Allah O Akbar (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'His book fulfils one of the classic roles of great photojournalism...it helps both to illuminate an issue and to understand its complexities.' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

"Allah O Akbar" begins the call to prayer that resonates from minarets in towns and villages from Sinkiang to Morocco, from Paris to Timbuktu. Wherever in the world you are, the message is the same: "God is Great". It is also, however, the cry of fundamentalists throughout the lands of the faithful. Abbas has spent seven years travelling throughout the Islamic world taking the photographs for this extraordinary book. He is driven by a desire to understand and expose the internal strains pulling within Muslim societies. 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 this people and their world.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (October 20, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 071483162X
• ISBN-13: 978-0714890401
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 10.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #979,297 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe the hype, January 19, 2002

By	The Sanity Inspector (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This beautiful coffee--table book of black and white photos is not well-represented by the excerpts available. Yes, the section on Iran has many pictures of frothing-at-the-mouth mobs surging through the streets, brandishing fists and assault rifles. No, the rest of the book is nothing like that. There are some ghastly pictures of war dead in the section on Kuwait, and the inevitable images of uzi-toting worshippers at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, but nothing else like the featured parts. The book is much more sensitive and insightful than that.

Iran-born Magnum photographer Abbas traveled through the Islamic world, searching for manifestations of militant Islam. (It's too bad he didn't collaborate with V. S. Naipaul in his research on the very similar subject of Islam in non--Arabic countries.) What he came up with were images that show the unifying (or uniformity-imposing, if you prefer) power of Islam. Everywhere he goes, he finds the same images: Schoolchildren bobbing and chanting over their Korans, tumbledown cemeteries where the dead are honored on Fridays, funerals, women and girls in hijab going about their daily business, men lolling on carpets in mosques reading the Koran, people stopping in their tracks to perform their prayers, and etc.

There are also many delightful surprises: Schoolgirls in hijab cloaks playing basketball, ballerinas in a muslim former Soviet republic, a long--haired dervish in full flight with drum and tambourine leggings, a emotional Kuwaiti woman talking with an almost as emotional female American soldier after the liberation of Kuwait City, a bearded elder walking past a clutch of Pakistani teens in Britain who radiate "Cool Britannia".

Some of the surprises are not delightful. We see a Christian in Sudan being tried and then flogged in a shariah court for drinking alcohol. A sheep in an English barbershop, cows in Indonesia, and camels in the pilgrimage places in Saudi Arabia are all sacrificed in performance of Islamic rites. Shiite Muslims lashing and lacerating themselves in one of their ceremonies.

But throughout there are many images of pure photographic beauty. Baobab trees are shown in spiky, inky silhouette above a cemetery. Rows of white--cloaked women at prayer in Jakarta stretch beyond the border of the photo. Young Senegalese men pose in front of a tangle of limbs and vines after an initiation ceremony. Really gorgeous stuff, quite beyond the power of this amateur.

The unobtrusive text tells of Abbas' travels among these peoples. He strikes out in the U. S. with the Nation of Islam, who quickly clam up and deny him access. He gets along fine with the Indonesian Muslims, and even has to coax statements of discontent out of them. (This visit was before the eruption of religious rioting in that country). His lack of religion causes him to frequently despair of understanding his subjects--a lack of confidence thankfully not shared by his camera.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Pictures of Muslim World, December 24, 2004

By	No One Important (Cultural Ether) - See all my reviews

Mr. Abbas, a long-standing member of the internationally renowned Magnum photo agency, has made a memorable photographic record of his journey inside and around the "muslim world". Traveling in 29 countries, from Iran to Saudia Arabia to United States to China, Abbas documents Muslim life and tries to make sense of what he sees for himself and the reader.

Mr. Abbas has been a witness at some of the world's most memorable moments. He was on the plane with Ayatollah Kohmeni when his plane landed in Tehran returning him from exhile. And he stayed in Iran throughout the revolution (both before and after). In this book he brings you calmer moments (mostly) but no less memorable. He has an incredible photograph of "The Rock" in Mecca -- a sight I would love to see with my own eyes but know that I never will be able to.

This book has it flaws -- it is rare to find a book you cannot quibble with. Sometimes, I feel that in some country he hasn't gotten beneath the surface enough. And some of his images are cliche, yes. But to my mind that does not diminsh the power of the majority of images here, which are truly remarkable.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Distorted Perspective, May 11, 2006

By	Sol Shadow - See all my reviews

This review is from: Allah O Akbar: A Journey Through Militant Islam (Paperback)

Opportunistically takes advantage of the current stereotypes of the Muslim world. Incorrect and skewed portrayal of Islam. Takes one tiny aspect and zooms in. How is a picture of people praying to God an image of "militant" anything? Abbas is a professional photographer, so he makes a living from his pictures. But this is simply taking advantage of the current mood to make a mint for himself. It does educate, vivify, inspire or teach. He is hiding behind the cover of the great Magnum Photos umbrella. If you really want to see what photojournalism of different cultures is like, see Cartier-Bresson's book about India. Poor HCB must be turning in his grave.