http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
Introduction
From March 2008 to April 2009, we traveled throughout the Muslim world. Our trip started with India, home of the world’s second largest Muslim population, and then weaved through the religion’s heartlands of the Gulf, Syria and Iran before crossing through Central Asia to other Muslim areas of Asia, including Pakistan, Western China, Indonesia and Malaysia. We returned to the Middle East to spend most of Ramadan in Egypt, and then worked our way to Turkey via Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Cyprus. After a brief stop in Bosnia, we headed to Senegal and Mali before crossing the Mauritanian Sahara to Morocco and then the Straits of Gibraltar to Andalucia, Spain. For good measure we even threw in a short stop at Bradford, England, a West Yorkshire town known for its large South Asian community, before returning to South Asia proper and finishing up our trip in Bangladesh. By the end, we had passed through a majority of the world’s majority Muslim countries, eight of the ten countries with the world’s largest Muslim populations and countries containing over 70% (over a billion) of the world’s Muslim population.
With this photography exhibit, we want not only to show you some of our favorite images from the trip but also to share with you some of the things we learned. We're all familiar with images from the Muslim world, but so often they are ones of conflict—protests in Pakistan, destruction in Gaza or, worse yet, bearded terrorists in the latest Hollywood thriller. We don’t purport to bring you the “real” Muslim world, but we believe that our observations, even if not new to you, might be illuminating simply for what they are, things that jump out to the traveler in these regions, scenes that may at times seem common and banal but also represent things one sees day-to-day, ordinarily.
Faces of the Muslim World
So often, Islam gets equated with the Middle East and with Arab ethnic identity, but of course the reach of the Muslim faith far exceeds the boundaries of the Arab world.
Jama Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri, India. The largest number of Muslims in the world—almost 400 million—lives not in the Middle East, but in South Asia. Some Subcontinent Muslims trace their lineage to Iran, Central Asia or even Arabia, but generally they are, at an ethnic level, every bit as South Asian as their Hindu neighbors and have an equal claim to the core of the identity of the Subcontinent.
Kyrgyz Man, Pamirs, Tajikistan. Almost rivaling the Arab world in sheer breadth is the Turkic world, stretching thousands of miles from Turkey to western China with significant influence well beyond, by virtue of great Mongol/Turkic leaders from Genghiz Khan to the Ottomans. High up in the Pamir Plateau of eastern Tajikistan live over a hundred thousand traditionally nomadic Kyrgyz, divided by Soviet-era boundaries from their brethren in Kyrgyzstan.
Timbuktu, Mali. Timbuktu is a destination of legends, but its primary interest for the traveler today is not as a repository of culture and historical seat of empire but as a transition zone from sub-Saharan (black) Africa to (berber/Arab) North Africa. The racial harmony depicted here may have somewhat sinister undertones—it is said that the fair-skinned Tuareg continue their practice of holding black Africans as slaves; the survival of the practice was explained to us (by a Tuareg) as more domestic and traditional in nature, a continuation of the household bond rather than people as property.
On a Ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia. The most populous majority-Muslim country in the world, and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is Indonesia. Far from Arabia, Indonesians culturally resemble their Southeast Asian neighbors in lifestyle and in their mellow and relaxed outlook on life.
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
With this photography exhibit, we want not only to show you some of our favorite images from the trip but also to share with you some of the things we learned. We're all familiar with images from the Muslim world, but so often they are ones of conflict—protests in Pakistan, destruction in Gaza or, worse yet, bearded terrorists in the latest Hollywood thriller. We don’t purport to bring you the “real” Muslim world, but we believe that our observations, even if not new to you, might be illuminating simply for what they are, things that jump out to the traveler in these regions, scenes that may at times seem common and banal but also represent things one sees day-to-day, ordinarily.
Faces of the Muslim World
So often, Islam gets equated with the Middle East and with Arab ethnic identity, but of course the reach of the Muslim faith far exceeds the boundaries of the Arab world.
