During the week of September 5-12, sales of what has been called the “Islamic Tartan” in Scotland suddenly soared. And this surge in sales, which lasted all of two weeks before sinking back just as quickly, received a preposterous amount of attention online. It’s a feelgood story about Islam, so naturally the media are eager to dwell on it.
Let’s clear up a few things. The “Islamic tartan” is nothing new; it has been around, to general indifference, for seven years. Then, on September 5, a blogger, one Laura Morlock, described the tartan and showed an example at her website, and for mysterious reasons, Morlock’s message “went viral,” and the rest is — at least for two weeks — history.
The Arab News has the story here:
The tartan was designed in 2012 by a Scottish Muslim academic, and Arab News columnist, Dr. Azeem Ibrahim, to celebrate the histories of Scotland and Islam, and highlight and promote the dual heritage of the two communities in an attempt “to overcome religious intolerance and cultural discrimination.”
In 2012, Azeem Ibrahim was commissioned by the largest manufacturer of hand-crafted tartans in Scotland, D. C. Dalgliesh, to create an “Islamic tartan.” It was a marketing decision, not some high-minded attempt “to overcome religious intolerance and cultural discrimination.” Some green-eye-shaded employees at Dalgleish recognized an unserved niche in the market, and thought the company could fill it; as it turned out, it took seven years for the “Islamic tartan” to finally increase its sales beyond the “few” that are normally sold weekly of each of Dalgleish’s tartans.
“The sale of most tartans is a steady trickle, generally, and we normally expect a few orders a week,” said Nick Fiddes, managing director of D.C. Dalgleish and CLAN.com, which describes itself as the world’s only hand-crafted tartan mill. “The volume went up by four to six times, perhaps. It was very noticeable and we had no idea why at first. It was quite mysterious.”
If there are a “few orders a week” — a “steady trickle” — for most Dalgleish-milled tartans, and that presumably would include the “Islamic tartan” over the past seven years, it’s not hard to calculate the likely number of requests for “Islamic tartans” during this new “surge.” If ordinarily “a few orders” come in each week for most tartans, that would mean 3 to 4; then, if the volume “went up by four to six times,” as Mr. Fiddes claims, during the week of September 5 to September 12 that would mean that 25 orders came in for “Islamic tartan” kilts, ties, hijabs, and throws. All this excitement, all these “Islamic tartan” stories on the Internet, over what, if we do a little research, turns out to be a matter of 25 orders – in other words, much ado about nothing.
“Scotland has officially created a tartan to honor its Muslim citizens,” she [the blogger Laura Morlock] wrote. Despite coming 12 years after the launch of the fabric, the post was retweeted 13,000 times and liked by more than 50,000 people.
Laura Morlock’s remark is incorrect. Scotland did not “officially create a tartan to honor its Muslims citizens.” The tartan was designed by Ibrahim, the cloth then milled and sold by the firm of Dalgleish. It was not “created” by Scotland, but registered by Dalgleish as the “Scottish Islamic” tartan on the Scottish Register of Tartans. There is a difference.
Morlock said the response to her post suggested that drawing attention to the tartan must have resonated at a time when Muslim communities in the West, and particularly the US, are feeling more isolated.
This is special pleading for Muslims, whom we are supposed to see as victims, deliberately made to feel apart, “isolated,” from the mainstream. But the reason Muslims are not integrating well in the West is that they have shown that they do not desire to do so. They are told in the Qur’an to regard non-Muslims as “the most vile of created beings,” while Muslims are “the best of peoples,” and they are further commanded not to take Christians and Jews as friends, “for they are friends only with each other.” It is Muslims who stay aloof from non-Muslims, not the reverse. Of course there are Muslim attempts to ingratiate themselves with non-Muslims; this is not to be confused with a genuine desire to integrate into the larger society. Non-Muslims have gone out of their way to make Muslims feel welcome, letting them settle in their countries, lavishing every sort of governmental largesse on them, including free or highly subsidized housing, free education, free medical care, unemployment benefits (even without prior employment), and family allowances.
