Time to Abandon Haji Firouz’s Blackface
March 7, 2021–
By: Nazila Fathi
Nowruz is approaching and Haji Firouz, the legendary character who spreads joy before the Persian new year, will once again hit the streets.
There is one problem: his blackface.
Haji Firouz is a folk character who heralds spring and the Persian new year. Men, and even women in recent years, dress up as him by painting their faces with soot and wearing bright red clothing. They dance in the streets of Iran, singing joyous songs and playing a tambourine or drum in the hope that they will receive some coins for providing entertainment.
Outside Iran, Iranian communities have not shied away from blackface Haji Firouz . In Canada, stores sell decorative figures and, in Europe, Iranian communities post pictures of their Haji Firouz on their websites.
However, inspired by the Black Lives Matter Movement, many are saying that blackface is a sign of racism. Inside and outside Iran, people are calling it a blatant sign of white supremacy.
“If we are truly in a globalized world, goes the counter-argument, we should disband traditions that reinforce implicit hierarchies and biases, and that get fed so easily to children,” wrote Abbas Jamali, a New York-based Iranian designer.
Morteza Moshtaghi, a theatre director in Iran, said it was time to forget about Haji Firouz altogether.
Haji Firouz’s Black Face
Some prominent scholars argue that Haji Firouz is based on the legend of Siavash in the Shahnameh, the Book of Kings. He symbolizes the rebirth of the Sumerian god of sacrifice, Domuzi, who was killed at the end of each year and is reborn at the beginning of the new year. The most common explanation for Haji Firouz’s blackened face is that it symbolizes the god’s return from the world of the dead, while his red clothing is a sign of Siavash’s red blood and the coming back to life of the sacrificed deity. His joviality is a reminder of nature’s awakening and the coming of spring.
However, some historians and scholars have offered other explanations for his blackface. They say that Haji Firouz goes back to the days of Zoroastrian Persia, when the priests sent the red-dressed ”firekeepers” of the Zoroastrian temples on the last Tuesday of the year to spread the news of the arrival of spring and Nowruz. The firekeeper’s second duty was to call on the people to burn their old items.
The fire keepers’ faces were black from the soot of the holy fire, according to this narrative.
But Haji Firouz has other names too: Haji Pirouz. Haji is a title given to a person who has gone on pilgrimage to the Arabian Peninsula, or the country we call Saudi Arabia today. Islam emerged 1400 years ago, and it is unlikely that Muslims were fire-keepers in Zoroastrian temples.
So, where does the name Haji Pirouz come from?
Anti-Arab Sentiment
Another narrative claims that the origins of Haji Firouz go back to the Persians’ anti-Arab sentiment following the fall of the Persian Empire.
Fifteen years after the Arabs ruled Persia, the successor of Prophet Mohammad, Omar, who had invaded Persia, was killed in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Persians condemned him for invading Persia and the death of many people. Thus, they proclaimed his assassin, a Persian slave named Pirouz Nahavandi, a national hero.
According to Abolhassan Zarinkoub, a prominent Iranian scholar, the name “Haji Pirouz” was first used in the days following the death of Omar. They gave Nahavandi the title Haji because he had gone to the Arabian Peninsula. There is no letter P in the Arabic and so “Pirouz” gradually became “Firouz.” He wears a red outfit because the Persians were still at war with the Arabs and red was the color of war in Persia.
“Pirouz” also means victory in Persian.
However, this explanation does not explain Haji Firouz’s coal-black face nor shed light on the lyrics of his music.
A Reference to Black Slaves
Haji Firouz spreads cheer with a lyric that appears to be a conversation with his owner:
My master, raise your head high
My master, look at yourself
My master, the billy-goat
My master, why don’t you laugh?
While one can argue that Haji Firouz is talking to the Arab rulers of the time, his blackened face is a reminder of Iran’s shameful slave history.
The majority of Afro-Iranians came to Iran during the ninth century, when Afro-Arab merchants dominated the Indian Ocean slave trade between East Africa and the Middle East. The presence of African slaves was widespread throughout the Middle East and virtually every country bordering the Persian Gulf has a legacy of slavery and African population, like the Afro-Iraqis, Afro-Pakistanis, Afro-Kuwaitis, Afro-Omanis, and Afro-Saudis.
