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Islamic Numerology & Panoramas

Image Copyright 2006 Travis Fox/Washington Post
The Washington Post has a really interesting article today for people like me who are interested in uncommon cultures, religious rituals and photography. The article is about Islam and numerology, and is by Travis Fox reporting from N'djamena in Chad, who writes of a fascinating practice that mixes Islamic theology, African folklore, and shamanism. A ‘feki’ (an Islamic scholar of sorts) is called upon to cure illnesses, to predict the future and to resolve crimes.

The ‘feki’ uses Muslim prayer beads, mysterious numbers and various diagrams to resolve a multitude of social issues. It made me think of kabalistic practices, and other similar rituals. The link to this article is below.

Notwithstanding this interesting practice, it must be said that mainstream Islamic theology ridicules numerology and fortune-telling. More orthodox Islamic scholars condemn these as being in conflict with the teachings of the Qu'ran.

Back to temporal matters: one of the photographs in the article is made with a panoramic camera, and I found that it really offers a wonderfully realistic view of the room in which the ‘feki’ works along with his clients. Since I wondered whether a panoramic camera would be a worthwhile investment, I discovered that professional panoramic cameras do not come cheap. The cheapest Horseman panoramic camera retails for about $1900, while the Linhof goes for $2900. These come with no lenses. However, I suspect that the photograph in the article is made with a consumer-type digital camera set in panoramic mode. I will research this further.

The article is here

The panoramic image is here