Jama Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri, India. The largest number of Muslims in the world—almost 400 million—lives not in the Middle East, but in South Asia. Some Subcontinent Muslims trace their lineage to Iran, Central Asia or even Arabia, but generally they are, at an ethnic level, every bit as South Asian as their Hindu neighbors and have an equal claim to the core of the identity of the Subcontinent.
Kyrgyz Man, Pamirs, Tajikistan. Almost rivaling the Arab world in sheer breadth is the Turkic world, stretching thousands of miles from Turkey to western China with significant influence well beyond, by virtue of great Mongol/Turkic leaders from Genghiz Khan to the Ottomans. High up in the Pamir Plateau of eastern Tajikistan live over a hundred thousand traditionally nomadic Kyrgyz, divided by Soviet-era boundaries from their brethren in Kyrgyzstan.
Timbuktu, Mali. Timbuktu is a destination of legends, but its primary interest for the traveler today is not as a repository of culture and historical seat of empire but as a transition zone from sub-Saharan (black) Africa to (berber/Arab) North Africa. The racial harmony depicted here may have somewhat sinister undertones—it is said that the fair-skinned Tuareg continue their practice of holding black Africans as slaves; the survival of the practice was explained to us (by a Tuareg) as more domestic and traditional in nature, a continuation of the household bond rather than people as property.
On a Ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia. The most populous majority-Muslim country in the world, and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is Indonesia. Far from Arabia, Indonesians culturally resemble their Southeast Asian neighbors in lifestyle and in their mellow and relaxed outlook on life.
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
So often, Islam gets equated with the Middle East and with Arab ethnic identity, but of course the reach of the Muslim faith far exceeds the boundaries of the Arab world.
Jama Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri, India. The largest number of Muslims in the world—almost 400 million—lives not in the Middle East, but in South Asia. Some Subcontinent Muslims trace their lineage to Iran, Central Asia or even Arabia, but generally they are, at an ethnic level, every bit as South Asian as their Hindu neighbors and have an equal claim to the core of the identity of the Subcontinent.
Kyrgyz Man, Pamirs, Tajikistan. Almost rivaling the Arab world in sheer breadth is the Turkic world, stretching thousands of miles from Turkey to western China with significant influence well beyond, by virtue of great Mongol/Turkic leaders from Genghiz Khan to the Ottomans. High up in the Pamir Plateau of eastern Tajikistan live over a hundred thousand traditionally nomadic Kyrgyz, divided by Soviet-era boundaries from their brethren in Kyrgyzstan.
Timbuktu, Mali. Timbuktu is a destination of legends, but its primary interest for the traveler today is not as a repository of culture and historical seat of empire but as a transition zone from sub-Saharan (black) Africa to (berber/Arab) North Africa. The racial harmony depicted here may have somewhat sinister undertones—it is said that the fair-skinned Tuareg continue their practice of holding black Africans as slaves; the survival of the practice was explained to us (by a Tuareg) as more domestic and traditional in nature, a continuation of the household bond rather than people as property.
On a Ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia. The most populous majority-Muslim country in the world, and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is Indonesia. Far from Arabia, Indonesians culturally resemble their Southeast Asian neighbors in lifestyle and in their mellow and relaxed outlook on life.
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
Jama Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri, India. The largest number of Muslims in the world—almost 400 million—lives not in the Middle East, but in South Asia. Some Subcontinent Muslims trace their lineage to Iran, Central Asia or even Arabia, but generally they are, at an ethnic level, every bit as South Asian as their Hindu neighbors and have an equal claim to the core of the identity of the Subcontinent.
Kyrgyz Man, Pamirs, Tajikistan. Almost rivaling the Arab world in sheer breadth is the Turkic world, stretching thousands of miles from Turkey to western China with significant influence well beyond, by virtue of great Mongol/Turkic leaders from Genghiz Khan to the Ottomans. High up in the Pamir Plateau of eastern Tajikistan live over a hundred thousand traditionally nomadic Kyrgyz, divided by Soviet-era boundaries from their brethren in Kyrgyzstan.
