May 2006 – islamicate

How the Jews Saved Islam

islamoyankeeMay 31, 2006

I was hoping that title would get someone’s attention. More specifically: I was reading The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia (And Queens, New York) and learned quite about the relationship between Bukharan Jews and Muslims in Transoxiana (modern day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan). In brief, Muslims started giving up aspects of their musical heritage and the Bukharan (here, basically meaning Central Asian) Jews took up the craft and helped preserve Islamicate music, especially the shash maqām. It’s a good read, and I highly recommend it. While it’s also a bit late for Diaspora Month, the last…

Current Affairs

Earthquake Relief

islamoyankeeMay 31, 2006

I was away for the weekend, so my tardy response. Massive earthquake hit Indonesia. Thousands dead. Give! Prayers and of course money. Technorati Tags: Indonesia, Earthquake

Inter-faith

On Diaspora

islamoyankeeMay 3, 2006

The following is in response to Jonathan’s post at Head Heeb. It is a selection from a piece I’m working on about South Asian diaspora communities and hybrid art. Diaspora, as an analytic term, is one that has multiple meanings,[1] and that needs some clarification before proceeding with its use. One convenient way to begin thinking about diaspora is to make a distinction between physical diasporas and the idea of diaspora as metaphor.[2] Physical diasporas[3] can be further divided into types, such as classical, victims, labor, trade, and imperial.[4] The key type of diaspora for South Asians is the labor…