Tattoo industry flourishes in Iraq
Baghdad, Dec 1, (VOI) – The recent increased popularity of tattoos among Iraqi youth has raised many questions about their motivations and consequences. While religious clerics decry the phenomenon as an imitation of western culture, others say tattoos can be useful in identifying the deceased.
Editor’s note: This is Aswat AlIraq’s very abbreviated English language version of their feature:
هل يصبح الوشم موضة القرن الجديد؟
Which we republished on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 here.
Being a form of self-expression, tattoos of a snake, a scorpion, a falcon or a girl have become very common in Iraqi society.
Abu Ali, an old man in his sixties, believes that tattoos are more than a medium of self-expression. According to him, tattoos distinguish their owners and thus can identify the deceased.
"I spoke to my children of this idea because I fear I may not be able to identify their bodies if they are kidnapped by terrorist groups," the old man said.
"A few days ago, a friend of mine managed to reunite with the body of his son, who was kidnapped nine months ago, after he identified the tattoo on his thigh," Abu Ali added.
Dawoud al-Rubaie, a tattoo artist from Baghdad’s al-Rubaie street, explained that tattoos are an old art that dates back to thousands of years. Babylonians, ancient Egyptians, Chinese and other contemporaries used tattoos for several purposes, including medical treatment and cosmetic purposes, the artist noted.
"I was an illegal immigrant during the former (Iraqi) regime. I settled in Beirut where I learnt the art of tattoo. I was poorly paid, but now I make heaps of money from it. Tattoos in Baghdad are many times their prices in Beirut," al-Rubaie indicated.
Ali Hatim, a young man in his thirties who was standing close to al-Rubaie, said that he finds nothing wrong with having a tattoo on his arm. Pointing at a dragon tattoo drawn on his arm, Hatim noted that he chose the dragon as an emblem for masculinity.
Meanwhile, Ammar Majid, who made several attempts to have his tattoo removed, said that tattoos are "a blind imitation of the West that enjoys a particularly high popularity among the culturally and religiously illiterate."
"I shouldn’t have listened to my friends during adolescence," Majid said, pointing at two tattoos on his shoulder and leg, which he said had barred him from joining the police or the National Guard Forces. "Every time I undergo the medical examination required for recruitment in the police force, I get excluded… I must think of a new and medically approved method of removing it," Majid added.
Interviewing religious clerics about their views on this art, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah al-Shamri, an imam of al-Hurriyya al-Owla Mosque, said that tattoos are religiously prohibited. "Statistics say that from 5-9% of Muslims and Christians draw tattoos despite being prohibited by both religions," al-Shamri said.
Expressing a different view on the issue, dermatologists say that tattoos can be beneficial in controlling some diseases. "A few days ago, I read a medical report by U.S. scientists from Texas A&M University about the development of a new tattoo that allows diabetics to monitor their glucose levels, without having to prick their fingers," Thamir al-Mousawi, a consultant dermatologist said.
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