“I think people responded differently to learning about this because it hits a nerve at a time when hate crimes (particularly those against religious communities) are on the rise, and the news is full of federally mandated nationalistic cruelty around the globe,” she wrote in her blog.
Morlock clearly means to suggest that these “hate crimes” are committed against Muslims, but if she took the trouble to look around the world, she would discover that Christians are the most persecuted believers worldwide, and their persecutors are in almost all cases Muslims. It’s hard to know what Morlock means by “federally mandated nationalistic cruelty around the globe,” but I presume this is an allusion mainly to the beyond-the-pale Muslim-banning islamophobic Trump Administration.
The description of the “Islamic tartan” by the blogger Laura Morlock led to a rise in orders that upon inspection isnot nearly as impressive as we have been led to believe.
Fiddes [who directs the tartan manufacturer Dalgleish] said the tartan is part of a Scottish-Islamic venture that aims to bring the two communities closer together.
What could it be that is keeping the Muslim and the Scottish communities from being close together? Why is it that all the other, non-Muslim, groups of immigrants in Scotland – Chinese, Vietnamese, Poles, Hindus, Sikhs – have had no trouble integrating into Scottish society by the second generation? Isn’t the problem with the Muslims, whose holy book tells them not to become friends of non-Muslims, and to regard them as the “most vile of creatures”?
How exactly does an “Islamic” tartan manage to “bring the two communities closer together”? And what significance does it have other than being a clever marketing idea to increase sales of tartans among Muslims living in Scotland?
“This is one thing I love about tartans,” he [Fiddes] said. “It is saying that Muslims are a part of Scotland too, due to cultural significance.”
Fiddes would not, of course, have owned up to the real significance of the Islamic tartan – the filling of a niche to increase profits at Dalgleish – but instead prefers to proffer a more exalted reason: “saying that Muslims are a part of Scotland too, due to cultural significance.” I’m not sure what “due to cultural significance” means – how have Muslims contributed to Scottish culture? — but it sounds appropriately high-minded.
“The Islamic tartan was essentially the Scottish-Muslim identity being weaved together in the same way that the tartan is weaved together through its strands,” said Ibrahim [who designed the tartan], who is director at the Center for Global Policy in Washington.
This remark makes no sense. The Islamic tartan is just a cloth, for god’s sake. It identifies the wearer as the member of a particular clan. It has no metaphysical meaning. It does not create, nor does it reflect, something Ibrahim chooses to call the “Scottish-Muslim identity.”
Muslims have been coming to Scotland since the late 18th century, when sailors from India, Pakistan, Yemen and Malaysia began to arrive in Glasgow on merchant ships. The Muslim population grew substantially after World War II, and a 2001 census indicated that 42,550 Muslims lived in Scotland at that time. Today the figure is estimated to be about 75,000.
Thus we have the usual backdating of a Muslim presence, and a certain amount of calendrical confusion. The handful of Muslim lascars on British ships becomes an unknown number of “sailors” arriving from the late 18th century on, from India, Pakistan (which did not exist until 1947), Yemen, and Malaysia (which did not exist until 1963). The main point that is being made is that the Muslim presence in Scotland goes back to the late 18th century; it was undoubtedly larger than you Infidels think, whatever that number might be; we must all recognize that “Muslims have always been part of Scotland’s history” – and so the pseudo-history of Islam in Scotland is born.
Scots wha hae wi Wallace bled know that sometimes a tartan is just a tartan. This is one of those times.
Crystal Vaughan says
Also specific tartans to specify clan membership only goes back to Victorian times.
mortimer says
Except … Muslims are required not to look like kafirs, dress like kafirs, talk like kafirs or socialize with kafirs.
https://ahlalbidah.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/the-dress-of-allahs-messenger-and-the-issue-of-imitating-the-unbelievers/
-A Muslim has to live his life in this color of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And the basis for this is that he should abstain from the ways, customs, dressing and appearance of the enemies of Allah سبحانه وتعالى . In so doing, he will be displaying his aloofness and distance from every department of unbelief, and the color of Iman may glitter from every direction from his body.
