Was Shakespeare a Muslim

Sufi or not Sufi? Was Shakespeare a Muslim?A season of lectures and readings celebrates IslamAwareness Week at famous London theaterBy Ali Jaafar Special to The Daily StarTuesday, November 30, 2004LONDON: There's an old joke about William Shakespearebeing an Arab - how else, it explains, can you accountfor the name, Sheikh Zubair. Certainly theplaywright's preoccupation with despotic leaders,times of civil unrest and bloodshed fit in perfectlywith the tempestuous nature of contemporary Arabpolitics. With 2004 marking the 400th Anniversary of the Bard'sfamous Moor, Othello, the Globe Theatre in London hasorganized an extensive season, titled simply"Shakespeare and Islam." Renowned authors, scholarsand creative artists are contributing to a uniqueprogram of events from October to December, withgatherings ranging from talks, masterclasses andreadings of rarely performed texts, all designed toengage with a cross-cultural audience. The centerpiece of the Globe's season was a host ofevents tying in with Islam Awareness Week, seven daysof promoting Islam and its culture in the UnitedKingdom to ease tensions and forward understanding(Nov. 22-28). This weekend saw the theater transformed into anexotic souq, showcasing everything from Islamic artsand crafts to live performances of tales and anecdotesfrom the Arab world performed by the Khayaal TheatreCompany. A series of "Souq Lectures" also took place,with subjects on discussion including "Islam in theModern World," "The Concept of the Hereafter in Islam"as well as "Islamic Art" among others. An estimated 10,000 people attended the event, ameasure of how much interest there is in the West ingoing behind the sensationalist headlines anddiscovering more about the culture from the Arab andIslamic worlds. Speaking to The Daily Star, Peter Spottiswoode, thedirector of Globe education, revealed the inspirationbehind the program: "I had a conversation with theAmbassador of Morocco, who is convinced that Othellowas based on the Moroccan Ambassador who came toEngland in 1600. He told me a lot of England'srelationship with Morocco and it made me realize thatwhat we need to do is explore the context of Othello,politically, socially and culturally of the early 17thCentury. We wanted to explore England's perceptions ofIslam and Islamic lands." While academics and wary students need no excuse tostudy and revel in the language of Shakespeare,Spottiswoode was all too aware of the importance ofstressing the relevance of the great writer's works inthese troubled times. "We're very conscious that we mustn't be pickled inthe past. We must be a theatre about now. We wanted toadd depth and resonance, as well as build bridges at atime when real awareness and truth about faith andcultures is absolutely essential to share. We wantedto celebrate the myriad of cultures that make upfaith. Shakespeare has been translated into over 90languages. He has a universality now that can bringpeople together." Walking through the souq in the famous Globe, itseemed at times that a little corner of Marrakech hadbeen airlifted straight onto London's South Bank.Stall after stall of fine embroidered silks, paintingscomposed of fine Islamic calligraphy, a number ofportraits of religious icons such as Jesus Christ andthe Virgin Mary, as well as one memorable painting ofworshippers encircling the Kaaba titled "Necklace ofPearls" provided by students from His Royal HighnessPrince Charles' Visual Islamic and Traditional Artsprogram, highlighted the themes of universality andcommon understanding that lay at the heart of theseason. Perhaps most poignant was the "Tent of Peace"project. Inspired by the handkerchief Othello gives tohis wife Desdemona, the loss of which leads to theplay's tragic events, schoolchildren of all faithsacross the U.K. were invited to embroider their ownhandkerchiefs of peace and reconciliation, based onIslamic decoration and symmetry. The final resultswill be woven together to form a giant "Tent ofPeace," which organizers hope will be finished in timeto be unveiled at the Globe for Islamic Awareness Week2005. William Shakespeare is a giant of Western culture.What was interesting about so many of the talks atthis event was the extent to which they claimedShakespeare had himself been influenced by Islamicculture. Respected academic Dr. Martin Lings putforward the unique thesis that Shakespeare was amember of a spiritual order closely tied to thephilosophy of the Islamic Sufi sect. Speaking at alecture, he commented, "Shakespeare would havedelighted in Sufism." Lings argued that the journey of Edgar in "King Lear"was similar to a Sufi's search for truth, while Lear'sown words echo Sufi ideas with his speech to hisdaughter, "Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, the godsthrow themselves incense." According to the academic, who is himself a practicingSufi, the character of Prospero from "The Tempest"also chimes into Sufi philosophy with its strugglebetween a dawning modernist world and a traditional,mythic value system with his immortal line, "We aresuch stuff as dreams are made of." Whilereintepretation of Shakespeare is nothing