{"AuthorName":"Yousuf Saeed","Description":"

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 01. Muslim boy in Turkish cap. This kind of cap with a hairy tail on the top, clearly of Turkish origin, was in vogue among the Muslim elite until the middle of 20th century. Shrines of Mecca and Medina in the backdrop Artist: H.R.Raja, Publisher: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 01<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 02. A chubby Muslim boy praying. The cap and dress are always well-embroidered Artist: unknown, Publisher: unknown, date: circa 1990.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 02<\/a><\/span>Disturbing as it may sound, the prejudices in the society about members of certain communities usually come from the various stereotypical images one sees everyday in popular media and mass visual culture. An important category among various forms of popular art found in India's public spaces is religious posters and calendars depicting deities, saints, and places of worship. Besides posters that deal with recognizable Hindu subject matter, one finds images with Muslim themes, typically portraying the shrines at Mecca and Medina, Quranic verses in calligraphy, the portraits of local Sufi saints, their tombs, miracles, and other folklore (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 01. Muslim boy in Turkish cap. This kind of cap with a hairy tail on the top, clearly of Turkish origin, was in vogue among the Muslim elite until the middle of 20th century. Shrines of Mecca and Medina in the backdrop Artist: H.R.Raja, Publisher: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 01<\/a> - This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 02. A chubby Muslim boy praying. The cap and dress are always well-embroidered Artist: unknown, Publisher: unknown, date: circa 1990.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 02<\/a>). Since a poster or calendar is frequently meant to decorate the walls of a home, its imagery is always bright and attractive: young women or children shown as embodiments of perfect innocence and beauty and a pious character. And this is where the typecast of communities too get established in the mind of the onlooker.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 03. Praying Muslim woman with heavy jewelry. The Mecca-Medina niche on the right with an incense-stick holder and flowers reminds one of the Hindu praying corners. Artist: Kareem, Publisher: unknown, date: circa 1990.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 03<\/a><\/span>To explore how these images help build popular stereotypes of certain ethnic or religious identities such as Indian Muslims, one could begin by examining some broad differences between various popular posters and media types. The images with clearly Hindu and Muslim themes differ, mainly, in the variety of subject matters they depict, and the purpose they fulfill in a devotee's life. Most Hindu posters represent deities, gods, and goddesses, their attributes and myths, utilizing narratives that have been followed since ages, even though the painting\/art styles may have changed. In practice, a two-dimensional image of a Hindu god or deity serves more or less the same purpose for an average devotee which an idol or statue does, that is, worship or dhyana<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 04. Kalima-e Shahadat<\/em> (The oath of affirming Gods oneness). The Arabic kalima is written in pictorial calligraphic form to look like a praying Muslim man. Note his raised forefinger, a ritual required in the prayer to affirm the oneness of God. Artist: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 04<\/a><\/span>However, India's Muslim devotional posters, which may or may not have been drawn by a Muslim, carry some distinct differences from such Hindu images - even though some elements of polytheism can still be found in it (such as lamps and incense sticks as seen in This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 03. Praying Muslim woman with heavy jewelry. The Mecca-Medina niche on the right with an incense-stick holder and flowers reminds one of the Hindu praying corners. Artist: Kareem, Publisher: unknown, date: circa 1990.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 03<\/a>). Since the making of pictures, other than those of Mecca and Medina, has been frowned upon in most Muslim societies, human figures are often replaced by Arabic calligraphy (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 04. Kalima-e Shahadat<\/em> (The oath of affirming Gods oneness). The Arabic kalima is written in pictorial calligraphic form to look like a praying Muslim man. Note his raised forefinger, a ritual required in the prayer to affirm the oneness of God. Artist: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 04<\/a>), flowers, crescent moon and other inanimate icons illustrating various concepts, although it doesn't mean that human forms are never represented in Muslim devotional art. Portraits of Sufi saints and holy men have been regularly made and distributed in South Asia.
