveal his sharp business mind. "He could read a balance sheet as well as anybody," Cornwell suggested. "You get this extraordinary effect of so many diamonds sparkling set in lead."

̽��ֱ��letters also show that Newman tussled, often painfully, with the act of writing. "He was trying to give some kind of energy and luminosity to the word on the page," Cornwell said. "He once wrote that the heart is reached not by reason but by the imagination. What he was trying to do as a writer was to speak to the heart through the imagination."

What emerges from this is that Newman's approach to theology was very different from the typical, abstract, logical, ahistorical Catholic mindset. He was clearly a sensitive man, who loved narrative and images. His work is full of similes, depicting the Church at times as a poet or a river, or seeing it in terms of geometry or architecture. It makes him a remarkably fresh voice within Catholic theology.

Cornwell thinks that by reading Newman in this sense we can, ultimately, understand something of his legacy. "What I feel he passes on to us is the tremendous importance of individual private judgement and conscience. ̽��ֱ��lesson of his life is never accept what your parents tell you, or your school tells you, or your church, mosque or synagogue tells you. Question everything. And be prepared to change."

Newman put this in theological terms, of course, believing conscience to be the "echo of the voice of God" inside us, telling us to pursue good and avoid evil. For Cornwell, this means that a man who was frequently under fire from both sides of the Anglican/Catholic divide nevertheless understood all humans to be "exalted" because of the echo of goodness inside them. He wrote also, in very poetic ways, of the fallen nature of human beings. Put together, Cornwell believes that these perspectives on the human condition give us a powerful basis on which to found mutual respect and a pluralistic society.

A second aspect of his legacy is his work on ̽��ֱ��Idea Of A ̽��ֱ��, which in its conception that a university should be about everything has become a blueprint for those setting up tertiary education institutions in various corners of the world. Tellingly, it was the point of reference for Edward Saeed, a social scientist of Palestinian origins, when he considered how such a higher education institution should be established in an Islamic state. "We live in a world where many Universities are becoming research intensive and this means our focus is on one track very early on," Cornwell said. "Newman is very clear about the fact that in a culture where this happens there can be very great dangers. An example would be BP in the Gulf of Mexico, which involved a preoccupation with making money and supplying energy without taking account of the historical or environmental aspects of the problem. Another example might be the Iraq War, where nobody thought forward sufficiently to how the country would be organised once the fighting was over. That tunnelvision has to start somewhere. It begins with the way we are encouraged to think, and Newman realised therefore that it happens with our education."

John Cornwell, director of Jesus College's Science and Human Dimension project, is also the author of a new biography of Cardinal John Henry Newman. ̽��ֱ��half-forgotten story of one of the 19th century's most important Catholic thinkers was one he found strewn with contradictory opinions, but ultimately also with lessons for our own time.

He once wrote that the heart is reached not by reason but by the imagination. What he was trying to do as a writer was to speak to the heart through the imagination.

John Cornwell on Cardinal Newman

Lin Pernille Photography from Flickr

Timeless Books

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Yes

Power to the people?

bjb42 — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:06:04 +0000

Imagine the following situation, which may be familiar: ̽��ֱ��United States is edging towards armed conflict with an Islamic dictatorship which, it claims, is harbouring powerful weapons of mass destruction. In Britain, the Government vows to stand shoulder to shoulder with its American ally, but there is widespread protest from the voting public. As the deadline for invasion looms, the voice of the people seems to be falling on deaf ears. ̽��ֱ��country, apparently against the majority will, teeters on the brink of war.

Now imagine that this particular version of Britain has also recently undergone radical democratic reform. Thanks to the miracle of the new “e-democracy” website, any eligible citizen can have their say on the issues of the moment and the Government must abide by the wishes of the majority. On an appointed date, you log in and, along with millions of others, cast your vote on whether this war should happen. ̽��ֱ��result is a resounding “no”. British forces are stood down.

Cloud cuckoo land? Science fiction? We forget that in democracy’s cradle of Ancient Greece, the principles at play here would have been utterly recognisable. In Athens, the most famous and radical of the Greek democracies, such issues were decided by an “ekklesia”, or assembly, comprising every eligible member of the voting public. As in the imagined e-democracy, each vote cast counted for one and decision was by majority.

So if Athens, the original democracy, was so different to our own (real) system, have we, in Britain, really come to terms with what democracy means? It’s the sort of question that has clearly been bothering plenty of people since the recent General Election prompted calls for an overhaul of our allegedly “undemocratic” and “broken” electoral process. It is also a theme central to Professor Paul Cartledge’s lecture at the Hay Festival on June 3^rd.

Cartledge is A G Leventis Professor of Greek culture at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and has written a multitude of books and articles on Ancient Greece and its political thought and practice, along with many other themes. Where politicians frequently invoke democracy’s name because of its potency as an ancient, almost hallowed principle, he is at pains to point out that the Greek interpretation was radically different to our own.

