Abstract
This chapter analyzes the third indicator of Islam’s role in state nationalism; all 66 Turkish and 31 Pakistani banknotes issued since independence are examined for Islamic symbolism. Mosques, portraits and mausoleums of Islamic personalities, and the crescent and star are deemed Islamic symbols. In the case of Turkey, the Ottoman symbols are also viewed as Islamic symbols as, due to their intertwining during the long Ottoman era, Ottoman symbols do evoke Islamic emotions and sentiments. Similarly, for Pakistan, besides the Islamic symbols mentioned above, the Moghul buildings are also counted as Islamic symbols. The analysis demonstrates that the rise and fall in Islam’s role in state nationalism in Turkey and Pakistan based on banknote images follows the pattern seen in Chapters 2 and 3.
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Notes
- 1.
In the case of series E3 and E4 (and, in part, E2), President Inonu’s picture replaced Ataturk’s picture on Turkish banknotes, but this practice was discontinued for E5 and, since then, Ataturk’s picture has graced one side of Turkish banknotes.
- 2.
As seen in Chapter 2 on constitutions, despite pronouncements from the elite, Turkey was not a completely secular state.
- 3.
This medrese, along with others, was closed by the Turkish government in 1925–26; later, it was turned into a museum (Sahin 2006).
- 4.
It was difficult to decide whether to consider him an Ottoman character or an Islamic personality.
- 5.
It was the first Ottoman building to grace the banknotes that was not in Istanbul.
- 6.
A provisional series was issued by the Reserve Bank of India for Pakistan in 1948. This series was similar to the banknotes circulating in India. The only difference was the inscription of “Government of Pakistan” on the Pakistani banknotes. The images on these banknotes were chosen by the British Indian authorities and the portrait of King George VI was displayed on all of them. As the Pakistani elite were not involved in the choice of images, this series has been excluded from the following analysis.
- 7.
The SBP also issued some hajj banknotes for the use of pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj. These banknotes were similar to the regular series, except for the colour and the inscriptions, “For Hajj Pilgrims from Pakistan—For use in Saudi Arabia only” in English and “hajj note” in Urdu. As the images were similar to the regular banknotes, these hajj notes were considered to be the part of the same banknote series.
- 8.
One might ask why General Musharraf did not delete the inscription. The reason could be the fear of a backlash by the religious right. So, a “golden mean” was chosen by not deleting the inscription but making it invisible, so its value as a symbol is lost.
- 9.
Besides the Badshahi mosque, which is counted as an Islamic image.
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Saleem, R.M.A. (2017). Nationalism, Banknotes and Islamic Iconography. In: State, Nationalism, and Islamization. Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54006-1_4
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