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\r\nWho are "Indian Muslims?"<\/strong>
\r\nAlthough this essay tries to study the stereotypes about Indian Muslim community established by Indian popular media, it runs the risk of itself participating in the consolidation of such stereotypes by using the generic term "Indian Muslims". Probably a clarification is required.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 05. Babu's Calendar showing a praying Muslim woman with the Quran, incense sticks and roses. Artist: unknown, Publisher: K.V.Devassy (Babu), date: 1975.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 05<\/a><\/span>It is not only impossible but also inappropriate to put all the followers of Islam residing in India into one monolithic category. They are culturally, linguistically, demographically, economically, professionally, and perhaps politically, as diverse as the rest of Indians. They even follow the tenets of Islam differently all over South Asia. Thus the author of this essay assumes that there is no one standard image which can represent the demographic diversity of Indian Muslims, even though India's popular media continues to depict them, consciously or otherwise, through standard emblematic images (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 05. Babu's Calendar showing a praying Muslim woman with the Quran, incense sticks and roses. Artist: unknown, Publisher: K.V.Devassy (Babu), date: 1975.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 05<\/a>). However, one can also not ignore the recent (or past) trends among Muslims of South Asia to be inspired by the notion of Pan-Islamism where some of them start identifying with a more sanitized version of Islam, which practically orients them to a more Arabic or Middle Eastern culture free of the local South Asian roots. Although popular Indian cinema or TV may have started depicting such sanitized Muslims, often in the negative role of a religious extremist, devotional posters and calendar art still continue with the classic look of a Muslim. Hence the definition of Indian Muslims for this essay would depend on the context in which each image has been produced by the artist, used by the buyers, and featured on this web-gallery.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 06. A Muslim boy reading Quran. The mature body features of the little boy make him look like a miniature version of a fully grown Muslim man. One can see a building like Lucknow's Imambara (Shia shrine) at the back. Artist: unknown, Publisher: Brijbasi.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 06<\/a><\/span>When a poster artist (not necessarily a Muslim by faith), explores new subject matters to draw an image, or to make innovative variations of Mecca and Medina, the first thing he\/she recalls (in the absence of any deities) are the clichéd images of Muslim piety: cute little girls with headscarves reading the Qur'an, innocent boys in skullcaps hugging each other after Eid prayers, beautiful and pious young women with raised hands from which a translucent dupatta<\/em> (scarf) cascades, all this against the essential backdrop of the Kaaba and the green dome of Medina. An image epitomizing the emblematic image of the community shows a little boy sitting cross-legged, about to turn the page of the Qur'an, wearing a white sleeveless vest, a green check lungi or mundu  (printed loin-cloth), a little metallic talisman case in a necklace, and the embroidered skullcap (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 06. A Muslim boy reading Quran. The mature body features of the little boy make him look like a miniature version of a fully grown Muslim man. One can see a building like Lucknow's Imambara (Shia shrine) at the back. Artist: unknown, Publisher: Brijbasi.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 06<\/a>). Not to miss are the rosary, the incense-sticks, the prayer mat, and the crescent-and-star encircling Mecca and Medina in the backdrop. The child may just walk out, one imagines, into a noisy Muslim mohalla (locality) and chew a paan (betel) or enter a butcher’s shop.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 07. Eid greeting card. A typical image of the Muslims that one sees every year around the festival of Eid young Muslim men hugging each other and children with balloons or toys. Most such images have the Jama Masjid of Delhi as the backdrop Artist: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 07<\/a><\/span>One wonders, however, if such stereotypes are simply a non-Muslim artist's or publisher's narrow perception of the "other" community? Or are is there a reality behind them? There are of course some popular art genres such as the "educational" comics series called Amar Chitra Katha<\/em> or even some popular movies where Muslims have been deliberately portrayed in negative roles. But a calendar artist and publisher has to consciously portray the community with a more favourable image (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 07. Eid greeting card. A typical image of the Muslims that one sees every year around the festival of Eid young Muslim men hugging each other and children with balloons or toys. Most such images have the Jama Masjid of Delhi as the backdrop Artist: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 07<\/a>), in order to sell. Thus a praying posture is the safest icon they find, since it can play many roles. One seldom sees a poster showing a pious Hindu woman worshiping a deity or a cute Hindu boy reading a holy book: Hindu posters generally depict the deity directly and not through the act of worship. Since there is hardly any object of veneration in a Muslim picture, the believer herself becomes the subject of the artist.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