“ ̽��ֱ��only real continuity between ancient and modern democracy is the name,” Cartledge points out. “In fact, the two ideas are so distinctive that it has become a real question for historians of later periods as to why democracy was chosen as the name for this new, representative system that we have now.”

̽��ֱ��Athenian ekklesia is probably the most stark example of this lack of continuity, but there are many others. Ancient Athens had no political parties, no government and no opposition. Even the body of officials which set the ekklesia’s agenda was chosen by random lottery, in which any eligible citizen (this meant male citizens who were “of age”) was potentially electable.

“An ordinary guy could get appointed to a pretty senior governmental position, or find himself as a juror in a crucial state trial,” Cartledge says. “There were some exceptions, but the Athenians were radical. They made the lottery a major political act.”

All of this certainly sounds completely alien compared with our own system. ̽��ֱ��fact is, however, that democracy has always defied clear definition. Taken literally, the term is an amalgam of two Greek words – “demos”, meaning people, and “kratos”, meaning power, but nobody has ever really been able to agree on what the ensuing “people power” should mean.

̽��ֱ��Lincolnian definition, for instance, was government of the People by the People for the People. Leninists, on the other hand, regarded it as meaning the triumph of the proletariat over a ruling elite. For a long time after the demise of the Athenian version, the term was even associable with mob rule. In 6^th century (AD) Byzantium, the word “democracy” meant a riot.

In short, when it comes to the precise meaning of democracy, the jury (however it has been elected) is very much still out. None of which has stopped modern politicians, from the leaders of our newly-installed Coalition to successive leaders of the free world, from identifying it as a symbol of human civilisation that has echoed down through the centuries thanks to the Athenian example.

Cartledge reckons that there are two reasons for this. First, the sheer audacity of Ancient Greece’s radicalism is striking even now, particularly when one considers that until then, any state system had imposed a sharp division between the masses and the ruling elite.

Secondly, Athenian democracy in particular is culturally seductive, because it coincides with some of humanity’s greatest achievements. “ ̽��ֱ��Parthenon, Pericles, Socrates, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle… one can go on,” Cartledge says. “It’s a bit like Renaissance Florence. There was an extraordinary flowering of culture and that includes political theory.” Never mind that some of the key theorists, like Aristotle, were vehemently opposed to democracy because of its unsavoury, mob connotations.

You could argue that if our own system is indeed both different and “broken”, modern politicians could do worse than look to the Athenians for a few ideas to help them patch it up. ̽��ֱ��growing accessibility of the internet means that “e-democracy”, for example, however space-age it may sound, is increasingly feasible.

This might seem very attractive if we just imagine ourselves voting against war with Iraq. If we think of the same system applied to a nationwide vote on immigration, Europe, or the reinstatement of capital punishment, however, it becomes clear that it is more volatile than we might at first presume.

In fact, a huge gulf between us and the Ancient Athenians prohibits such acts of simple transmutation. “Their governmental system worked because it was direct and face-to-face,” Cartledge says. “ ̽��ֱ��Greeks had tiny communities of a few hundred or a few thousand; not millions.”

“One lesson you learn from Ancient Greece is that it’s not just a matter of technique but a matter of culture. For democracy to work in that form, you had to live it and understand the nuances of the different positions and issues at stake. Nowadays, for very good reasons, we privilege the world of work, or our private lives, over and above politics. It’s very difficult to be democratic.”

So why study the Greek model at all? For Cartledge, the ongoing fascination of Greek democracy is not in its role as a model for our own time, but, more subtly, the set of principles it represents.

“ ̽��ֱ��fundamental principle is a notion of equality,” he explains. “We might not be able to translate the techniques, but we can translate the ideas. What the Greeks show us is that democracy involves creating institutions that most do justice to treating every person’s contribution as politically equal.”

Using Athens as a highly distinctive point of reference helps us to ask important questions about how well our own process is representing the notion of “people power”. Some of these questions are being asked of our electoral system right now. A referendum on alternative voting certainly involves the application of one citizen, one vote, for example, but it could be argued that proportional representation would be truer still to the egalitarian principles at stake.

Cartledge believes that the lottery system used to elect officials could also be “creatively employed” in a modern context, perhaps when it comes to allocating government funds in certain cases, or the selection of an upper house. Recalling the way in which Tony Blair dealt with the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he even, (half) jokingly, wonders whether a system of selective ostracism – the Athenian process whereby a citizen who had made bad political calls could be dismissed, harmlessly, from the political community by popular vote – might work on the odd occasion.

Broadly, however, it is for lessons, ideas and warnings that we should look to the Athenians, rather than systems that we can simply plunder and claim as our own. Whether or not we ultimately go down the route of more referendum politics or dramatically change the way we vote, the merits and drawbacks of these approaches were debated ad nauseam in the Athenian assembly.

