title: The Divergent Series

text: Principal photography for "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" began on May 27, 2014, in Atlanta, Georgia, and concluded on September 6, 2014. Filming took place at United States Penitentiary, Atlanta. A set was constructed for the Amity Compound at Serenbe Community South of Atlanta. In downtown Atlanta, a zip-line scene was filmed for which a set was constructed on the roof of Peachtree Center. For two days, production was moved to Chicago with scenes being filmed in Wells Street, Franklin Street, and Adams Street. Production was then moved back to Atlanta for reshoots.


title: The Divergent Series

text: Principal photography for "The Divergent Series: Allegiant" began in Atlanta on May 18, 2015, with filming concluding on August 23, 2015.


title: The Divergent Series

text: Junkie XL scored the first film in the film series, "Divergent", while Joseph Trapanese scored the second and third entries, "Insurgent" and "Allegiant."


title: The Divergent Series

text: In a world in which people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues, Tris Prior is warned that she is Divergent and will never fit into any of the groups. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust the mysterious Four, and they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it is too late.


title: The Divergent Series

text: As they search for allies and answers in the wake of the uprising, Tris and Four are on the run. Hunted by Jeanine Matthews, the leader of the Erudite faction, Tris and Four race against time as they try to figure out what Abnegation sacrificed their lives to protect and the reason that the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them. Haunted by her past choices but desperate to protect the people she loves, Tris faces one impossible challenge after another as she unlocks the truth about the past and, ultimately, the future of her world.


title: The Divergent Series

text: On December 16, 2013, Summit Entertainment announced that the film adaptation of "Allegiant" would be released on March 18, 2016. On April 11, 2014, Lionsgate announced that the film adaptation would be split into two films with the first part titled, "The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1". The film was then retitled as "The Divergent Series: Allegiant".


title: The Divergent Series

text: Tris must escape with Four and go beyond the wall enclosing Chicago. For the first time ever, they will leave the only city and family that they have ever known to find a peaceful solution for their embroiled city. Once outside, old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless with the revelation of shocking new truths. Tris must quickly decide who to trust as a ruthless battle ignites beyond the walls of Chicago. To survive, Tris is forced to solve dilemmas on courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.


title: The Divergent Series

text: A fourth film was initially planned, with a March 2017 release, based on the latter half of the "Allegiant" book. The timing was changed to a June 2017 release, with Lee Toland Krieger then attached as the movie's director. The movie was subsequently cancelled, resulting in the series having ended on a cliffhanger.


title: The Divergent Series

text: In July 2016, after the poor performance of the third film at the box office, the producers considered creating the fourth as a television film, which would add new characters to the story and possibly continue in a spinoff television series that would move beyond the books.


title: The Divergent Series

text: In September 2016, Shailene Woodley stated on "Today" that the decision of film or television had not been finalized and that it was "a limbo waiting game." In the same interview, Woodley spoke despairingly of the chances of her returning to the project in a television format, but she noted that she would be open to returning to it as a theatrical film. In February 2017, with the producers having confirmed that it would be a television project, Woodley was announced to have backed out of her starring role.


title: The Divergent Series

text: In August 2017, Starz and Lionsgate Television announced that they were beginning to develop the television series with the director Lee Toland Krieger and "The Legend of Tarzan" writer Adam Cozad remaining attached from the original project. In December 2018, Starz announced that it no longer sought to develop a television series and cited the lack of interest of the cast and the network executives.


title: The Divergent Series

text: Though the first two films were commercially successful, the series as a whole has not been well received by critics. Each successive film release has been rated lower than the previous release on review aggregator websites. Negative reviews of the third novel "Allegiant" and the studios' decision to split it into two films have been blamed for the third film's lackluster performance at the box office.


title: Umar

text: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet "al-Fārūq" ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").


title: Umar

text: Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshite kinsman and later son-in-law. Following his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title "al-Fārūq" ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's death in June 632, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr () as the first caliph and served as the closest adviser to the latter until August 634, when the dying Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.


title: Umar

text: Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.


title: Umar

text: Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.


title: Umar

text: Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."


title: Umar

text: Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.


title: Umar

text: Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.


title: Umar

text: In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.


