AXIS: BOLD AS MARKETING WITH SULTANS, SAINTS, & SINNERS

”Which multinational brand has the biggest image problem these days? BP? Toyota? Goldman Sachs? How about Islam? Say what you will about those other entities: They don’t have to deal with the public’s fear of terrorism. Last month, an opinion poll conducted by the online research firm YouGuv found 50 per cent of Britons associate Islam with terrorism, 69 per cent believe the religion encourages the repression of women and 41 per cent don’t feel Muslims have a positive impact on British society.”… ( Simon Houpt )

kristiane Backer

kristiane Backer

Turkish delight? The sultan’s treasures were hidden from the public for many years, yet their was a full splendor of the arts in the Ottoman empire. It is against the law of Islam for anyone to paint a portrait. On the Day of Judgement, the prophet Mohammed is reported to have said, painters will be doomed to hell for their blasphemous attempts to compete with God by creating life. If the religious laws were practiced as much as they were preached, Moslem artists would never have represented any living thing. Yet the Moslems did develop splendid schools of portraiture and historical painting, for they have been no more noted for strict obedience to religious laws than members of other faiths have been.

The portrait of Sultan Mehmet, the Conqueror. ascribed from Sinan Bey. From Sarai Albums. Istanbul, towards end of 15th century. Hazine 2153, folio 10a

The portrait of Sultan Mehmet, the Conqueror. ascribed from Sinan Bey. From Sarai Albums. Istanbul, towards end of 15th century. Hazine 2153, folio 10a

”…Which is why this week large posters began appearing on the London Underground and at city bus stops featuring three Britons who are seeking to put a different face on the religion. In the most genre-busting ad, a blonde woman without a head covering smiles prettily from the shores of a lake, accompanied by text which reads: “I believe in protecting the environment. So did Muhammad.” The woman is Kristiane Backer, a former MTV Europe host and convert to Islam who is identified as an “eco-Muslim.”

Part of ”brand Islam” whether marketed as  Doritos or Dawn, remains something of an enigma if it is considered as a product. Hostility and violence have been part of all religions and to sweeten the offering with artificial flavors may ultimately leave a bad taste in the ”consumers” mouth.It may better to extol the goods in all their warts and blemishes. Islamic art of the Ottoman Empire and their mad sultans may be considered a good starting point.    Over the centuries Islamic artists have painted pictures of dervishes, sultans and saints, subjects from the Koran, the Bible, and Arab and Persian legends, and vignettes of everyday life, from women in childbirth to street sweepers at work. Palace walls were decorated with hunting scenes, or portraits of conquered kings, or dancing girls, and, in one case, even a representation of a Christian church, complete with praying monks. The Ottoman sultans of Turkey were in the forefront of Islamic society, in theur patronage of art, commissioning numerous portraits of themselves, their favorites, and their families.

Andrewgrahamdixon.com ''Other figures are more thoughtful, and most sensitively observed of all is a splendidly dressed young scribe, kneeling as he writes. Bellini did not only draw him, he coloured the image in opaque watercolour, perhaps because he was so struck by the young man’s beautiful costume of dark blue and gold, matched by the single earring in his right ear. The artist also noted his pursed lips and brilliantly caught, in his expression of utter concentration, the eagerness, innocence and peculiar vulnerability of the keen young scholar. A Muslim studies; a Venetian Christian studies him as he does so - the image is the distillation of a moment of peace, and of perfect fellow feeling.''

Andrewgrahamdixon.com ''Other figures are more thoughtful, and most sensitively observed of all is a splendidly dressed young scribe, kneeling as he writes. Bellini did not only draw him, he coloured the image in opaque watercolour, perhaps because he was so struck by the young man’s beautiful costume of dark blue and gold, matched by the single earring in his right ear. The artist also noted his pursed lips and brilliantly caught, in his expression of utter concentration, the eagerness, innocence and peculiar vulnerability of the keen young scholar. A Muslim studies; a Venetian Christian studies him as he does so - the image is the distillation of a moment of peace, and of perfect fellow feeling.''

But this work was, often as not, done in secret, to keep the sultan’s subjects from discovering that he was breaking the religious law. Despite the secrecy, the Ottoman style of portraiture and miniature painting evolved into a distinctive and sophisticated art form, as splendid in its own way as Ottoman architecture, which is seen in so many beautiful mosques throughout Turkey and is usually considered the noblest accomplishment of Turkish art.

It was not until the eleventh century A.D. that the Turks themselves began migrating into the country. Their original home was in central Asia, where they were nomadic horsemen roaming the steppes. Even in that quarter of the world, seemingly so remote, the Turks were subject to the influence of the great centers of world civilization. Caravans made their way across the vast Asiatic plains, bringing Greek and Roman coins, silverwork and goldwork from Persia, and paintings and silks from China. At the same time, the Turks ranged widely over the steppes; remains of their own ancient art, showing these strong and varied foreign influences, are found throughout regions of Asiatic Russia, in Outer Mongolia and Afghanistan, and in the part of China that is today called Sinkiang, although it was formerly known as Eastern Turkestan.

