(Review)

Anachronism in Islamic History

Muhammad Alan Juhri

One question for reflection to begin this writing is, “whether when we watch historical films
or read historical novels, have we ever felt strange or felt that something did not make
sense?” For example, when something is not true to reality, such as watching a film about
early humans cooking rice in a rice cooker or reading a 12th-century royal novel whose
people travelled by car. This is of course strange and makes no sense because we can find
rice cookers and cars in the modern era (20M/21M). Inconsistencies like this, in historical
discourse, are known as anachronisms, which simply mean something that is not in
accordance with reality, so it makes no sense.

Omar Sayfo's writing entitled "From Kurdish Sultan to Pan-Arab Champion and Muslim
Hero" and Abdelmajid Hannoum's writing entitled "Translation and The Colonial Imaginary"
are examples of discussing the anachronism of Islamic history. In his writings, Sayfo
discusses the figure of Salahudin Al-Ayyubi (Saladin), who is described as very different and
even contrary to historical facts. According to Sayfo, the political climate and production
background have influenced the evolution of the Saladin myth in three main genres of
Popular Arabic culture; Egyptian Theatre, Egyptian Cinema and Syrian Television. In short,
the Arabic works about Saladin do not follow a common storyline or canonical narrative. The
image of Saladin was shaped and influenced by 20th-century Arabic plays, novels and films
so that it has become part of popular memory in the Arab world; starting from the Kurdish
Sultan, Pan-Arab, to Pan-Muslim. While Abdelmajid Hannoum, in his writings, discusses the
Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldun. Hannoum focuses on showing how some of Ibn Khaldun's
writings were translated and transformed in such a process that they became a French
narrative with a colonial category typical of the 19th century. This article emphasizes that
translation is not just conveying messages from one language to another, but also producing
new texts. Because according to Hannoum, citing Ricoeur's words, the translation itself is a
product of an imaginary being created. In short, if Sayfo reveals anachronism through drama,
film, and popular Arabic culture, Hannoum reveals it through translation and imaginary
processes. Wallahu a’lam.