title: Umar

text: Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.


title: Umar

text: The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's "Sīrah". On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"


title: Umar

text: Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: "Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance" (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."


title: Umar

text: Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.


title: Umar

text: According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.


title: Umar

text: Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah ibn Masud said,


title: Umar

text: In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.


title: Umar

text: When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.


title: Umar

text: Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.


title: Umar

text: In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.


title: Umar

text: Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.


title: Umar

text: In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.


title: Umar

text: In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.


title: Umar

text: When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:


title: Umar

text: <ref name="http://sunnah.com/bukhari/62/19"></ref> Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:


title: Umar

text: Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the "Ansar" (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as "Muhajirs" (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.


title: Umar

text: According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah. According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.


title: Umar

text: Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:


title: Umar

text: According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."


title: Umar

text: Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.


title: Umar

text: Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.


title: Umar

text: Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.


title: Umar

text: Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.


title: Umar

text: Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.


title: Umar

text: Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.


title: Umar

text: Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.


title: Umar

text: Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.


title: Umar

text: In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.


title: Umar

text: In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.


title: Umar

text: With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.


title: Umar

text: The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or "Wali", personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:


title: Umar

text: In some districts there were separate military officers, though the "Wali" was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.


title: Umar

text: Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the "Wali's" conduct. On assuming office, the "Wali" was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.


title: Umar

text: Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).


title: Umar

text: Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.


title: Umar

text: The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.


title: Umar

text: Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.


title: Umar

text: Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: "By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade!" and he took from him the profits he had made.


title: Umar

text: Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.


title: Umar

text: Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities ("amsar") of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.


title: Umar

text: Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department.


title: Umar

text: Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.


title: Umar

text: In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.


title: Umar

text: As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.


title: Umar

text: Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:


title: Umar

text: "Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of "Silwan" and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."


title: Umar

text: It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the "Rums" (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the "Ṣakhra" (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as "ḳubbat es ṣakhra", the Dome of the Rock.


title: Umar

text: According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.


title: Umar

text: The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.


title: Umar

text: In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.


title: Umar

text: Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.


title: Umar

text: While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.


title: Umar

text: To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.


title: Umar

text: Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.


title: Umar

text: In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear, but medieval sources attribute it to a tax dispute with his Arab master al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba.


title: Umar

text: According to some historical accounts, Abu Lu'lu'a was a Zoroastrian from Nahavand (Iran), though other reports describe him as a Christian. A highly skilled joiner and blacksmith, Abu Lu'lu'a was probably taken captive by his master al-Mughira in the Battle of Nahavand (642) and subsequently brought to Arabia, where he may also have converted to Islam. Other historical sources report that he was rather taken captive by al-Mughira in the Battle of al-Qadisiyya (636), or that he was sold to al-Mughira by Hurmuzān, an ex-Sassanid military officer who had been working for Umar as an adviser after his own capture by the Muslims. Although Medina was generally off-limits to the (non-Arabs) under Umar's reign, Abu Lu'lu'a was exceptionally allowed to enter the capital of the early caliphate, being sent there by al-Mughira to serve the caliph.


title: Umar

text: When al-Mughira forced Abu Lu'lu'a to pay a tax of two dirhams a day, Abu Lu'lu'a turned to Umar to protest this tax. However, Umar refused to lift the tax, thus provoking Abu Lu'lu'a's rage. Although this is the reason given by most historical accounts for Abu Lu'lu'a's assassination of Umar, Umar's biased policies against non-Arab captives may also have played a prominent role. One day when Umar was leading the congregational prayer in the mosque of Medina, Abu Lu'lu'a stabbed him with a double-bladed dagger. There are different versions of how this happened: according to one version, he also killed Kulayb ibn al-Bukayr al-Laythi who was behind Umar, while in another version he stabbed thirteen people who tried to restrain him. According to some accounts, the caliph died on the same day, while other accounts maintain that he died three days later. In any case, Umar died of his wounds on Wednesday of the ( according to the Gregorian calendar).