''- PORTRAIT OF SULTAN MEHMED II, BY A FOLLOWER OF GENTILE BELLINI, ITALY, EARLY 16TH CENTURY A RARE AND IMPORTANT PORTRAIT OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN MEHMED FATIH "THE CONQUEROR"

''- PORTRAIT OF SULTAN MEHMED II, BY A FOLLOWER OF GENTILE BELLINI, ITALY, EARLY 16TH CENTURY A RARE AND IMPORTANT PORTRAIT OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN MEHMED FATIH "THE CONQUEROR"

By the end of the seventh century the Turkish tribesmen were in contact with the Arabs, whose armies had penetrated as far as the Turkish towns of Bukhara and Samarkand. The Arabs found the Turks to be formidable warriors, and soon the palace guard of the Arab caliphs at Baghdad was composed of Turkish mercenaries. From being the caliphs servants, they became his masters. By the ninth century the Seljuk Turks had made the caliph into a figurehead. In 1055 they took over most of the Arab empire for themselves; a few years later in 1071, they defe

the emperor of Byzantium at Manzikert in Asia Minor and began settling in that country.

''Sultan Mahmud I (1730-54) who was son of Sultan Mustapha II (1695-1703) and the elder brother of Sultan Osman III (1754-57), was born in Istanbul  on August 2, 1696. He was the nephew of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730) whom he succeeded in 1730. He had his education in the palace under the tutelage of  specially selected teachers. Young Mahmud took a keen interest in history, literature, and poetry and also studied music. He wrote poetry in Arabic, and even as Sultan continued writing poetry, while his trusted viziers were in charge of governing the empire.''

''Sultan Mahmud I (1730-54) who was son of Sultan Mustapha II (1695-1703) and the elder brother of Sultan Osman III (1754-57), was born in Istanbul on August 2, 1696. He was the nephew of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730) whom he succeeded in 1730. He had his education in the palace under the tutelage of specially selected teachers. Young Mahmud took a keen interest in history, literature, and poetry and also studied music. He wrote poetry in Arabic, and even as Sultan continued writing poetry, while his trusted viziers were in charge of governing the empire.''

Shortly before the year  1300 a few hundred families of another Turkish tribe left their central Asiatic pastures near the river Oxus to settle in the domain of their Seljuk kin. Under their leader, Osman, they soon moved into western Asia Minor, and as the Seljuk empire broke into fragments, they extended their sway to gain control eventually over the entire region. Osman’s decendents, the Osmanli or Ottoman sultans, continued to rule Asia Minor until the establishment of the Turkish republic in 1922.

Kara Mustapha Pasha, the commander of the Turkish host, was unfairly executed by his own king, Sultan Mehmed II, after losing the Battle of Vienna

Kara Mustapha Pasha, the commander of the Turkish host, was unfairly executed by his own king, Sultan Mehmed II, after losing the Battle of Vienna

Perhaps the most famous of them, Mohammed II, captured Constantinople in 1453 and put an end to the diminished Byzantine empire. Once his capital was established there, he sent his armies off in all four directions. The swiftly moving Turkish horsemen returned victorious and rich, and the sultans soon ruled an empire on three continents. Osman’s descendents led glorious but dangerous lives. Whenever a new sultan ascended the bejeweled, he had his brothers strangled to rid himself of rivals. later, when the Turks became more civilized, the sultan’s brothers, and often his sons, were merely imprisoned in cages, next to the royal harem, to keep them from mischief.turk8

But whenever one of them was lucky enough to reach the throne, he could style himself  as ruler on a grand scale. Turkish royal politics being what they were,  it was a fortunate sultan who stayed on the throe long enough to memorize the names of his many concubines. The court artists who were called upon to depict so august and all-powerful a personage had a difficult task. They showed the sultan bigger than the people around him, his rich robes billowing out to fill an inordinately large share of the picture space.

The imperial throne made for Ahmed I at the beginning of the seventeenth century when Ottoman power was at its height, was adorned with jewels, tortoise shell, and mother-of-pearl

The imperial throne made for Ahmed I at the beginning of the seventeenth century when Ottoman power was at its height, was adorned with jewels, tortoise shell, and mother-of-pearl

The painters, like almost everyone else who lived and worked in the Grand Seraglio, the enormous royal palace at Constantinople, were his slaves, about on a level with the servant who carried in the clock when the sultan wanted to know what time it was, or the man who bore an extra royal turban in public processions and bobbed it up and down to save the sultan the trouble of acknowledging the applause of the populace.

''If the campaign’s goal – rehabilitating the battered reputation of an ancient religion – is unusual, its tactics are torn from the pages of contemporary marketing textbooks. Most marketers these days try to appeal to consumers by leveraging shared values: In recent months, Coca-Cola has heavily promoted its environmental bona fides while Pepsi is sponsoring community improvement projects around North America.''

''If the campaign’s goal – rehabilitating the battered reputation of an ancient religion – is unusual, its tactics are torn from the pages of contemporary marketing textbooks. Most marketers these days try to appeal to consumers by leveraging shared values: In recent months, Coca-Cola has heavily promoted its environmental bona fides while Pepsi is sponsoring community improvement projects around North America.''

“You can’t throw a brick without hitting a cause-marketing campaign,” noted Mara Einstein, an associate professor of media studies at Queens College in New York, and the author of Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age. “At this point, it’s the price of admission.” The approach of InspiredByMuhammad fits in that mould. “You could have been selling Dawn dishwashing liquid or you could have been selling Islam, it’s all the same thing,” she said. “You’re using the same emotional needs of people wanting to do good, but you’re using that to sell almost any product, and I consider religion to be a product.”

But as it seeks to clean itself up, Islam may face the same sort of problem as BP: that advertising alone can’t fix an image until the core reason for that bad impression – be it an oil spill or terrorism – is solved.Irshad Manji: “Mainstream Muslim behaviour is the reason so many Brits have a negative view of Islam,” she wrote. “They have not adequately challenged their spokespeople – the Muslim Council of Britain, for example – to become inclusive and pluralistic [or less insular and dogmatic]. Posters and videos don’t change that situation; they only seek to spin a happy image of a corrupt reality. …”

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