Slavery persisted as a legal practice in Iran until 1929, when parliament introduced a bill that granted slaves freedom and declared them equal to all other Iranians. Many Afro-Iranians settled in southern regions bordering the Persian Gulf after their emancipation and assimilated into the local culture (Census records do not adequately report the numbers of Afro-Iranians, and statistical information on their communities is largely unavailable).
Akhavan Sales, a prominent poet, called Haji Firouz a reminder “of a hateful barbaric era” many years ago.
An Ancient Tradition
Nowruz, known as the Persian new year, is one of the most ancient celebrations in history. It has been celebrated for over 4000 years. Nowruz is a holiday for millions of people from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, who usher in the new year on the spring equinox, which occurs on March 20 or 21 every year.
Nowruz is still the most important celebration for Iranians, as well as for some 300 million people in the neighboring countries from different ethnic and religious backgrounds that were once part of the Persian Empire.
While the physical region called Persia no longer exists, the traditions of Nowruz are strong among people in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Canada, and the United States.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 International Nowruz Day in 2020 and UNESCO listed Nowruz as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.
In ancient times, Persian kings invited people from around the empire to the royal court to celebrate Nowruz and to bring gifts.
Over time Nowruz has become the embodiment and essence of the Iranian culture. It is not just a celebration of the new year; it is the symbol that proclaims that the people who lived in these regions have not given up their ancient traditions.
Nowruz signifies opposition to foreign invaders too, having survived the Greek, Arab, and Mongol invasions.
In the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the appearance of Haji Firouz , singing and dancing in the streets, was among the early signs of opposition to the Islamic rulers who deemed Nowruz to be a pagan celebration.
Some parts of traditions have changed in different parts and evolved throughout the years in different parts of the world. Haji Firouz might be one of them.
All Cultures change over time and get rid of traditions that are no longer considered appropriate.
We live in a world where information spreads fast and far on social media. It is embarrassing to celebrate an ancient tradition with a symbol that is considered insulting and dehumanizing in many parts of the world.
Haji Firouz is not an inseparable part of Nowruz traditions. If it must be part of the celebrations, it is time to abandon blackface.
Hammam, A Place to Mingle and Relax
Next time you take a shower think of public bathhouses or Hammams which were common in the Middle East and North Africa until less than half a century ago.
We think of bathing as a private activity. But going to the bathhouse was more than going to a place for sanitation. It was a hugely important part of people’s social life.
It required packing a bag of clean clothes and other essentials, entering a warm hall with arched ceilings and tiled walls, drinking tea before shedding your clothes, and soaking in warm water, and perhaps having someone scrub dead skin off your skin. People chitchatted, surveyed one another in complete nakedness before getting dressed and socializing a bit more.
The entire ritual could take half a day.
In fact, Hammams were important social institutions. They were as important as the bazaar, the mosque, and schools. They were named after governors and architects who ensured they were built exquisitely and beautifully.
Hammams have become a popular destination for modern western tourists too. Viking Ocean Cruises calls Turkish baths a place to soothe both body and mind. Hammams offer therapy, it claims.
In Iran and other countries, many important political events took place in Hammams. Amir Kabir, a beloved prime minister, was murdered in the Finn Hammam in the city of Kashan in 1852. Tourists flock to this bathhouse, located in the corner of a walled garden, to see where the prime minister slowly bled to death.
The Stories of Hammams
Hammams were segregated by gender.
Women visited bathhouses to clean, relax, and mingle. They got haircuts, clipped their nails, exfoliated, and removed excessive hair. In complete nakedness, they searched for potential brides for young and old men in their families.
Brides spent a good amount of time in the bathhouse a day before their wedding.
Men negotiated business and discussed politics.
Hammams served as wellness centers for people to get traditional medical treatments like massage, bloodletting, cupping, and circumcision.
The walls of every bathhouse echo laughter, gossip, and tales.
And that is why Hammam is the main scene of Nastouh fictional story.
Nastouh was a man who disguised himself as a female worker at a hammam. Because the workers were dressed, he was able to hide his gender for a long time. He took pleasure in touching naked women, including a favorite client, the king’s daughter.
One day, the king’s daughter lost a piece of jewelry at the bathhouse. To retrieve it, she ordered everyone, including the workers, to undress. Nastouh knew he could lose his head if anyone found out his secret. So, he trembled and repented from the bottom of his heart. Luckily, the princess found her jewelry before Nastouh had to undress.
After the incident, he withdrew to the mountains and began a life of stoicism. But since then, “Nastouh’s repentance,” meaning God accepts true remorse, according to the story, became an expression.