title: Umar

text: Some historical sources report that Abu Lu'lu'a was taken prisoner and executed for his assassination of Umar, while other sources claim that he committed suicide. After Abu Lu'lu'a's death, his daughter was killed by Ubayd Allah ibn Umar, one of Umar's sons. Acting upon the claim of one man (either Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf or Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr) that they had been seen conspiring with Abu Lu'lu'a while he was holding the double-bladed dagger, Ubayd Allah also killed Hurmuzān (Umar's Persian military adviser), and Jufayna, a Christian man from al-Hira (Iraq) who had been taken to Medina to serve as a private tutor to a family in Medina. After Ubayd Allah was detained for these murders, he threatened to kill all foreign captives residing in Medina, as well as some others. Although Ubayd Allah may have been encouraged by his sister Hafsa bint Umar to avenge their father's death, his murder of Hurmuzān and Jufayna was likely the result of a mental breakdown rather than of a true conspiracy. It was regarded by his peers as a crime rather than as a legitimate act of retaliation.


title: Umar

text: In early 20th-century scholarship it was sometimes supposed that Abu Lu'lu'a had really been an instrument in the hands of a conspiracy, though not a conspiracy led by Hurmuzān, but rather one led by Ali, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, and Talha ibn Ubayd Allah. These men, who according to the historical sources were appointed by Umar himself as members of the council who would elect the next caliph, were thought by scholars to have conspired to overthrow Umar's reign and to put Ali in his place. This hypothesis, however, is rejected by more recent scholars. Nevertheless, while Ubayd Allah was subsequently acquitted of his crimes by Umar's successor Uthman (r. 644–656), who considered the execution of Ubayd Allah an excessive measure in view of his father's recent assassination, Ali, among others, did protest against this and vowed to apply the regular punishment for murder if he were ever to be caliph.


title: Umar

text: Umar was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and the caliph Abu Bakr, by the permission of Aisha given to his son Abdullah ibn Umar on Umar's request.


title: Umar

text: On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.


title: Umar

text: All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.


title: Umar

text: Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi ("Suhayb the Roman"), as a caretaker caliph.


title: Umar

text: While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.


title: Umar

text: Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.


title: Umar

text: Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always "A'sara Yusran" (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were "ashnabul asnan" (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.


title: Umar

text: The early Muslim historians "Ibn Saad" and "al-Hakim" mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of "Abu Raja al-U'taridi", Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".


title: Umar

text: Umar was the first caliph to adopt the title . Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.


title: Umar

text: He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.


title: Umar

text: Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.


title: Umar

text: He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.


title: Umar

text: Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"


title: Umar

text: Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.


title: Umar

text: His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."


title: Umar

text: His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.


title: Umar

text: One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.


title: Umar

text: His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).


title: Umar

text: Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.


title: Umar

text: After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.


title: Umar

text: Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title "Fārūq", meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the "ummah". According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:


title: Umar

text: Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.


title: Umar

text: Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".


title: Umar

text: In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.


title: Satire

text: Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or exposing the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.


title: Satire

text: A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm —"in satire, irony is militant", according to literary critic Northrop Frye— but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question.


title: Satire

text: Satire is found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary, music, film and television shows, and media such as lyrics.


title: Satire

text: The word "satire" comes from the Latin word "satur" and the subsequent phrase "lanx satura." "Satur" meant "full" but the juxtaposition with "lanx" shifted the meaning to "miscellany or medley": the expression "lanx satura" literally means "a full dish of various kinds of fruits".


title: Satire

text: The word "satura" as used by Quintilian, however, was used to denote only Roman verse satire, a strict genre that imposed hexameter form, a narrower genre than what would be later intended as "satire". Quintilian famously said that "satura," that is a satire in hexameter verses, was a literary genre of wholly Roman origin ("satura tota nostra est"). He was aware of and commented on Greek satire, but at the time did not label it as such, although today the origin of satire is considered to be Aristophanes' Old Comedy. The first critic to use the term "satire" in the modern broader sense was Apuleius.


title: Satire

text: To Quintilian, the satire was a strict literary form, but the term soon escaped from the original narrow definition. Robert Elliott writes:


title: Satire

text: The word "satire" derives from "satura", and its origin was not influenced by the Greek mythological figure of the "satyr". In the 17th century, philologist Isaac Casaubon was the first to dispute the etymology of satire from satyr, contrary to the belief up to that time.


