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Ali A Olomi Profile picture
Ali A Olomi
@aaolomi
Writer, Asst. Prof, Historian of MiddleEast & Islam: politics, gender, Islamic esotericism, astrology & science. Host of #HeadOnHistory Podcast / UCI alum
66 subscribers
Nov 5 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Earlier in the week, Mars left its fall in Cancer and entered Leo. Medieval astrologers noted this as an important omen meaning:

-the rise of warlords and warmongers
-contest of wills and conflict between rulers
-harm and disruption to coin-makers
-rise of dangerous beasts Manuscript showing a lion weigh the Sun in the back. From BnF -grave danger to rulers
-harm and unrest among the youth
-fires and burning and droughts
-deceptions and corruptions between courtiers
-conflict in the court of rulers
-harm to nobles
-strife in the land of the Turks, Jerusalem, and Sistan
Oct 2 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Today there is a a solar eclipse in Libra. Medieval astrologers saw eclipses as moments of upheaval. An eclipse in Libra indicates:

-harm to old rulers and those forgotten by society both
-destruction of old buildings and structures
-revelation of plots & schemes Image -scandals among judges
-legal crisis
-usurpations in Islamic lands
-calamities in East Africa
-struggles for justice against corruption and oppression
-maneuvers by advisers and courtiers and their revelation
Mar 22 • 20 tweets • 3 min read
Belief in the evil eye is found in many global cultures but particularly in the Middle East, Africa, India, and the Mediterranean. It is based on the idea that the malicious or envious gaze of some can disrupt your health and luck

A quick thread Blue glass evil eye charm hanging on a tree from Wikipedia The evil eye is described by some medieval authors as a type of ray

directed either intentionally or unintentionally it can impact health and fortune

jealousy, envy, or a heart which desires strongly can unintentionally direct such rays
Mar 6 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
In Dune the Freman follow Zensunni a future religion derived from Islam and Buddhism with Reverend Mothers like Lady Jessica. Since Zensunni derives from Islam were women religious leaders in Islam historically?

Yes!

A 🧵 Lady Jessica sitting in a cane with blue eyes and tattoos across her face The early development of Islam relies heavily in part on the instruction, attestations, and transmissions of Aisha so much so that some historians argue the development of the body of traditions called the sunnah is indebted to her.
Feb 14 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
in medieval astrology Venus is the planet of love and romance.

astrologers from the Islamic world also had other interesting ways of examining love in a birth chart

A Valentine’s Day thread on love and romance in medieval astrology- Venus as a lute player on a blue sketch surrounded by two angels to determine a person’s love life medieval astrologers would look at where Venus was in a birth chart.

For example al Khayyat says Venus in Capricorn is an enduring love, delight in venerable things, and ruins

They also examine the Lot of Union
Nov 6, 2023 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
if you want to learn more about the history of what is happening in Israel and Palestine these are the books I highly recommend.

A 🧵 For the history and misrepresentation

Edward Said, The Question of Palestine Image
Jun 21, 2023 • 18 tweets • 2 min read
In ancient Persian astrology each planet governs & influences one part of your life in successive order so that throughout your life, you will go through different planetary ages. Known as firdaria, they were used to predict events by dividing your life into chapters.

A thread The firdaria were likely drawn from a fusion of Hellenistic timelords with the planetary ages found in Indic astrology, the yuga and dasha.
Jun 7, 2023 • 14 tweets • 2 min read
Many medieval medical practitioners and writers from the Islamic world relied heavily on astrological theories in their work. They even attributed each zodiac and planet to a part of the body like the image below.

A thread- al-Jurjani, 12th century preserved in a 19th century text from the Wellcome collection shows a human body with the zodiac connected to different parts The idea of associating the zodiac to different parts of the body can be traced back to Babylonian astrology from where it passes into the Hellenistic and Indic world then is finally adopted by Islamicate writers and thinkers in the 8th and 9th century.
May 17, 2023 • 22 tweets • 4 min read
According to @neiltyson there was an Islamic golden age of science from 800-1100 then along came al Ghazali & religiosity takes over & science declines. While I’m sure he’s well-intentioned, his claim is completely false

A thread on the history of science in the Islamic world First, no golden age is ever as golden as people claim it is just as no dark is age is really as dark as they claim it is. These designations are misleading and often completely fabricated.