“We can’t take over Athenian democracy lock, stock and barrel, but we can use it to inform and change our perception both of their system and our own,” Cartledge adds. “They helps us to see what underlies the notions of ‘the people’, political empowerment and equality. We tend to lose sight of those ideas, because our own world is much more complex. Understandably, that means that in our own time, there is perhaps more reluctance to empower ordinary citizens than there was in Ancient Athens.”

Paul Cartledge will be speaking at the Hay Festival on June 3^rd, at 10.30am.

Greece was the birthplace of democracy, but our own political system would be unrecognisable to voters in Ancient Athens. As Classicist Paul Cartledge explains, however, that doesn’t mean that our ancient forbears have left us with nothing to learn.

We can’t take over Athenian democracy lock, stock and barrel, but we can use it to inform and change our perception both of their system and our own

Dr Paul Cartledge

D'Arcy Norman from Flickr

Democracy

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Yes

Watching religiously

bjb42 — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��report, by the Cambridge Arab Media project and Cambridge ̽��ֱ��'s Centre of Islamic Studies, follows a conference earlier this year and provides an overview of the little-studied but sprawling network of satellite television stations now operating in the region.

Since the 1980s, the number of satellite channels in Middle Eastern countries has burgeoned, from none to almost 500. In turn, the range of religious programmes available to viewers has become far wider than ever before, offering them alternative ideas not just about faith, but society as a whole.

Researchers believe that television is, as a result, becoming an evermore influential means of social engineering in the Middle East. While a handful of the channels in question, such as al-Jazeera, are internationally recognised, the majority address specific, niche audiences and are unknown to the vast majority of Westerners.

̽��ֱ��report compiles the findings and observations of numerous academics, first presented at the Cambridge conference in January. It examines the religious voices and opinions which are emerging, the audiences they attract, and the influence that they may be having on people's identities and views.

̽��ֱ��majority of stations considered are Islamic, but the document also covers Christian and Jewish outlets. In some cases, it finds that they are a force for unity, often in troubled states such as Lebanon, Israel and Iraq. Equally, however, it charts cases where Islamic "televangelism" has become a riposte to longer-standing, mainstream religious broadcasters.

"These channels are often political tools which promote a particular vision of a social and political order," Professor Yasir Suleiman, Director of the Centre of Islamic Studies at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge said. " ̽��ֱ��research covered in the report suggests that the presenters and participants in religious programmes are not simply arguing over the rightness and wrongness of their ideas, but claiming and contesting the authority to speak for Islam itself."

̽��ֱ��review highlights a number of cases where clear efforts are being made, through television, to claim audiences on behalf of a certain religious and political ideal.

This is not a feature of Islamic channels alone. Some Christian broadcasters in the Middle East were found to be using television to preach and defend their faith in the face of perceived marginalisation in the Arab World; not least in the case of al-Hayah, a channel which explicitly tries to convert Muslims to Christianity and has moved studios several times for fear of attack as a result.

As the report also finds, however, the drive to influence viewers is not always an attempt to turn them to political extremism. More commonly, studies in a wide range of countries found that audiences were being encouraged to pursue a more pious and ethically sound lifestyle, although opinion differed widely from station to station as to what that might entail.

Rather than trying to engender direct political change, therefore, many researchers found cases where television programmes were trying to effect a "re-Islamization of society". Analyses of the al-Nas network in Egypt or the Iqra' Channel in Saudi Arabia, for example, did not find that viewers were being encouraged to make political judgements as a result of religious broadcasts, but rather to focus on their individual and ethical behaviour in accordance with Islamic teaching and for the sake of a greater social good.

Perhaps more surprisingly still, in some of the most troubled countries studied, this effort to encourage society to rediscover its religious identity is also used in an attempt to unite it. In Iraq, where there are now multiple Sunni and Shi'ite broadcasters, researchers found neither attempting to win over viewers from the other, but observed: "There was instead a kind of virtual reconciliation where sectarian political sentiments were present but not directly expressed. All channels tended to respect national unity."

Curiously, a similar picture emerges in Israel, where Jewish programming was aimed largely at progressive or secular Jews rather than the right-wing Orthodoxy which tends to dominate national politics. ̽��ֱ��most popular channel, Hidabroot, appeared to convey the message that regardless of audiences' political or religious preferences, all had a common, Jewish identity which deserved respect.

Further work, examining the nature of audience these channels generate and the impact their content is having, is now being planned. "We hope to launch this second phase of the project in the future, but it will need careful planning and project funding," Dr Kahled Hroub, Director of the Arab Media Project said.

̽��ֱ��full report is a joint publication by the Cambridge Arab Media Project and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies. ̽��ֱ��research project behind it was also supported by the International Development Research Centre in Canada. Copies can be downloaded for free from: http://www.cis.cam.ac.uk/Reports

A new survey of the boom in religious broadcasting in the Middle East reveals how the small screen is becoming an increasingly important battlefield in the struggle for people's hearts and minds.

These channels are often political tools which promote a particular vision of a social and political order.

Professor Yasir Suleiman

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