new, withMarxist and feminist readings now commonplace, DrLings' presentation was one of the morethought-provoking, if highly debatable, on offer. Perhaps most spectacular of all was the decision bythe organizers to project images from the Islamicworld onto the outside walls of the Globe. The result,particularly when viewed at night with the shimmeringriver Thames in the background was breathtaking. "We came up with the idea of projecting photographs ofIslamic lands, peoples and architecture onto the whitewalls of the Globe so that Islam enfolds the Globe,"Spottiswoode explained. "Shakespeare and the Globe areicons of Britishness. This way the Globe is beingembraced by Islam. I thought it would be a beautiful,visual symbol of what we're trying to do." The Globe should certainly be applauded for attemptingas ambitious a project as this, particularly in viewof their stated desire "to celebrate" elements ofIslam and Shakespeare. It is to be hoped that thelessons of Shakespeare's celebrated tragedies arelearned before we are left to lament, in his ownwords, "Alas, poor world, what treasure hast thoulost."Insight by Ramsay ShortBEIRUT: If Sept. 11, the war in Afghanistan, the warin Iraq and the overarching war on terror raised thechances of Samuel Huntingdon's clash of civilizationstheory becoming a reality it also raised the questionof why so little is known in the West about Islam, theArab world and Muslim peoples? Post-Sept. 11, there has been an immense amount ofnewsprint, television airtime and debate dedicated tothe Arab world, Islam and what the West needs to know.Considering the huge number of Muslims living inEurope and the United States, it is a wonder that adeeper knowledge of the religion, where it comes fromand the people who practice it has not been sought outbefore. Still, in that sense the idea of the Islam AwarenessWeek, held over the last seven days in the UnitedKingdom, can only be a positive one. A proactive initiative, begun by the Islamic Societyof Britain in 1994, Islam Awareness Week seeks to helpMuslims and non-Muslims come together in a climate ofunderstanding and appreciation. Indeed, the theme this year was "Your Muslim Neighbor"with the idea of highlighting the valuablecontributions made by British Muslims to everydayBritish society. While noble in intent, and without question whollyworthwhile, it is worrying, and to an extent sad, thatIslam and the Arab world was taken far less seriouslyin the West before Sept. 11, 2001. Today, from the banning of veils for young Muslimgirls in secular French schools to the murder ofinvestigative filmmaker Theo Van Gogh in Holland -killed earlier this month by an outraged hardlineMuslim for his controversial documentary on Islam -understanding Islam has never been higher on theagenda. Yet it should be remembered that Islam has contributedas much as any civilization to the entire range ofwhat we understand makes up culture and civilization,from science to literature, from commerce and trade tothe construction of all encompassing empires. Islamic Awareness as a concept has really been born inthis new century. It has brought the nation of Americaout of its tendency to isolate itself from the rest ofthe world, and has finally encouraged more and moreWesterners to come to the Middle East, study Arabic,and learn about the people who committed the atrocitythat was Sept. 11. On the other hand, the Arab and Muslim world hasunderstood the West for years, with large numbers ofstudents from countries such as Lebanon, Iran and Iraqall studying in European and American universities andmany, many immigrants and expatriates from the Arabworld living and working in the West. It helps ofcourse that Iran, Iraq and Lebanon all had mandaterelations with and in some cases were colonies ofWestern nations. Still, the point is that the concept of IslamAwareness in the UK and hopefully more and more inEurope and the United States, can and must be apositive move showing that there is a cultured andunderstanding side to Islam and its followers that isnot widely known.What Islam awareness should be, as well as examiningfamed British writers' connections and understandingsof Islam, like Shakespeare as the event at London'sGlobe Theater last week successfully demonstrated, isan attempt to provide people in the West with anopportunity to interact with Muslims and learn aboutthe religion and the rich culture straight fromMuslims themselves. Ultimately it is worth knowing that for the majorityof Muslims the world over, Islam means what itliterally translates as: peace - as well as"submission (to God)." Islamic Awareness Week in the UK is about promotingpeace and goodwill between Muslims and non-Muslims. Though cultural outreach entities in the Arab Worldlike the British Council, the Cervantes Institute, theGoethe Institute and the French Cultural Mission worktowards promoting understanding and knowledge of theWest in the region and do it admirably well, Arabcountries might well think about more positiverepresentation in the West too. In the current overriding climate of suspicion, fearand rejection of the other, Islam Awareness Week is atleast a beginning to that end.