-Since this matter concerning imitating the unbelievers is of extreme importance in the Shari’ah, there is no book of tafsir, Hadith, jurisprudence and beliefs that does not delve into this topic.
-The jurists and theologians explained this matter under the chapter concerning apostasy (Bab al-irtidad), i.e. through what ways does a Muslim become an apostate and how does he come out of the circle of Islam. Among these is also imitating the unbelievers.
gravenimage says
This is true, Mortimer–unless Muslims are not in power (yet), and looking like Kuffar is temporarily advantageous to Islam.
Ecosse1314 says
The lascars have been coming to Scotland for a long time. In fact they used to worship at St Simons in Partick Glasgow. So not all muslims then.
The Scottish clans did wear plaid but the idea that clans had distinguishing tartans is just nonsense. This is an early 19th century imvention by two polish brothers.
Robert Spencer could have a jihadwatch tartan produced and registered if he so wished. The whole tartan nonsense is a racket.
gravenimage says
All this is true, Ecosse. But generally the “family tartan” thing has been pretty benign, albeit a tad annoying–usually something to sell to English, Americans, and Canadians with vague Scottish backgrounds. (I have received many of these advertising come-ons myself).
But with Muslims infiltrating Scottish society, this is *much* darker.
gravenimage says
Oh, and Aussies with Scottish backgrounds, as well…
Ecosse1314 says
A tad annoying sums it up GI.
gravenimage says
Yep. 🙂
Shirley Ann says
Has anyone in Scotland ever seen one of their Muslim Migrants wearing Tartan “anything”? Scotland is as Bad as the U.S.A., when the Obama Went all over the World, stating that Islam had been woven into the Fabric of America. I hope that Scotland does Not Fall For The Line, that Islam has been in North America, U.K. & Europe, from the Beginning.
Ecosse1314 says
A tartan burka..now there’s a thought.
gravenimage says
Satire is sometimes impossible:
https://i0.wp.com/metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/wpid-burkaburberryap_450x350.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&zoom=1&resize=450%2C350
Of course, this Burqa is not from the Muslim world–it was designed by Burberry. I doubt any Muslims have ever worn it–it is more about the company signalling how “multicultural” they are.
Here’s a cartoon that tries to show how ridiculous this is. I’m sure the cartoonist knew nothing about this hideous thing from Burberry when he drew it.
https://www.toonpool.com/user/589/files/visiting_from_scotland_2442365.jpg
Wellington says
This has wrong written all over it.
Ecosse1314 says
It is just nonsense. The tartan industry would produce a nazi tartan if they were paid enough.
Wellington says
Just out of curiosity, Ecosse1314, do you speak Scottish Gaelic? What about Scots?
In any case, hope you are doing well over there across the pond. Take care and may you have a Muslim-free day.
Ecosse1314 says
Did basic Gaelic at secondary school but unless you want a basic “how are you ” conversation I am lost. My lallans is mostly based on Rabbie Burns.
Cheers Wellington
gravenimage says
You aren’t wrong, Ecosse1314. I haven’t seen an image of this tartan, but I have heard rumors about it for many years now. Here is one example:
“A bolt of the tartan designed for the SS Leibstandarte Pipe Band has been discovered in an archive in Berlin.
“Designed at Adolf Hitler’s personal request, the tartan features a subtle swastika motif at the ‘cross-over of the tartan pattern.”
https://www.arrse.co.uk/community/threads/nazi-ss-pipeband-tartan-discovered.179583/
Ecosse1314 says
Oh dear never heard that but proves my point. Thanks W
R Russell says
gravenimage
Although I did not know about Hitler’s tartan, I am not surprised. The Scottish National Party (SNP) the party in power in the Scottish parliament, wanted to set up a Nazi puppet government in Scotland during WW2.
gravenimage says
R Russell, I’d never heard it was that bad–but the SNP did fight conscription during WWII, hampering the Allied war effort.