In some cases, Indian Muslims themselves seem to legitimize such stereotypical images. A poster of the cute boy (sometimes with his elder sister) reading the Qur'an, or some other book, is commonly used in Muslim homes that have young children, to emphasize the importance of ilm<\/em> or knowledge in Islam. A typical user is only aware of the evident message that the poster gives to a child, and not so much of the latent conditioning about community stereotype being imparted. Such images become probably become idealized forms to be emulated by youngsters. In fact, it would not be entirely wrong to say that some Muslims do make an effort to look different from non-Muslims. One has often heard in recent religious discourses (such as Friday sermons in many north Indian mosques) the emphasis on the need for Muslims to look like Muslims, a lament that Aaj kal ke musalman, musalman jaise nahin dikhte<\/em> (today's Muslims don't look Muslim enough). What such sermons mean in practical terms is to follow the Prophet’s tradition of keeping a beard, trimming the moustache, covering the head, wearing a trouser or pyjama above the ankle and so on, for men, and a hijab<\/em> or veil for women. However, it is difficult to say if this awareness about "looking like" a Muslim has always been a part of Muslim society or has it begun recently. It would surely be a challenging job for historians to find out how different did Indian Muslims look from other Indians a couple of centuries ago (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 08. An elder sister teaches her brother to learn to read the Quran a common image used in homes with children. Artist: unknown, Publisher: JB Khanna Co., date: circa 2000.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 08<\/a>, This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 09. O God, bestow me with more knowledge a quotation from the Quran (bottom right). A Muslim boys read and writes, with the icons of knowledge, including hieroglyphs, astrolabe and others in the background. A common image used in Muslim homes with children.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 09<\/a>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 08. An elder sister teaches her brother to learn to read the Quran a common image used in homes with children. Artist: unknown, Publisher: JB Khanna Co., date: circa 2000.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 08<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 09. O God, bestow me with more knowledge a quotation from the Quran (bottom right). A Muslim boys read and writes, with the icons of knowledge, including hieroglyphs, astrolabe and others in the background. A common image used in Muslim homes with children.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 09<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 10. A praying woman in green. The colour green is the most typical way of depicting Indian Muslims. Artist: unknown, Publisher: JB Khanna Co., date: circa 2000.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 10<\/a><\/span>The depiction of a pious Muslim woman in popular posters (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 10. A praying woman in green. The colour green is the most typical way of depicting Indian Muslims. Artist: unknown, Publisher: JB Khanna Co., date: circa 2000.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 10<\/a>) may not have been possible without drawing inspiration from popular Hindi cinema. A genre called the 'Muslim Social' pervaded Mumbai's film industry for many decades from the 1950s, contributing largely to the stereotyping of the Muslim community in the popular imagination (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 11. Meena Kumari in Bahu Begum<\/em>, a face that has often been used in Bombay films to depict a Muslim woman as an aristocratic beloved, daughter-in-law, or courtesan. Producer: Jan Nisar Akhtar, 1970.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 11<\/a>) through classic films such as Mughal-e Azam<\/em>, 1960 (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 12. A women's qawwali from Mughale Azam<\/em>, a classic movie image of Indian Muslim aristocracy Director: K.Asif, 1960.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 12<\/a>), Chaudhvin ka Chand<\/em>, 1960 (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 13. Actress Waheeda Rehman being admired in a qawwali in Chaudhvin ka Chand<\/em>, director: Guru Dutt, 1960.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 13<\/a>), or Mere Mehboob<\/em>, 1963. Since the Hindi cinema industry tries to cater to a wide section of the society, and a large chunk of its audience comprises north India’s middle-class Muslims, it has to produce movies that can be seen by thousands of conservative Muslim families amongst whom it is still taboo for an unmarried girl to go to the cinema with friends. This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 11. Meena Kumari in Bahu Begum<\/em>, a face that has often been used in Bombay films to depict a Muslim woman as an aristocratic beloved, daughter-in-law, or courtesan. Producer: Jan Nisar Akhtar, 1970.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 11<\/a><\/span>At its height, this genre of movies, although its main motive was entertainment, portrayed Muslim women as the role models of modesty, morality, and tehzeeb<\/em>  (etiquette).The stories of these films may have also drawn from a wide variety of available literature such as Urdu novels meant for the shareef zadi<\/em>s (the noble daughters) (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 11. Meena Kumari in Bahu Begum<\/em>, a face that has often been used in Bombay films to depict a Muslim woman as an aristocratic beloved, daughter-in-law, or courtesan. Producer: Jan Nisar Akhtar, 1970.