title: Satire

text: Laughter is not an essential component of satire; in fact there are types of satire that are not meant to be "funny" at all. Conversely, not all humour, even on such topics as politics, religion or art is necessarily "satirical", even when it uses the satirical tools of irony, parody, and burlesque.


title: Satire

text: Even light-hearted satire has a serious "after-taste": the organizers of the Ig Nobel Prize describe this as "first make people laugh, and then make them think".


title: Satire

text: Satire and irony in some cases have been regarded as the most effective source to understand a society, the oldest form of social study. They provide the keenest insights into a group's collective psyche, reveal its deepest values and tastes, and the society's structures of power. Some authors have regarded satire as superior to non-comic and non-artistic disciplines like history or anthropology. In a prominent example from ancient Greece, philosopher Plato, when asked by a friend for a book to understand Athenian society, referred him to the plays of Aristophanes.


title: Satire

text: Historically, satire has satisfied the popular need to debunk and ridicule the leading figures in politics, economy, religion and other prominent realms of power. Satire confronts public discourse and the collective imaginary, playing as a public opinion counterweight to power (be it political, economic, religious, symbolic, or otherwise), by challenging leaders and authorities. For instance, it forces administrations to clarify, amend or establish their policies. Satire's job is to expose problems and contradictions, and it's not obligated to solve them. Karl Kraus set in the history of satire a prominent example of a satirist role as confronting public discourse.


title: Satire

text: For its nature and social role, satire has enjoyed in many societies a special freedom license to mock prominent individuals and institutions. The satiric impulse, and its ritualized expressions, carry out the function of resolving social tension. Institutions like the ritual clowns, by giving expression to the antisocial tendencies, represent a safety valve which re-establishes equilibrium and health in the collective imaginary, which are jeopardized by the repressive aspects of society.


title: Satire

text: The state of political satire in a given society reflects the tolerance or intolerance that characterizes it, and the state of civil liberties and human rights. Under totalitarian regimes any criticism of a political system, and especially satire, is suppressed. A typical example is the Soviet Union where the dissidents, such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were under strong pressure from the government. While satire of everyday life in the USSR was allowed, the most prominent satirist being Arkady Raikin, political satire existed in the form of anecdotes that made fun of Soviet political leaders, especially Brezhnev, famous for his narrow-mindedness and love for awards and decorations.


title: Satire

text: Satire is a diverse genre which is complex to classify and define, with a wide range of satiric "modes".


title: Satire

text: Horacian satire, named for the Roman satirist Horace (65–8 BCE), playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-footed humour. Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) wrote Satires to gently ridicule the dominant opinions and "philosophical beliefs of ancient Rome and Greece" (Rankin). Rather than writing in harsh or accusing tones, he addressed issues with humor and clever mockery. Horatian satire follows this same pattern of "gently [ridiculing] the absurdities and follies of human beings" (Drury).


title: Satire

text: It directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humour toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil. Horatian satire's sympathetic tone is common in modern society.


title: Satire

text: A Horacian satirist's goal is to heal the situation with smiles, rather than by anger. Horacian satire is a gentle reminder to take life less seriously and evokes a wry smile. A Horatian satirist makes fun of general human folly rather than engaging in specific or personal attacks. Shamekia Thomas suggests, "In a work using Horatian satire, readers often laugh at the characters in the story who are the subject of mockery as well as themselves and society for behaving in those ways." Alexander Pope has been established as an author whose satire "heals with morals what it hurts with wit" (Green). Alexander Pope—and Horatian satire—attempt to teach.


title: Satire

text: Juvenalian satire, named for the writings of the Roman satirist Juvenal (late first century – early second century AD), is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenal disagreed with the opinions of the public figures and institutions of the Republic and actively attacked them through his literature. "He utilized the satirical tools of exaggeration and parody to make his targets appear monstrous and incompetent" (Podzemny). Juvenal's satire follows this same pattern of abrasively ridiculing societal structures. Juvenal also, unlike Horace, attacked public officials and governmental organizations through his satires, regarding their opinions as not just wrong, but evil.


title: Satire

text: Following in this tradition, Juvenalian satire addresses perceived social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterized by the use of irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humor. Strongly polarized political satire can often be classified as Juvenalian.