Inside a Hammam
People of upper and lower social classes entered a bathhouse from different entrances. But once they were inside and took off their clothes, they were all on the same level. The clergy and the merchant, who enjoyed a higher social standing, bathed in the same place with farmers and blacksmiths.
Traditional Persian bathhouses usually had four main spaces. The purpose was to prepare the body as people moved from a cool area to warm and then hot rooms gradually.
The four sections included:
Sardkhaneh or the Cold Room: The first room was cold and dry and had an octagonal shape. It had a domed roof with furniture and carpets where people could undress. There were cubicle spaces, like changing rooms, for more privacy.
Mian Dar: This room was cold and wet and functioned as the connection between the Cold Room and the Warm Room. This space was like a maze to help prevent the heat and energy in the next room from being wasted.
Garmkhaneh or the Warm Room: The third room was warm and wet and the bathing took place there.
Khazineh: This is where there was a large cold or hot water tank, similar to today’s Jacuzzi pools.
The History of Hammams
The Romans were the first people to make public baths. They were common throughout the Roman Empire in a geographic range stretching from Europe to North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Roman baths generally featured a reception room which led to a hot room called a caldarium, a warm room, or tepidarium, and a cold room known as a frigidarium. Visitors moved through these rooms, where temperature changes stimulated the flow of blood and encouraged the body to sweat out impurities. Some baths included areas where bathers could exercise.
While the tradition of public baths under the Romans slowly died out in the West, it continued over many centuries in the eastern Mediterranean.
In Persia, cleanliness and hygiene were already important in the pre-Islamic era with roots in the state religion of Zoroastrianism. In all pre-Islamic religions like Zoroastrianism bathing was one of the necessary conditions for participating in ceremonies. Archeologists found signs that similar baths existed in Persepolis and concluded that the construction of public baths was common in all cities of Iran since the Achaemenid era.
But Islam attached more importance to bating and brought a whole new ritual that became prevalent in the Muslim world. During the Islamic period, especially during the Safavid era, as reported by Jean Chardin in his book The Travels of Sir John Chardin, there were more than 270 public bathhouses only in the city of Isfahan.
The number shows the significance of sanitation but also the high level of urban development of the city in that era.
Different Kinds of Baths
It is important to note that kings and noble families had private bathhouses. The rest of the people went to public Hammams.
These baths became an important part of community life, and the quality and number of baths counted among any city’s most admired attributes. Medieval authors mention hammams alongside mosques, madrasas or religious schools, and gardens in their descriptions of beautiful and prosperous cities.
Depending on their use there could be different kinds of public bathhouses in a city. Some of them can be categorized as follow:
Bazaar Bathhouses: These bathhouses were usually located in the city center and were a part of a bigger complex consisting of a mosque, a bazaar, and sometimes a religious school, and they were used by citizens and locals but mostly they were men-only bathhouses.
One such Hammam is the famous bathhouse of Ganjali Khan in the city of Kerman. Paintings based on the Book of Kings decorate the walls of this four-hundred-year-old bathhouse.
City Gate Bathhouses: You could find these types of public bathhouses at the entrance of large cities which foreigners, merchants, tourists, and students often visited. They were usually located near the city gate to provide a washing and cleaning spot for the visitors before entering it.
The existence of these bathhouses highlights the emphasis on hygiene and efforts to curb contagious diseases that travelers could spread.
Caravanserai Bathhouses: Caravanserais were roadside establishments built to accommodate travelers on their long trips. Along with other convenience facilities, they usually had bathhouses to provide guests with an appropriate place to wash and clean themselves. The water used in the caravanserai bathhouse was supplied by Qanat, an underground tunnel leads the water from the heights to the surface of the ground sustainably.
Hot Spring Bathhouses: People used natural hot springs as a place for bathing, especially in the Qajar period.
Algebra Was Invented by a Persian but Where Does X Come From?
https://susainc.orgSept. 10, 2020–
By: Nazila Fathi
Let’s begin the school year with a question: where does x, the go-to symbol for the unknown quantity in mathematical equations, come from?
We know that algebra was born in the Middle East during the Golden Age of medieval Islamic civilization. Its roots can be traced to the work of Muhammad Kharazmi, or Al-Khwarizmi as Arabs refer to him, and his 9th-century book, Kitab al-jabr wal-muqabala, or al-jabr later morphing into algebra in English.