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 11<\/a>). One of the earliest films of such kind, Nek Parveen<\/em> (1946), tells the story of a pious Muslim girl who overcame the hardships of life through her persistent belief in God, managing to successfully reform her husband from his gambling habits and so on (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 14. Parveen, the pious wife sings a hymn for a happy married life, as husband looks on. Nek Parveen<\/em>, Director: S.M.Yusuf, 1946.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 14<\/a>, This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 15. Parveen, the pious wife laments to God for the hardships in her life. Nek Parveen<\/em>, Director: S.M.Yusuf, 1946.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 15<\/a>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 12. A women's qawwali from Mughale Azam<\/em>, a classic movie image of Indian Muslim aristocracy Director: K.Asif, 1960.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 12<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 13. Actress Waheeda Rehman being admired in a qawwali in Chaudhvin ka Chand<\/em>, director: Guru Dutt, 1960.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 13<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 14. Parveen, the pious wife sings a hymn for a happy married life, as husband looks on. Nek Parveen<\/em>, Director: S.M.Yusuf, 1946.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 14<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 15. Parveen, the pious wife laments to God for the hardships in her life. Nek Parveen<\/em>, Director: S.M.Yusuf, 1946.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 15<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

The typical praying posture icon in the Muslim calendar art may have been inspired by a genre of devotional Muslim films with names like Khwaja ki Diwani<\/em> (1981) (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 16. An old man who yearned all his life to visit Mecca, is finally given to see a framed image of Mecca by his family, at his deathbed. Khwaja ki Diwani<\/em>, director: Akbar Balam, 1981.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on YouTube.com for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 16<\/a>, This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 17. Making an arzi <\/em>or request at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer, in the film Khwaja ki Diwani<\/em>, director: Akbar Balam, 1981.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 17<\/a>) or Mera Salaam<\/em> (1981) featuring the importance of a pilgrimage to Sufi shrines (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 18: Simi Grewal in Bahu Begum<\/em> sits a Muslim praying posture that has been tried in almost every movie depicting Muslims the ephemeral light filtering through the lattice adds to the affect. Bahu Begum<\/em>, 1967. Producer: Jan Nisar Akhtar.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 18<\/a>). Beside the ones that became famous, there are hundreds of lesser known titles such as Hamara Haj<\/em> (1957), Idd ka Chand<\/em> (1964), Madine Ki Galiyan<\/em> (1981), and so on. These films probably fall in the same devotional genre that produces films such as Jai Santoshi Maa<\/em> (1975) or Shirdi ke Saibaba<\/em> (1977). However, the typecast image of religious woman (Hindu or Muslim) remains the central character in most of such films,as it is the woman of the family who suffers most. While going through endless hardships in life (or suddenly hearing some bad news) a Muslim mother, wife or a sister always runs towards a corner of the house which has a devotional image pasted on the wall. In extreme cases, she visits a saint’s tomb with her jholi<\/em> (scarf) held out in a posture of 'asking', while an animated Qawwali troupe sings and claps in the backdrop. Suddenly the miraculous rays of light from the jali or lattice of the shrine start showering on the praying woman and her wishes come true (Jahan Ara<\/em> 1964, Bahu Begum<\/em> 1970). In the posters for such films, these rays of light are shown emanating from the icons of Mecca\/Medina. The praying women are always an embodiment of extraordinary beauty, replete with gold jewelry and wearing expensive clothes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 16. An old man who yearned all his life to visit Mecca, is finally given to see a framed image of Mecca by his family, at his deathbed. Khwaja ki Diwani<\/em>, director: Akbar Balam, 1981.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on YouTube.com for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 16<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 17. Making an arzi <\/em>or request at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer, in the film Khwaja ki Diwani<\/em>, director: Akbar Balam, 1981.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 17<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 18: Simi Grewal in Bahu Begum<\/em> sits a Muslim praying posture that has been tried in almost every movie depicting Muslims the ephemeral light filtering through the lattice adds to the affect. Bahu Begum<\/em>, 1967. Producer: Jan Nisar Akhtar.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 18<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 19: A Muslim husband has bought a green dress for Eid for his beautiful wife while their son looks on – an "ideal" Muslim family? A clip from Coolie<\/em>. Director: Manmohan Desai, 1983.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 19<\/a><\/span>Of course, the Muslim Social movies weren't restricted to modest family sagas. Their stories ranged from historical classics (such as Mughal-e Azam<\/em>) to nawabi decadence (Pakeezah<\/em>, 1971), and Mumbai's slum-dwellers (Coolie<\/em>, 1983) (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 19: A Muslim husband has bought a green dress for Eid for his beautiful wife while their son looks on – an "ideal" Muslim family? A clip from Coolie<\/em>. Director: Manmohan Desai, 1983.