title: Satire

text: A Juvenal satirist's goal is generally to provoke some sort of political or societal change because he sees his opponent or object as evil or harmful. A Juvenal satirist mocks "societal structure, power, and civilization" (Thomas) by exaggerating the words or position of his opponent in order to jeopardize their opponent's reputation and/or power. Jonathan Swift has been established as an author who "borrowed heavily from Juvenal's techniques in [his critique] of contemporary English society" (Podzemny).


title: Satire

text: In the history of theatre there has always been a conflict between engagement and disengagement on politics and relevant issue, between satire and grotesque on one side, and jest with teasing on the other. Max Eastman defined the spectrum of satire in terms of "degrees of biting", as ranging from satire proper at the hot-end, and "kidding" at the violet-end; Eastman adopted the term kidding to denote what is just satirical in form, but is not really firing at the target. Nobel laureate satirical playwright Dario Fo pointed out the difference between satire and teasing ("sfottò"). Teasing is the reactionary side of the comic; it limits itself to a shallow parody of physical appearance. The side-effect of teasing is that it humanizes and draws sympathy for the powerful individual towards which it is directed. Satire instead uses the comic to go against power and its oppressions, has a subversive character, and a moral dimension which draws judgement against its targets. Fo formulated an operational criterion to tell real satire from "sfottò", saying that real satire arouses an outraged and violent reaction, and that the more they try to stop you, the better is the job you are doing. Fo contends that, historically, people in positions of power have welcomed and encouraged good-humoured buffoonery, while modern day people in positions of power have tried to censor, ostracize and repress satire.


title: Satire

text: Teasing ("sfottò") is an ancient form of simple buffoonery, a form of comedy without satire's subversive edge. Teasing includes light and affectionate parody, good-humoured mockery, simple one-dimensional poking fun, and benign spoofs. Teasing typically consists of an impersonation of someone monkeying around with his exterior attributes, tics, physical blemishes, voice and mannerisms, quirks, way of dressing and walking, and/or the phrases he typically repeats. By contrast, teasing never touches on the core issue, never makes a serious criticism judging the target with irony; it never harms the target's conduct, ideology and position of power; it never undermines the perception of his morality and cultural dimension. "Sfottò" directed towards a powerful individual makes him appear more human and draws sympathy towards him. Hermann Göring propagated jests and jokes against himself, with the aim of humanizing his image.


title: Satire

text: Types of satire can also be classified according to the topics it deals with. From the earliest times, at least since the plays of Aristophanes, the primary topics of literary satire have been politics, religion and sex. This is partly because these are the most pressing problems that affect anybody living in a society, and partly because these topics are usually taboo. Among these, politics in the broader sense is considered the pre-eminent topic of satire. Satire which targets the clergy is a type of political satire, while religious satire is that which targets religious beliefs. Satire on sex may overlap with blue comedy, off-color humor and dick jokes.


title: Satire

text: Scatology has a long literary association with satire, as it is a classical mode of the grotesque, the grotesque body and the satiric grotesque. Shit plays a fundamental role in satire because it symbolizes death, the turd being "the ultimate dead object". The satirical comparison of individuals or institutions with human excrement, exposes their "inherent inertness, corruption and dead-likeness". The ritual clowns of clown societies, like among the Pueblo Indians, have ceremonies with filth-eating. In other cultures, sin-eating is an apotropaic rite in which the sin-eater (also called filth-eater), by ingesting the food provided, takes "upon himself the sins of the departed". Satire about death overlaps with black humor and gallows humor.


title: Satire

text: Another classification by topics is the distinction between political satire, religious satire and satire of manners. Political satire is sometimes called topical satire, satire of manners is sometimes called satire of everyday life, and religious satire is sometimes called philosophical satire. Comedy of manners, sometimes also called satire of manners, criticizes mode of life of common people; political satire aims at behavior, manners of politicians, and vices of political systems. Historically, comedy of manners, which first appeared in British theater in 1620, has uncritically accepted the social code of the upper classes. Comedy in general accepts the rules of the social game, while satire subverts them.


title: Satire

text: Another analysis of satire is the spectrum of his possible tones: wit, ridicule, irony, sarcasm, cynicism, the sardonic and invective.