Kharazmi was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer geographer and a scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. He was born in Persia of that time around 780 AD and was one of the most prominent scholars of his era.
Kharazmi wrote in Persian and Arabic, using the Arabic script, none of which have a single letter that is even close to x.
So, what is the origin of x?
The Ancient Roots of Algebra
Although Kharazmi is known as the father of algebra, he was not the only person who invented algebra. Many people at different times and in different places discovered and developed it.
Babylon and Egypt are the two places that were at the center of the development of algebra in the ancient world. Both of these civilizations used algebra in different ways and for different reasons. There is evidence that Babylonians first made basic use of algebra and pioneered its beginnings in the field of mathematics as early as 1900 to 1600 BC. The tablet known as the Plimpton 322 displays pythagorean triples and other forms of mathematics. The Babylonians used algebra to work out the area of items and the interest on loans, among other things. It had a real use and purpose.
We also know Euclid, a Greek mathematician who flourished in Alexandria, Egypt, around 300 BC, contributed to algebra. The great 7th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer Brahmagupta wrote some important works on both mathematics and astronomy as well.
In other words, algebraic ideas were discovered multiple times by different people. In ancient times, the news did not travel as fast it does in modern times. Therefore, it was natural for people to discover new ideas in different parts of the world without knowing that those same ideas had been developed by people in other regions.
The House of Wisdom
When the Arabs conquered Persia, the country we call Iran today, they banned the depiction of the human face, figures or any kind of animate beings. The idea stemmed in part from the prohibition of idolatry and from the belief that the creation of living forms is God’s prerogative. So, during their rule, from 750 to 1258 AD, artists focused on geometric patterns. Islamic craftsmen turned geometry into an art form because pictures of people were not allowed in holy places.
The geometric designs in Islamic art are often complex and sophisticated, which indicates their creators had knowledge of geometry, numbers and math. Those designs are still used in Persian carpets and kilims and other forms of arts around the Muslim world.
In 762, the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur moved his capital to Baghdad. Later, the Caliph al-Ma’mun (813-833) established the House of Wisdom, or the Grand Library of Baghdad, which became a major public academy and intellectual center. Through the 9th and 10th centuries, it acted as a center for the great translation program of knowledge that scholars had accumulated and built on through their own discoveries. Al-Hajjaj translated Euclid into Arabic later in this century. Indian scholars brought Brahmagupta’s astronomical works where they translated them into Arabic. The work of Greek scholar, Diophantus, was also translated and Baghdad became a center for learning, attracting many scholars from the known world.
It is fair to say that Kharazmi took advantage of the works that had been translated into Arabic at the House of Wisdom and wrote his book on algebra. He was probably the first among a number of scholars who showed how the geometrical constructions of Euclid and the arithmetical heritage from Diophantus’ Arithmetica, and the ideas from the Middle East and Indian scholars could make sense together. He blended the ideas and defined clearly the classes of problems to be solved.
Let’s go back to the question of x. At the House of Wisdom, Kharazmi and other mathematicians referred to the unknown quantity as shay, meaning the thing in Arabic.
But when Kharazmi’s book was translated into Latin in the 12th century, shay was translated into Greek as xei. Old Spanish had “sh” sound routinely spelled with x, which later evolved to a sound at the back of the throat. Gradually, xei was shortened to x and so the unknown became x as we know it today.
In fact, ‘algorithm’ is taken from the Latin version of Kharazmi’s name too. When his book was translated into Latin some 300 years after his death, his name was Latinized and became Algoritmi, which shows just how important his influence on mathematics was.
How did Algebra Shape the Modern World?
Today, algebra is used extensively in engineering and construction planning to ensure that buildings, bridges, airplanes, and more are built safely and correctly. In the financial sector, algebra is used in predicting risks and in assessing economic impacts.
Algebra has been crucial to the development of science and the way we live today. None of the great achievements of modern science would be possible without the development of algebra. Google, the internet, mobile phones, computer games wouldn’t exist without algebra and algorithms.
iPhones, iPads or digital televisions would never be invented without it.
Algebra is essential and students learn it in high school. It helps develop the brain.
When my kids ask how algebra will help them in life, I tell them that it trains their mind to think logically. Algebra and math teach them to break down and solve problems. They might reach a point where they don’t use algebra on a daily basis. But their brain will have been trained to think in a logical way, which will not only help them in the workplace, but also in daily life, when buying something, negotiating with someone, or having to address a complex problem.