\r\n(Video clip hosted on youtube for educational purposes only - no commercial use)<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 19<\/a>) to contemporary Muslim extremists (Sarfarosh<\/em>, 1999), the stereotyping getting sharper and more negative as the time passed. There has hardly been any movie  between 1950 and 2000 where the story depicted a Muslim family or character with ordinary traits such as a career-conscious youth, an office-going husband, or a vegetable-selling woman. Muslims have to always have a special and distinct character. Only recently have some directors made conscious effort in giving non-conspicuous roles to characters with Muslim names.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A popular poster illustrating the miracles of saint Abdul Qadir Jeelani shows his mausoleum in Iraq visited by a beautiful female devotee with distinctive facial features and wearing a distinct Punjabi dress (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 20. Ya Ghaus-e Azam<\/em>: a woman pays her homage to the shrine of Saint Abdul Qadir Jilani in Baghdad (Iraq) who is considered in high esteem by all Sufis in South Asia. The devotee wears typically north Indian dress while the saints miracles (of saving a drowning boat and others) are seen in the backdrop. It rare to see an Indian poster showing the persona of a saint. Artist: unknown, Publisher: Brijbasi, date: circa 1990.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 20<\/a>). It would not be surprising if the artists who drew the roadside hoardings for Hindi movies were also the original painters of some of the religious posters. Many printing presses that churn out movie posters no doubt also produce inexpensive religious images. The big chunk of moviegoers, the crowd that likes to see a blockbuster several times, and revels in its images and music, has also been the client for the devotional posters. Of course, in many elite Muslim households it is a taboo to display a portrait of even a family member, let alone a movie poster. But some (among Muslims) who may have hesitated putting up the image of a film actress on their wall due to family or social pressure find legitimacy in a picture that combines the Kaaba or the Qur'an with an attractive pious lady who looks like the film actress Madhubala or Waheeda Rehman (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 21. A praying Muslim lady, who looks like the actress Waheeda Rehman, has a swelling tear about to fall from her eye. Notice her rather dull and homely dress unlike the flashy tones one usually finds in posters even the mosque in the background is in monochrome Artist: Syed Arts, Original painting, circa 1970.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 21<\/a>). This twin purpose of providing the religious devotion with the sensuous pleasure seems to be a selling point of most successful popular and bazaar art.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 20. Ya Ghaus-e Azam<\/em>: a woman pays her homage to the shrine of Saint Abdul Qadir Jilani in Baghdad (Iraq) who is considered in high esteem by all Sufis in South Asia. The devotee wears typically north Indian dress while the saints miracles (of saving a drowning boat and others) are seen in the backdrop. It rare to see an Indian poster showing the persona of a saint. Artist: unknown, Publisher: Brijbasi, date: circa 1990.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 20<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 21. A praying Muslim lady, who looks like the actress Waheeda Rehman, has a swelling tear about to fall from her eye. Notice her rather dull and homely dress unlike the flashy tones one usually finds in posters even the mosque in the background is in monochrome Artist: Syed Arts, Original painting, circa 1970.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 21<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 22. Actress Kareena Kapoor as a praying Muslim lady - an obviously movie still sold as part of the religious posters Publisher: unknown<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 22<\/a><\/span>Another fascination for poster artists as well as the Muslim community has been the colour green. Some Indian shopkeepers dealing in clothes, paints, refrigerators and washing machines reveal that many of their Muslim clients prefer to buy goods of green or quasi green colour (although educated and elite Muslims may shrink from such a stereotype). There may be several historical explanations for the apparent Muslim fascination with green. Besides the desert dwellers of Arabia finding comfort in green, the Prophet himself is said to have liked this colour as signifying peace. The use of green flags in the holy wars was common, and many of the Prophet’s followers wore green turbans. Today, a patch of green is present in the national flags of almost all Muslim countries. In India and elsewhere, devotees like to offer green chadars on the graves of the saints, and green shrouds are used in many Muslim funerals. The most popular devotional icon is, of course, gumbad-e khizra<\/em>, the green dome of the holy mosque in Medina, beneath which the Prophet is buried (although it wasn't painted green until about 1837 AD). Khizr (green) is also the name of an immortal prophet with whom many myths and legends are associated, especially in the realm of the Sufi narratives. Hence, popular devotional posters are also full of green in various forms (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 22. Actress Kareena Kapoor as a praying Muslim lady - an obviously movie still sold as part of the religious posters Publisher: unknown<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 22<\/a>), although it would be interesting to explore how much of this fascination with the green colour is actually manufactured.