Ramadan Blues: Debates in Popular Islam during Ramadan in Amman,Jordan

Within the context of the contemporary Middle East and the post‐Islamic Resurgence, avoiding music has become associated with a rise in religiosity and normative Islam. As a result, residents of Amman, Jordan actively avoid consuming music during Ramadan. A large‐scale survey and ethnographic data, including participant observation with employees in an Islamic bank, confirm that avoiding music is a public ethic of Ramadan that is temporally specific and in wide use during the month. In this article, I argue that the tensions surrounding the debates of music's compatibility with normative Islam are enacted in terms of a conflict between cultural and Islamic authenticities. These tensions are resolved temporarily during Ramadan through altered consumption in which one ethical, “Islamic” framework that regards music as haram, or “forbidden,” eclipses another, more diverse “cultural” framework, and does so largely without inducing crisis or controversy. This is because the two realms are not articulating with each other; rather, claims of a normative Islamic authenticity overwhelm the possibilities for a more diverse cultural authenticity. Outside of Ramadan, however, these two competing authenticities often spark tensions and conflicts between family members, neighbors, and coworkers. This article concludes by exploring the implications of ordering morality for religious life in this assertive, even illiberal fashion for diversity in belief and practice.     

Book reviews

The United States and Iran: The Patterns of Influence. By R. K. Ramazani. New York: Praeger, 1982. 179 pp.

Iran, A Revolution in Turmoil. Edited by Haleh Afshar. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1985. xvi + 253 pp. + index.

War, Revolution & British Imperialism in Central Asia. By Frederick Stanwood. London: Ithaca Press, 1983. vi + 261 pp. £12.50.

The Prison Papers of Bozorg Alavi: A Literary Odyssey. By Donne Raffat. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1985. xi + 246 pp.; no index or bibliography.

From Iran East & West: Studies in Babi and Baha'i History. Edited by Juan R. Cole and Moojan Momen. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1984. xiii + 205 pp.

Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society. By Roy P. Mottahedeh. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980. xi + 209 pp.

The Women's Rights Movement in Iran; Mutiny, Appeasement and Repression from 1900 to Khomeini. By Eliz Sanasarian. New York: Praeger, 1982. 172 pp. + i‐xiii, including index and bibliography.     

Rock surface luminescence dating of prehistoric rock art from central Iberia

Rock art paintings are notoriously difficult to date numerically. Recently, luminescence dating has been shown to provide reliable rock surface burial ages in various archaeological settings. Here we use the cross-cutting relationship between a fallen rock and two paintings of the Iberian Levantine (older) and Schematic (younger) styles to constrain the age of the paintings by dating the rockfall event using rock surface luminescence dating. Infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals as a function of depth into the buried face of the talus border indicate that the IRSL signal measured at 50°C (IR₅₀) was sufficiently reset to a depth of about 1.6 mm prior to burial. An uncorrected IR₅₀ age of 1.6 ± 0.2 ka was calculated for the rockfall event by dividing the surface equivalent dose (D_e) by the total dose rate. This age was corrected using both conventional and field-to-laboratory saturation approaches to yield indistinguishable ages of 2.7 ± 0.5 and 2.9 ± 0.3 ka, respectively. Since the panel with Schematic art was first available to the artist after the rockfall, we conclude the Schematic rock art at Villar del Humo is younger than ~2.9 ka. The Levantine rock art was painted on a panel constrained by the talus boulder before detachment, and so it is likely to be older than ~2.9 ka.     

Medieval Arab Contributions to Optics

The year 2015 was the United Nations’ International Year of Light and Light‐based Technologies. The year long activities created a forum for scientists and engineers and all others inspired by light, to interact with each other and with the public so as to learn more about the nature of light and its many applications. It was also a time to promote and celebrate the Medieval Arab contributions to optics. The year 2015 marked the 1000th anniversary of the seven volume encyclopedia on optics written by the great Arab scientist, Ibn al‐Haytham. Here, we present the Medieval Arab achievements in optical sciences and its impact on the European renaissance.     

Was the Revolution Tweeted? Social Media and the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia

Tunisia's Internet freedom prior to the “Jasmine Revolution” that overthrew longtime authoritarian leader Zine el‐Abidine Ben Ali has been described as roughly on par with that of China. Despite that, Tunisia's revolution has been described as one of the first “Twitter” or Internet revolutions, in which Internet technologies are said to have played a significant role This article illuminates how Internet technologies were (and weren't) used in challenging the Ben Ali regime. Based on interviews with Tunisian activists in early 2013, the research sheds light on Internet activities bridging street activism and Internet dissent. Whether through Internet or traditional face‐to‐face means, building the capacity to mobilize street protests long before mass mobilization was crucial to Tunisia's successful revolution.