You are right, though:
“SNP boss planned Nazi Scotland”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/snp-boss-planned-nazi-scotland-fh5l5d2lcwh
Disgusting.
Most Scots did not support the Nazis, though–thank goodness.
Paul says
Naturally I have to drag the debate down to my level.
From Wikipedia: Underwear may or may not be worn, as the wearer prefers, although tradition has it that a “true Scotsman” should wear nothing under his kilt.[8][9] The Scottish Tartans Authority, however, warns that in some circumstances the practice could be “childish and unhygienic” and flying “in the face of decency”.
How does that square with the modesty requirements of Islam.
I am never going to find out…
Ecosse1314 says
Old joke alert. Nothing is ever worn under the kilt. It is all in perfect working order.
Gen Jones says
Even older joke alert:
Why would Muslim men wear an Islamic Tartan kilt?
Because sheep can hear a zipper at 100 yards.
Ecosse1314 says
Sheep can be very is-lamb-ic
Paul says
You guys make worse jokes than me.
Be ashamed. Be very ashamed.
Paul
GreekEmpress says
Aren’t you glad we are infidels and can make jokes? No humor in Islam
PS I’m jealous. Would love to add another joke, but I’ve got nothing—
Paul says
True story.
A lass at work married a scotsman. Because she was a control freak/organised she bought tartan knickers for all who wore kilts otherwise her wedding pics would be all willies and hairy bums.
She should be in government as she saw a coming problem and it was solved.
Paul
Carol the 1st says
Jokes seem to be our way of winking at one another and saying “This too shall pass”. Praise the real Lord.
gravenimage says
🙂
FYI says
Tartans:For the MacAbdools of Scotland…
So, the islamic ‘cultural enrichment’ and {the usually lefty-promoted} Historical revisionism continues…
somehistory says
The Scot in me rejects this stupid garbage. Tartans weren’t ‘created’ to make money or make those who invaded feel welcome. Clans and districts had tartans to identify them.
morlock is a tool. Yesterday, Glenn Beck said on his program, that if a site has the word Christian google will not allow the site to receive ads. That is my understanding of what he said.
Christianity is the religion that is being attacked by haters….moslims and their side-kicks…all over the world in many different ways. But liars like moklock want everyone to believe it is the other way around.
moslims don’t want to mix with non moslims. They just want to take, take, and take, and only give back murder, rape, hate, lies, demands, etc.
Great will be the Day when islam is no more.
Ecosse1314 says
No the clans did not have individual tartans to identify them. The craze for tartan was started by Sir Walter Scott for the visit of George the fourth to Scotland in 1821. Two Polish chancers then claimed to have found a book listing individual clan tartans. This book was a fraud.
somehistory says
The clans have tartans now. And a documentary many, many years ago, used old documents to show that clans did wear different colors when going into war against other clans.
I believe there is no absolutely sure way of knowing what all went on in the ancient past.
But whatever the case, these attempts to make moslims look like the ‘good guys’ and helping them take over….the history and the present…is abominable.
Ecosse1314 says
Sorry but being Scottish born and bred I have to disagree. Certain areas may have used distinct weaving techniques and even certain dyes.
The idea however that the clans had uniform plaids is incorrect. As i said this is an entirely 19th century innovation.
Anyone can claim a tartan now. Most of our major football clubs have their own tartans. If I wanted to register a tartan and I had the money and/or the inclination there is nothing to stop me.
I do agree fully with the second half of your post.
somehistory says
I did not write anything about a “uniform plaid.” i said colors and that is what the documentary said, using papers from long ago, before you were “born and bred.”
And even if you are correct about when the “plaids” were introduced, it does not change the fact that moslims had no interest in such things until….now…when they can make a big claim to being a part of Scottish history.
