Surveillance & Society in SF
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
3y ago
I will be at the (virtual)) North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFIC) on Sunday and will be on the following panel. The Sci-Fi Con is virtual and free this year so anyone can attend the Con. Here is the link to the website: NASFIC Sunday August 23 10:00-10:50AM (Eastern Daylight Time) Moderator: Working on this, but this may be a self-directed panel Panelists:  Dr. Nakeema Stefflbauer, Gadi Evron, Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad Description:   Artificial Intelligence: The Real Minority Report ..read more
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Covers of Translations of Classic Sci-Fi into Urdu
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
I have been wondering about the earliest translations of Western Sci-Fi into Urdu and as luck would have it Rashid Ashraf is familiar with some of the title. Here are a few that he shared with me. Many thanks to Rashid Ashraf for providing the covers ..read more
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100 Years of Science Fiction in the Islamic World
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
Here is a talk that I gave a couple of weeks ago on the very brief history of Science Fiction in the Islamic World ..read more
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RUR in Ottoman Turkish
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) is ascience fiction play written by the Czech writer Karel Čapek which is the source of the word Robot. The play imagines synthetic people called roboti (robots) who are created to work for humans but eventually rebel which leads to the extenction of humans. R.U.R was translated from the Czech language into Ottoman Turkish by Halid Fahri and published as Suni Adamlar Fabrikası 1927 by the government printing office. It is fascinating to see the text reaching Turkey in translation within a few years after its publication and that too before the Ottoman script ..read more
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Abd al-Nasser Mujalli's Geography of Water
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
Geography of Water (Jugrafiyat al-Ma) is a science fiction ecological novel by the Yemeni author Abd al-Nasser Mujalli. The novel’s premise is that water starts disappearing from Earth and an alien race from another planet behind the disappearance. The aliens are mad because their planet (the white planet) is being negatively being affected because of the pollution being produced by humans on Earth. The novel also serves as a parable of negative human impact on Earth and how there will be blowback, here in the form of aliens ..read more
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SFRA Cancelled
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
A number of Science Fiction Cons that are being cancelled is increasing. The latest one to succumb to Coronavirus is SFRA (Science Fiction Research Association). I was looking forward to the conference, hoping to attend my first SFRA conference is 2020. However this won’t happen this year. Let’s all hope and pray that things get better in a few months and we get back to normalcy. Here is the official announcement from SFRA. Dear SFRA, Unfortunately I must write you today with the news that our planned meeting for July 2020 has been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Wh ..read more
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A Sci-Fi short by Mohsin Hamid in Financial Times
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
(Image Source: Financial Times) The award winning British-Pakistani novelist, Mohsin Hamid, published a short story on an Alien Invasion in Financial Times which was quite well received. Here is an excerpt from the story: A hot wind rattles the roof of our shanty. Corrugated metal bucks up and down, scrabbling against rough-hewn tops of thin walls, straining at threaded wires that bind it into place. Like some kind of monster. “It’s just a rumour,” I say. “Put on your spectacles,” Mother tells me. “We’ve been hearing it for months.” “This is different, Daughter. Put on your spectacles ..read more
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‘Muslim’ Magic in Medieval Malta
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
While there is no such thing as Magic in Islam, through out history people from Muslim cultures have esoteric things which have been described as magic by outsiders. (Muslim scholars universally consider Magic to be haram (Forbidden) in Islam.) In the medieval era Muslims in Europe were sometimes accused of practicing Magic because their practices were wrongly interpreted. In any case, the presence of Muslim “Magic” would be an interesting mix to the cross genre narratives that lie at the border of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Imagine books like Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light. For inspiration, here is a ..read more
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Ali Pourahmad’s Short Sci-Fi Movies
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
Ali Pourahmad is a director and writer based in Iran who has directed a number of short Science Fiction movies. He not only directs but also writes the story line for his short movies which have a high element of CGI animation. Here is a summary of some of the short movies that he has written and directed. 0Time Code is the story of a paramilitary group that ventures into a virtual world using technology that can directly interface with the mind. Here is the trailer of the short movie. Mars is a short movie set around Iran’s future manned mission to Mars. Solar Year 2400 is a sto ..read more
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Egyptian Society for Science Fiction
Islam and Science Fiction
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad
4y ago
I had the good fortune to meet the President of Egyptian Society for Science Fiction Dr. Hosam El-Zembely and its member Emad Aysha in Nasr City (a suburb of Cairo) at their headquarters last week. The Egyptian Society for Science Fiction (جمعية المصرية لأدب الخيال العلمي‎) is a Science Fiction organization set up in 2012 by Dr. El-Zembely to promote Science Fiction in Egypt and the wider Arab World. They were also kind enough to give me a collection of all the anthologies that they have published so far. Here is a summary of the list. Date Name 2012 Al-Qadimun (The Arrivals) 2013 Al-Aidun ..read more
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