title: Satire

text: The type of humour that deals with creating laughter at the expense of the person telling the joke is called reflexive humour. Reflexive humour can take place at dual levels of directing humour at self or at the larger community the self identifies with. The audience's understanding of the context of reflexive humour is important for its receptivity and success. Satire is found not only in written literary forms. In preliterate cultures it manifests itself in ritual and folk forms, as well as in trickster tales and oral poetry.


title: Satire

text: It appears also in graphic arts, music, sculpture, dance, cartoon strips, and graffiti. Examples are Dada sculptures, Pop Art works, music of Gilbert and Sullivan and Erik Satie, punk and rock music. In modern media culture, stand-up comedy is an enclave in which satire can be introduced into mass media, challenging mainstream discourse. Comedy roasts, mock festivals, and stand-up comedians in nightclubs and concerts are the modern forms of ancient satiric rituals.


title: Satire

text: One of the earliest examples of what might be called satire, The Satire of the Trades, is in Egyptian writing from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The text's apparent readers are students, tired of studying. It argues that their lot as scribes is not only useful, but far superior to that of the ordinary man. Scholars such as Helck think that the context was meant to be serious.


title: Satire

text: The Papyrus Anastasi I (late 2nd millennium BC) contains a satirical letter which first praises the virtues of its recipient, but then mocks the reader's meagre knowledge and achievements.


title: Satire

text: The Greeks had no word for what later would be called "satire", although the terms cynicism and parody were used. Modern critics call the Greek playwright Aristophanes one of the best known early satirists: his plays are known for their critical political and societal commentary, particularly for the political satire by which he criticized the powerful Cleon (as in "The Knights"). He is also notable for the persecution he underwent. Aristophanes' plays turned upon images of filth and disease. His bawdy style was adopted by Greek dramatist-comedian Menander. His early play "Drunkenness" contains an attack on the politician Callimedon.


title: Satire

text: The oldest form of satire still in use is the Menippean satire by Menippus of Gadara. His own writings are lost. Examples from his admirers and imitators mix seriousness and mockery in dialogues and present parodies before a background of diatribe. As in the case of Aristophanes plays, menippean satire turned upon images of filth and disease.


title: Satire

text: Satire, or fengci (諷刺) the way it's called in Chinese, goes back at least to Confucius, being mentioned in the Book of Odes (Shijing 詩經). It meant “to criticize by means of an ode”. In the pre-Qin era it was also common for schools of thought to clarify their views through the use of short explanatory anecdotes, also called yuyan (寓言), translated as "entrusted words". These yuyan usually were brimming with satirical content. The Daoist text Zhuangzi is the first to define this concept of Yuyan. During the Qin and Han dynasty, however, the concept of yuyan mostly died out through their heavy persecution of dissent and literary circles. Especially by Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi.


title: Satire

text: The first Roman to discuss satire critically was Quintilian, who invented the term to describe the writings of Gaius Lucilius. The two most prominent and influential ancient Roman satirists are Horace and Juvenal, who wrote during the early days of the Roman Empire. Other important satirists in ancient Latin are Gaius Lucilius and Persius. "Satire" in their work is much wider than in the modern sense of the word, including fantastic and highly coloured humorous writing with little or no real mocking intent. When Horace criticized Augustus, he used veiled ironic terms. In contrast, Pliny reports that the 6th-century-BC poet Hipponax wrote "satirae" that were so cruel that the offended hanged themselves.


title: Satire

text: In the 2nd century AD, Lucian wrote "True History", a book satirizing the clearly unrealistic travelogues/adventures written by Ctesias, Iambulus, and Homer. He states that he was surprised they expected people to believe their lies, and stating that he, like them, has no actual knowledge or experience, but shall now tell lies as if he did. He goes on to describe a far more obviously extreme and unrealistic tale, involving interplanetary exploration, war among alien life forms, and life inside a 200 mile long whale back in the terrestrial ocean, all intended to make obvious the fallacies of books like "Indica" and "The Odyssey".