Btw, there are people in this country who were born and bred here that do not know all of this country’s history. As I indicated, much misinformation has been going on for a very, very, long time. So that now it is difficult to gain an accurate account of past centuries.
There has been much lying and many liars afoot.
Ecosse1314 says
The documentary is wrong. No clans had individual tartans until the 19th century.
There is no great mystery as this. We had writers in the past centuries. No reference was ever made to clans having unique tartans.
Lastly at no time did i mention any impact on Scottish history made by muslims.
Oh look up the “vestiarium scoticum”. Where i will lay odds is where the documents in your documentary came from.
gravenimage says
Queen Victoria was a big fan. She popularized the Scottish craze in England (and by extension, Canada, Australia, and America).
“Queen Victoria’s Tartan Craze”
http://plaidpetticoats.blogspot.com/2013/03/balmorality-queen-victorias-tartan-craze.html
somehistory says
So, you were sitting in my house with me when I watched the documentary? Funny, I did not see you there and you made no comments about it at the time.
I say again, I did not say it was a “tartan” that was worn.
I said it was clan “colors” that served to identify clan family members from other Scots who might look similar, but of a different clan. Much like soldiers in war wear uniforms to tell who is the enemy and who is a fellow soldier. Or like football players on the field…Cowboys wear different colors from the Redskins or Steelers,. No two teams dress the same.
In the olden days, when everyone went to church, the church kept the records for everyone in the village. When a baby was born, his mother and father were listed as his parents, his date of birth, etc. and when he got married, it was recorded, when he had a child, that too was recorded and when he died, so too a recording was made.
Buying and selling of property and other goings-on were also recorded by the church pastors.
Churches were a repository of many, many records that were later used to write the history of the village. Those were the basis of the documentary.
And, you wrote: “Lastly at no time did i mention any impact on Scottish history made by muslims.” I didn’t claim that you did. Just as I did not say the clans wore “tartans”
Disagree all you wish, but I’m done with this discussion. I don’t come to JW to argue.
R Russell says
Ecosse,
What about the English banning the wearing of tartan after the ’45 uprising and the slaughter of the Highland Scots at Culloden?
If they joined the army they were allowed to wear tartan trews.
However to take matters back to the time of the National Covenant and JamesVI and CharlesI, if the Prophet of the Covenant had been believed, there would have been no Jacobite rebellion and no slaughter of the Highlanders. Sandy Peden, Presbyterian and persecuted, the prophet of the Covenant among many of his prophecies said that no other Stuart king would sit on the throne. None ever has.
Ecosse1314 says
No-one has said that tartan did not exist prior to the 19th century. I have merely pointed out that seperate clan tartans did not formalise until then
No amount of unknown documentaries or some histrionics will change that fact.
R Russell says
for Ecosse.
http://www.tartansauthority.com/resources/archives/the-archives/scobie/tartan-and-the-dress-act-of-1746/
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170912-why-tartan-is-a-symbol-of-both-rebellion-and-sophistication
gravenimage says
True, Ecosse1314.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
The CSIR (Council on Scottish-Islamic Relations) is all for this. Apart from apparel, do Muslims also embrace Scottish music? I understand that stringed instruments are haram, but what about stored-breath instruments? We need a fatwa on the halality of the bagpipe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKXjE1ZUTlc
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
A bagpiper friend (who is also a connoisseur of cultural appropriation) points out that Scotland is not the only member of OBEC (the Organization of Bagpipe Exporting Countries). See
https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-the-other-great-home-of-the-bagpipes-202312
gravenimage says
Here’s one of these typically edifying debates over whether bagpipes are Haram:
https://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/65131-bagpipes/
Besides everything else, Islam is so dreary.