Timbuktu, Mali. Timbuktu is a destination of legends, but its primary interest for the traveler today is not as a repository of culture and historical seat of empire but as a transition zone from sub-Saharan (black) Africa to (berber/Arab) North Africa. The racial harmony depicted here may have somewhat sinister undertones—it is said that the fair-skinned Tuareg continue their practice of holding black Africans as slaves; the survival of the practice was explained to us (by a Tuareg) as more domestic and traditional in nature, a continuation of the household bond rather than people as property.
On a Ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia. The most populous majority-Muslim country in the world, and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is Indonesia. Far from Arabia, Indonesians culturally resemble their Southeast Asian neighbors in lifestyle and in their mellow and relaxed outlook on life.
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
Kyrgyz Man, Pamirs, Tajikistan. Almost rivaling the Arab world in sheer breadth is the Turkic world, stretching thousands of miles from Turkey to western China with significant influence well beyond, by virtue of great Mongol/Turkic leaders from Genghiz Khan to the Ottomans. High up in the Pamir Plateau of eastern Tajikistan live over a hundred thousand traditionally nomadic Kyrgyz, divided by Soviet-era boundaries from their brethren in Kyrgyzstan.
Timbuktu, Mali. Timbuktu is a destination of legends, but its primary interest for the traveler today is not as a repository of culture and historical seat of empire but as a transition zone from sub-Saharan (black) Africa to (berber/Arab) North Africa. The racial harmony depicted here may have somewhat sinister undertones—it is said that the fair-skinned Tuareg continue their practice of holding black Africans as slaves; the survival of the practice was explained to us (by a Tuareg) as more domestic and traditional in nature, a continuation of the household bond rather than people as property.
On a Ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia. The most populous majority-Muslim country in the world, and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is Indonesia. Far from Arabia, Indonesians culturally resemble their Southeast Asian neighbors in lifestyle and in their mellow and relaxed outlook on life.
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
Timbuktu, Mali. Timbuktu is a destination of legends, but its primary interest for the traveler today is not as a repository of culture and historical seat of empire but as a transition zone from sub-Saharan (black) Africa to (berber/Arab) North Africa. The racial harmony depicted here may have somewhat sinister undertones—it is said that the fair-skinned Tuareg continue their practice of holding black Africans as slaves; the survival of the practice was explained to us (by a Tuareg) as more domestic and traditional in nature, a continuation of the household bond rather than people as property.
On a Ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia. The most populous majority-Muslim country in the world, and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is Indonesia. Far from Arabia, Indonesians culturally resemble their Southeast Asian neighbors in lifestyle and in their mellow and relaxed outlook on life.
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
On a Ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia. The most populous majority-Muslim country in the world, and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is Indonesia. Far from Arabia, Indonesians culturally resemble their Southeast Asian neighbors in lifestyle and in their mellow and relaxed outlook on life.
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
Arriving in Bahrain. The economic boom in the Gulf has brought a great deal of flash to Arabia. Here, a Filipina worker also disembarks. Is she fortunate to live in the relatively relaxed and fair atmosphere of Bahrain (compared to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which are said to be hell for overseas workers)? Or is she one of the thousands who work Bahrain’s seedy nightclubs and “massage” parlors catering to Saudis driving over the King Fahd Causeway to do the boozing and womanizing that is scarce back home?
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Few countries present as many examples of gut-wrenching poverty as Bangladesh. Of the tens of thousands of rickshaw drivers plying the streets of Old Dhaka, many seemed as malnourished as this man, expending all of his calories to scratch together a living.
Great Mosque of Xian, China. Islam can be seen all over China, brought over not only by overland Silk Road travelers but also by Arab, Persian and Malay merchants by sea. The Guangzhou Mosque is believed to date from the seventh century, and the Great Mosque of Xian followed not long after. In contrast to, say, the Uyghurs, who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, the so-called Hui Muslim minority of China differ from the majority only in faith.
http://www.derekbrownphotos.com
join the mailing list for updates and news of exhibits
check me out on Facebook