title: Satire

text: Medieval Arabic poetry included the satiric genre "hija". Satire was introduced into Arabic prose literature by the author Al-Jahiz in the 9th century. While dealing with serious topics in what are now known as anthropology, sociology and psychology, he introduced a satirical approach, "based on the premise that, however serious the subject under review, it could be made more interesting and thus achieve greater effect, if only one leavened the lump of solemnity by the insertion of a few amusing anecdotes or by the throwing out of some witty or paradoxical observations. He was well aware that, in treating of new themes in his prose works, he would have to employ a vocabulary of a nature more familiar in "hija", satirical poetry." For example, in one of his zoological works, he satirized the preference for longer human penis size, writing: "If the length of the penis were a sign of honor, then the mule would belong to the (honorable tribe of) Quraysh". Another satirical story based on this preference was an "Arabian Nights" tale called "Ali with the Large Member".


title: Satire

text: In the 10th century, the writer Tha'alibi recorded satirical poetry written by the Arabic poets As-Salami and Abu Dulaf, with As-Salami praising Abu Dulaf's wide breadth of knowledge and then mocking his ability in all these subjects, and with Abu Dulaf responding back and satirizing As-Salami in return. An example of Arabic political satire included another 10th-century poet Jarir satirizing Farazdaq as "a transgressor of the Sharia" and later Arabic poets in turn using the term "Farazdaq-like" as a form of political satire.


title: Satire

text: The terms "comedy" and "satire" became synonymous after Aristotle's "Poetics" was translated into Arabic in the medieval Islamic world, where it was elaborated upon by Islamic philosophers and writers, such as Abu Bischr, his pupil Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as "hija" (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or troubled beginnings and happy endings, associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" thus gained a new semantic meaning in Medieval literature.


title: Satire

text: Ubayd Zakani introduced satire in Persian literature during the 14th century. His work is noted for its satire and obscene verses, often political or bawdy, and often cited in debates involving homosexual practices. He wrote the "Resaleh-ye Delgosha", as well as "Akhlaq al-Ashraf" ("Ethics of the Aristocracy") and the famous humorous fable "Masnavi Mush-O-Gorbeh" (Mouse and Cat), which was a political satire. His non-satirical serious classical verses have also been regarded as very well written, in league with the other great works of Persian literature. Between 1905 and 1911, Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi and other Iranian writers wrote notable satires.


title: Satire

text: In the Early Middle Ages, examples of satire were the songs by Goliards or vagants now best known as an anthology called Carmina Burana and made famous as texts of a composition by the 20th-century composer Carl Orff. Satirical poetry is believed to have been popular, although little has survived. With the advent of the High Middle Ages and the birth of modern vernacular literature in the 12th century, it began to be used again, most notably by Chaucer. The disrespectful manner was considered "unchristian" and ignored, except for the moral satire, which mocked misbehaviour in Christian terms. Examples are "Livre des Manières" by (~1178), and some of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". Sometimes epic poetry (epos) was mocked, and even feudal society, but there was hardly a general interest in the genre.


title: Satire

text: In the High Middle Ages the work Reynard the Fox, written by Willem die Madoc maecte, and its translations were a popular work that satirized the class system at the time. Representing the various classes as certain anthropomorphic animals. As example, the lion in the story represents the nobility, which is portrayed as being weak and without character, but very greedy. Versions of Reynard the Fox were also popular well into the early modern period. The dutch translation Van den vos Reynaerde is considered a major medieval dutch literary work. In the dutch version De Vries argues that the animal characters represent barons who conspired against the Count of Flanders.


title: Satire

text: Direct social commentary via satire returned with a vengeance in the 16th century, when farcical texts such as the works of François Rabelais tackled more serious issues (and incurred the wrath of the crown as a result).


title: Satire

text: Two major satirists of Europe in the Renaissance were Giovanni Boccaccio and François Rabelais. Other examples of Renaissance satire include "Till Eulenspiegel", "Reynard the Fox", Sebastian Brant's "Narrenschiff" (1494), Erasmus's "Moriae Encomium" (1509), Thomas More's "Utopia" (1516), and "Carajicomedia" (1519).