That the golden age of science was brought to an end by Ghazali simply doesn’t stand up.
Apr 5, 2023 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
That the jinn haunt ancient ruins fills them with a sort of life, one that may be hard to understand but incredibly important for medieval people’s understanding of history For them there once was a time when the jinn populated the world and built great civilizations.

It was a reminder that humanity was not alone in the world, nor were they the sole owners of the land.
Apr 5, 2023 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
The jinn are invisible beings said to live alongside humanity. They are associated with ancient ruins for it is believed they once built great civilizations of their own in a time long since forgotten by humans.

A thread on jinn and ancient ruins and historical sites- from 16th century Falnama d... The idea of jinn as builders is found in the Qur’an where King Solomon employs them in his great works (Quran 34:13)

We find similar narratives in Biblical and parabiblical sources which claim King Solomon had under his command a host of demons
Mar 8, 2023 • 26 tweets • 4 min read
Islamic history is full of brilliant women scholars who took knowledge to new heights but who have rarely gotten their due.

For International Women’s Day a thread- Rufaida al-Aslamia is considered the first woman surgeon in Islamic history. Living in the 7th century, she operated as a field surgeon, treating the wounded.

Over time she would take on students and teach them in the healing arts.
Mar 1, 2023 • 14 tweets • 2 min read
According to some account before humanity, the jinn walked the earth. The various factions of the jinn waged a mighty war until God intervened.

a thread on the jinn war at the beginning of time manuscript depicting Ali wr... Various Muslim sources like al-Tabari discuss a great calamitous war among the jinn.

The jinn were divided into two camps: the goodly and righteous jinn versus the wicked ones
Feb 28, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
i have no idea what this thing is but i wanna smack it

if it jiggles imma smack it that’s just how my brain works
Feb 24, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
ok i’m ok with AI now

the only correct use for deepfake stuff
Feb 23, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
respectfully this imposes a modern distinction not reflective of either the time period or the figures themselves.

al-Biruni not only explicitly writes a text on the practice of astrology Kitab al-tafhim li-awa’il sina‘at al-tanjim) we even have mention of his horoscopes imposing a binary as in astrologer vs astronomer not only misunderstands the history but does violence to the text themselves.

Insisting for example that his kitab al tanjim is purely “astronomy” needs to account why it included delineation for each zodiac, prognostication, etc
Feb 8, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
one of the most famous horoscopes from the Islamic world, a stunning 15th C Timurid piece combines artistry, astrology, and geometry

The astrologer assigns one complete sign to each of the 12 houses of life with full interpretation explicitly citing the method of Abu Ma’shar a horoscope wheel with twelve divisions each including an image of the zodiac with anthropomorphic planets. At the four corners of the wheel are robes angels and flanking the image is calligraphy the horoscope includes calculating the placement of the planets, the Lots, and a year-by-year break down of the sultan’s life.

You can see in the image above the figure of Venus as a lute player, in its Exaltation Pisces in the 3rd house
Jan 25, 2023 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
a US soldier, Mast, kidnapped an Afghan girl from her only living family—the DOJ and State Dept both agree she should be returned, but here is @CBS_Herridge and her colleagues giving a puff piece for her kidnappers.

Read the actual details: nytimes.com/2022/11/10/mag… strangely @CBS_Herridge seems to have left out that the Masts lied on their documents in order to get her to the US and then ripped her out of her family’s arms
Dec 24, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
this is my Christmas sad that this means Korra is dead but excited we get new stories
Dec 21, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
first semester as a socal professor done, final grades submitted, and I got a sweet present from an awesome student to top it off. No one bother me, i’m going to sleep for 48 hours straight Blue tin nutcracker can against backdrop of books winter break goals: wear pants as little as humanly possible
Dec 14, 2022 • 26 tweets • 4 min read
Stories of magical items, weapons, and legendary objects are abound in the Islamic world. From talismans created to command the jinn, to the famous flying carpet each have unique origins and lore.

A thread Tsarevich's Flying Carpet s... Likely the most famous magical object is the Seal of Solomon, a ring reputedly given to Solomon by the angel Jibra’il. It was inscribed with sacred symbols and the Greatest Name of God.

Possession of the ring granted him dominion over the jinn