In search of beauty, non-Muslim artists are finding meaning in aesthetic appreciation of the Quran
As stories circulate in the media suggesting that Muslims reject imagery and artistic depictions of religious subject matter, it can be difficult to remember the role aesthetics play, and have always played, in Islamic (and Islamicate) contexts. In fact, the emphasis on aesthetic beauty is so strong in Islam that there are passages in the Quran encouraging contemplation of nature’s beauty and God’s creation in an attempt to understand the divine. According to a well-known saying from Prophet Mohammed, “God is beautiful and He loves beauty.”
Source: Muftah
Yazidi New Year: marked by genocide
Last Wednesday (April 15) marked the beginning of the Yazidi New Year. Thirty-six miles northeast of Mosul, Iraq is the small village of Lalish, the most sacred place on Earth to the Yazidi religion. Followers of the faith believe the village, surrounded on all sides by mountains lined with oak trees, to be the center of the universe: the only place on Earth to be saved during the biblical floods. Twelve cone-shaped domes are scattered across the valley as shrines to the Yazidi saints.
Source: US-Middle East Youth Network
On Palestinian cinema: the State of Israel vs. Suha Arraf
Suha Arraf is a Palestinian filmmaker based in Mi’ilya in the Galilee in Israel. Arraf is a journalist by training. This interview with Arraf was conducted following the recent screening of her debut feature film, Villa Touma, at the Cleveland International Film Festival in the United States.
Source: Jadaliyya