Angemon says
Imagine a blue and white tartan:
The Jewish tartan was essentially the Scottish-Jewish identity being weaved together in the same way that the tartan is weaved together through its strands,”
Now a reddish tartan:
The Communist tartan was essentially the Scottish-Communist identity being weaved together in the same way that the tartan is weaved together through its strands,”
And now a red, white and black tartan:
The Nazi tartan was essentially the Scottish-Nazi identity being weaved together in the same way that the tartan is weaved together through its strands,”
Generic, meaningless statement that’s sure to fool empty-headed morons…
R Russell says
The half truth taqiyya is obvious if you know about the history of the Scottish Saltire.
https://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/scottishsaltireflag.php
(This is taken from national.ae)
Here is the significance of the design of the Muslim tartan:
The tartan represents the five pillars of Islam, the six articles of faith, the Holy Kaaba and Scotland in its design.
Green: Islam
5 white lines: the 5 pillars of Islam
6 gold lines: the 6 articles of faith
Black square: the Kaaba
Blue: Scottish Flag.
What has been missed out is that the Scottish ‘flag’ is NOT blue. It is a white diagonal cross on a blue background.
The history of Scotland is tied up in a cross, diagonal as St Andrew our patron Saint refused to be crucified on a cross the same shape as Jesus’.
St Rule brought some of St Andrew’s bones to Scotland. All of this on the website above is what I learned at school many many years ago. I doubt it is still taught today which is why the taqiyya is likely to go unchallenged.
Were the Muslims being honest about the colours, they would have pointed out that the significance of the colours in the Saltire are all to do with the crucifixion of the Messiah Jesus, (not the Islamic Isa.)
Do they want to be inclusive as they pretend? No the answer is that since they believe their Allah deceived the followers of Jesus to believe he died on the cross, they will never draw attention to the death of Jesus or of St Andrew.
So while many wish to debate Tartan and its origins, I would suggest it would be better to debate what is going on in the minds of the Muslims. They have a tartan now which they can use to promote Islam, conveniently missing out the history of the Saltire which they say they have included.
Read between the lines
gravenimage says
Yes–that is all this “Islamic tartan” is about.
ntesdorf says
I’m waiting until the full Islamic Sharia compliant Bagpipes comes out until I put my order in.
gravenimage says
Scots Wha Hae Wi’ Wallace Bled, Or, The “Islamic Tartan” Farce
…………………..
Good lord. Mohammedans donning an “Islamic tartan” does not make them Scottish.
But then, it is not intended to–it is just meant to snow the credulous Kuffar.
Note that all the pictures I have found of the “Islamic tartan” are at the same photoshoot at the same grand Scottish edifice as above–so this is *not* a widespread phenomenon–it is as they say in wrestling a “work”.
James says
do they make hijabs, burkas and niqabs in the Muslim tartan now? Or do Scottish terrorists cover their identity with Scottish Muslim tartan ski masks to show their Scottish terrorist identity. A fusion of cultures. That would be true assimilation into Scottish culture. Perhaps they could also write some jihadi songs to traditional melodies to show how much they are contributing to Scottish culture.
jca reid says
The Islamic snowflake job continues & it knows no bounds. All over the West it’s happening & folk fall for it. On youtube there are clips of this “Islamic Golden Age”, about inventions, discoveries etc. All found to be done by PRE- Islamic Arabs, Hindus, Chinese, Greeks. This attempt is worse than the “Scottish Cringe” – with pipe bands, & tartan tins of shortbread. What the West ought to do is make them live like their “culture” dictates: NO modern facilities, NO cars, computers, watches, NO access to modern hospitals, medicines. After all, they are inventions of the inferior kuffar/infidel & are explicitly ‘haram’. Islam teaches one that anything outside 7th. Century Arabia is off limits. “Bidda”, I think is the word.
Patriotliz says
Muslims, wherever they live, are first and foremost citizens of Islam. To identify with an infidel nation or culture is forbidden.
gravenimage says
By the way, Mr. Fitzgerald, the title you gave this article is just brilliant!
For those unfamiliar with the reference, here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKT7qxk9-pw
Let’s just say we don’t seem much evidence of this braw Scottish mettle in the story above…