Image 0020

Image Analysis

The image is dominated by the fifteen slogans that appear alongside the (double) figure clad in white: 1) “Allahumma ‘alayka bil-tawaghit al-‘ajam wal-‘arab” (“O God, take those devils, Arabs and non-Arabs!”); 2) “Allahumma, ‘alayka bi-ru’asa’ihim wa-wuzara’ihim” (“O God, take their leaders and ministers!”); 3) “Allahumma, ‘alayka bi-nuwwabihim wa-dhubbatihim wa-‘askarihim” (“O God, take their representatives, officers and military!”); 4) “Allahumma, ‘alayka bi-mukhabaratihim” (“O God, take their intelligence agencies!”); 5) “Allahumma, ‘alayka bi-sahafatihim wa-mu’assasatihim” (“O God, take their press and institutions!”); 6) “Allahumma, ‘alayka bi-him, uqtulhum, shattithum” (“O God, get them, kill them, scatter them!”); 7) “Allahumma mazziqhum kulla mumazzaqin” (“O God, tear them asunder!”); 8) “Allahumma qatti‘hum irban[b] irban” (“O God, dismember them into small pieces!”); 9) “Allahumma, sharrid ‘uqulahum wa-afkarahum wa-khitattahum” (“O God, scare away their minds, thoughts and plans!”); 10) “Allahumma, waqqif al-dam fi ‘uruqihim” (“O God, halt their blood in their arteries!”); 11) “Allahumma, sharrid nisa’ahum wa-amwalahum” (“O God, scatter their women and wealth!”); 12) “Allahumma, ‘adhdhibhum wa-anzil al-ra‘ba bi-qulubihim” (“O God, torment them and smite their hearts with fear!”); 13) “Allahumma kharrib buyutahum wa-yattim atfalahum” (“O God, destroy their homes and orphan their children!”); 14) “Allahumma, ‘alayka bi-him, fa-innahum la ya‘jizuuka” (“O God, have at them, for they are powerless against you!”); and 15) “Ya qawiyy, ya jabbar, ya sami‘ al-du’a’” (“O Almighty, O Powerful One, O Hearer of prayers”). The figure in the image is portrayed as though he is in the heat of battle, aiming at a target. The slogans are short prayers, cries meant to inspire and to prepare a person for the moment of contact with the enemy. With each slogan, there is less expression of political anger and more lashing out in personal rage and regurgitation of hate rhetoric, calling on God not merely to target the enemy’s political and military leaders, but also its people, its home-front and its women and children. These prayers are not so much for the success of Muslims and/or Arabs, but for the demise of non-Muslims/non-Arabs. Though one does not find direct quotes from the Qur’an, there is an attempt to present the language as Qur’anic, by echoing its language, as in the case of the twelfth slogan, which is only a slightly modified version of the Qur’anic verse 33:26.Notably, the text of the slogans is written in yellow font and set against the pastoral view of yellow flowers. In some contexts, yellow represents a position of limbo between good (white) and evil (black). Thus, depending on the nuances applied to it, yellow can refer to negative attributes, such as cowardice and treason, or positive ones, such as royal power and glory. Bright yellow specifically is commonly linked in classical Arabic poetry with youth, love, waiting for the beloved and separation. The yellow of the narcissus flower (daffodil) is the symbol of the lover who pines away for unrequited love and it signals the pain of separation. This neatly carries over to the realm of religion where the beloved is God. In this image, the figure of the warrior (mujahid) has passed on from this world, and no longer needs to pine away for the divine. In this way, the designer of the image hopes to evoke sentiments of happiness for the deceased. At the same time, the pain of separation and mourning by those who remain alive is expressed. Finally, the figure’s death and perceived martyrdom status is signaled by the shroud-like, white clothes.