PhotoBooks Islam

One of the most compelling books on Islam is partly very old. The World of Islam collects articles and photographs first published by the National Geographic Society, beginning with a 1910 essay by Ella C. Sykes entitled "Persia and Its Women" and continuing through nearly a century of reportage on the strife-torn Middle East, including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the assassination of Anwar Sadat, and a visit to Iraq after the Gulf War. The final chapter was reported in early September 2001 and contains a chilling account of the reporter's chance meeting with two Moroccan journalists who subsequently killed Afghan leader Ahmad Massoud in a suicide attack two days before the bombings of the World Trade Center. Throughout the book, the reporter's first-hand accounts document the rise of Islam in the 20th century and the rise of anti-Western sentiments. To its credit, National Geographic also includes painful examples of the changing attitudes of the West toward Islam. The patronizing attitudes expressed in some of the earliest reports make us cringe today, but are invaluable nonetheless.

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This volume of stunning photography discloses the spirituality and ethos of a people and vast geography of earth in a way that cannot be communicated through an academic treatise or lecture. The photos of this book include the nooks and horizons of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Silk Route, and China-the people, landscapes, and architecture of an expansive and often misunderstood region.

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Allah O Akbar begins the call to prayer that resonates from minarets in towns and villages from Sinkiang to Morocco, from Paris to Timbuktu. No matter where in the world you are, the message is the same: "God is Great." It is also the war cry of Islamic militants throughout the lands of the faithful. Abbas has travelled throughout the Islamic world for seven years to take the photographs for this extraordinary book. Driven by a desire to understand and expose the internal tensions within Muslim societies, he highlights the conflict between a rising political movement looking for inspiration in a mythical past and a desire for modernization. The quality of immediacy in the work and the subtlety of its composition provide a constant visual stimulus; the sequence of dramatic and often disturbing images confirm Abbas's reputation as one of the few photographers who can raise photojournalism to an art form.

The political influence Islam exerts on the world makes this book a work of enormous importance. Many Islamic societies seem shrouded in religious and cultural mystery, but through his words and images, Abbas provides a penetrating insight into the secrets of these communities and their world. Photographed and written as a personal account, the book speaks with all the urgency of a diary, recording a journey in the lands of Allah. After years of dedicated work, in 29 countries, spanning four continents, Abbas has drawn a telling portrait, coloured by the turmoil and the tradition, the militancy and the moderation to be found in Islam.

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