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 23. Bombay film actor Salman Khan as an icon for young Muslims. Publisher: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 23<\/a><\/span>Indian cinema and television continue to strengthen the community stereotypes that prevail in popular culture. Many film producers wait for Eid or Diwali to release their blockbusters, not so much for the auspicious day, but for the holiday and the savings the working class would spend on cinema. Last Eid in a Muslim locality in Delhi, I found a surprise at a poster shop: a colour photograph of the film star Salman Khan in typical Muslim attire, doing a courteous aadab (Muslim salutation) with his naughty smile (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 23. Bombay film actor Salman Khan as an icon for young Muslims. Publisher: unknown.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 23<\/a>). This obviously poster of a movie star was selling briskly among religious ones. But besides the movie stars, many other heroic icons have been tried as the subject of popular posters for Muslim niche market. While the cricketer M. Azharuddin remained a popular poster boy in the 1980 and 1990s, today's heartthroab for young Muslims is the tennis star Sania Mirza (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 24. A poster of Indian tennis star Sania Mirza being sold at a fete on the 10th Muharram near the Jor Bagh Karbala, New Delhi. Photo by Yousuf Saeed (Delhi, February 2006).<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 24<\/a>), her posters selling alongside images of Mecca and Medina. One could also not ignore the posters of international muslim figures such as Saddam Husain, Yasser Arafat or Osama bin Ladin being sold in India, especially during and after the First Gulf War into the 1990s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

But the exploitation of the community stereotype goes to even higher levels when one finds on a wall in Mumbai's busy Colaba area, a brand new poster showing the film actor Shah Rukh Khan wearing a Muslim skullcap (This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 25. "Away from your home, you are still with your near and dear ones. Connect to anywhere in the gulf with Airtel", says the actor Shahrukh Khan to the Arab tourists visiting Mumbai during the monsoon. They are made at home not only through a roaming mobile connection, but also the Muslim identity of the actor! Photo by Yousuf Saeed (Mumbai, August 2007) Translation from Arabic by Arshad Amanullah.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 25<\/a>) with something written in Arabic! On a closer inspection it turns out to be not a religious poster, but an advertisement for the mobile company Airtel, asking Arab tourists (who flock Mumbai during the monsoon) to feel at home by using the company’s mobile roaming connection! The same company comes out with Urdu banners in Muslim localities of Delhi at the start of the holy month of Ramadan (fasting) this year offering a mobile recharge plan for Rs.786!* Need one explain how many kinds of petty stereotyping do these commercial exploitations represent?<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 24. A poster of Indian tennis star Sania Mirza being sold at a fete on the 10th Muharram near the Jor Bagh Karbala, New Delhi. Photo by Yousuf Saeed (Delhi, February 2006).<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 24<\/a><\/span>   This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Fig. 25. "Away from your home, you are still with your near and dear ones. Connect to anywhere in the gulf with Airtel", says the actor Shahrukh Khan to the Arab tourists visiting Mumbai during the monsoon. They are made at home not only through a roaming mobile connection, but also the Muslim identity of the actor! Photo by Yousuf Saeed (Mumbai, August 2007) Translation from Arabic by Arshad Amanullah.<\/p><\/h2>\">Fig. 25<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\r\n\r\n

*786, regarded a holy number by some Muslims, it is a numeric equivalent of the Arabic phrase Bismillah ir-Rehman ar-Rahim<\/em> (In the name of God...).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>","pageBackColor":"#ffffcc","topLineTextColor":"#000000","title":"

This is What They Look Like<\/p>","subTitle":"

Stereotypes of Muslim Piety in Calendar Art and Hindi Cinema<\/p>","footNotes":"

See related visual essays on Tasveer Ghar:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Election Campaign 2009: How to woo Indian Muslims to vote for you<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Fabricating New Minarets of Identity <\/span><\/span> <\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Also the author's new book: Muslim Devotional Art in India<\/em><\/a>, Routledge, New Delhi, 2012\/19.
\r\nAnother related resource: Cinema Qawwali Archive<\/a> https:\/\/cineqawwali.in<\/span><\/span><\/p>","authorUrl":"yousuf-saeed","visitgallery":"This is What They Look Like<\/h4>Yousuf Saeed<\/span>

Visit the Gallery. "Away from your home, you are still with your near and dear ones. Connect to anywhere in the gulf with Airtel", says the actor Shahrukh Khan to the Arab tourists visiting Mumbai during the monsoon. They are made at home not only through a roaming mobile connection, but also the Muslim identity of the actor! Photo by Yousuf Saeed (Mumbai, August 2007) Translation from Arabic by Arshad Amanullah.<\/p><\/h2>\">Visit the Gallery<\/a>","unsubscriber":1}