Arab and Muslim celebs attract lots of ink in fan magazines and entertainment news, but increasingly, the stars themselves are inking up! A bumper crop of new tattoos adorn our singers and sportsmen, and tattoo parlors - once impossible to find in the Middle East - are sprouting up in Amman and Cairo. (Previously, gypsies or jailmates did all the local skin art).
Most Muslims consider permanent tattoos to be haram, based on an oral tradition (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad (PBOH) which cursed both the one who creates tattoos, and the one tattooed. In conservative Islam, “tatts” are widely viewed as body mutilation and an imitation of the kuffar, since so many non-believers sport them. This explains the dearth of ink on the buff bods of Muslim footballers, and why local sunbathers on Gulf beaches boast largely virginal skins.
But...wait a minute...there must be loopholes! How else to explain the frozen facial features on female (mostly Lebanese) celebrities...also copied by their fans? The inking sub-genre of “cosmetic tattoos” is rampant across the region. (Admit it - you’ve caught yourself staring at someone’s inked eyebrows, dramatically rimmed lips or smudge-proof eyeliner!) But traditional tattoos are also on the rise, with a two-pronged trend towards Arabic designs in particular.
In the West, celebrities carve Arabic alphabets on their skin in striking motifs that often are gibberish. (Several blogs are dedicated to “outing” spelling screw-ups, hilarious reminders that tattoos are forever.) Here in the Middle East, Arab Muslims are challenging the view that tattooing is taboo. Simple designs featuring names of loved ones had been the tatts of choice. Now images of animals and inspirational messages are becoming more visible on the arms and chests of young urbanites, particularly in “anything goes” Beirut.
Jordanian-Lebanese photographer Bashar Alaeddin is documenting it all in a compilation of images to be turned into an art book. His Arab Ink project features stark black and white portraiture of Arab subjects with a wide range of Arabic tattoos. “The language itself is so poetic and, when written out in the most intricate calligraphy, it becomes a fascinating and telling art form”, he says. A controversial subject, but the artist aims to sidestep religion and focus instead on the power of tattoos to connect people through language and culture.
Have you braved the needle? Have an Arabic calligraphic-styled tattoo? Tell us about your experience - or contact Alaeddin for inclusion in his gallery of inked Arabia. He is on the lookout for more subjects for his on-going project which he wants to grow on a regional scale.