title: Satire

text: The Elizabethan (i.e. 16th-century English) writers thought of satire as related to the notoriously rude, coarse and sharp satyr play. Elizabethan "satire" (typically in pamphlet form) therefore contains more straightforward abuse than subtle irony. The French Huguenot Isaac Casaubon pointed out in 1605 that satire in the Roman fashion was something altogether more civilised. Casaubon discovered and published Quintilian's writing and presented the original meaning of the term (satira, not satyr), and the sense of wittiness (reflecting the "dishfull of fruits") became more important again. Seventeenth-century English satire once again aimed at the "amendment of vices" (Dryden).


title: Satire

text: In the 1590s a new wave of verse satire broke with the publication of Hall's "Virgidemiarum", six books of verse satires targeting everything from literary fads to corrupt noblemen. Although Donne had already circulated satires in manuscript, Hall's was the first real attempt in English at verse satire on the Juvenalian model. The success of his work combined with a national mood of disillusion in the last years of Elizabeth's reign triggered an avalanche of satire—much of it less conscious of classical models than Hall's — until the fashion was brought to an abrupt stop by censorship.


title: Satire

text: Another satiric genre to emerge around this time was the satirical almanac, with François Rabelais's work "Pantagrueline Prognostication" (1532), which mocked astrological predictions. The strategies François utilized within this work were employed by later satirical almanacs, such as the "Poor Robin" series that spanned the 17th to 19th centuries.


title: Satire

text: Satire ("Kataksh" or "Vyang") has played a prominent role in Indian and Hindi literature, and is counted as one of the "ras" of literature in ancient books. With the commencement of printing of books in local language in the nineteenth century and especially after India's freedom, this grew. Many of the works of Tulsi Das, Kabir, Munshi Premchand, village minstrels, Hari katha singers, poets, Dalit singers and current day stand up Indian comedians incorporate satire, usually ridiculing authoritarians, fundamentalists and incompetent people in power. In India, it has usually been used as a means of expression and an outlet for common people to express their anger against authoritarian entities. A popular custom in Northern India of "Bura na mano Holi hai" continues, in which comedians on the stage mock local people of importance (who are usually brought in as special guests).


title: Satire

text: The Age of Enlightenment, an intellectual movement in the 17th and 18th centuries advocating rationality, produced a great revival of satire in Britain. This was fuelled by the rise of partisan politics, with the formalisation of the Tory and Whig parties—and also, in 1714, by the formation of the Scriblerus Club, which included Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Robert Harley, Thomas Parnell, and Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. This club included several of the notable satirists of early-18th-century Britain. They focused their attention on Martinus Scriblerus, "an invented learned fool... whose work they attributed all that was tedious, narrow-minded, and pedantic in contemporary scholarship". In their hands astute and biting satire of institutions and individuals became a popular weapon. The turn to the 18th century was characterized by a switch from Horatian, soft, pseudo-satire, to biting "juvenal" satire.


title: Satire

text: Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest of Anglo-Irish satirists, and one of the first to practise modern journalistic satire. For instance, In his "A Modest Proposal" Swift suggests that Irish peasants be encouraged to sell their own children as food for the rich, as a solution to the "problem" of poverty. His purpose is of course to attack indifference to the plight of the desperately poor. In his book "Gulliver's Travels" he writes about the flaws in human society in general and English society in particular. John Dryden wrote an influential essay entitled "A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire" that helped fix the definition of satire in the literary world. His satirical "Mac Flecknoe" was written in response to a rivalry with Thomas Shadwell and eventually inspired Alexander Pope to write his satirical "Dunciad".


title: Satire

text: Alexander Pope (b. May 21, 1688) was a satirist known for his Horatian satirist style and translation of the "Iliad". Famous throughout and after the long 18th century, Pope died in 1744. Pope, in his "The Rape of the Lock", is delicately chiding society in a sly but polished voice by holding up a mirror to the follies and vanities of the upper class. Pope does not actively attack the self-important pomp of the British aristocracy, but rather presents it in such a way that gives the reader a new perspective from which to easily view the actions in the story as foolish and ridiculous. A mockery of the upper class, more delicate and lyrical than brutal, Pope nonetheless is able to effectively illuminate the moral degradation of society to the public. "The Rape of the Lock" assimilates the masterful qualities of a heroic epic, such as the "Iliad", which Pope was translating at the time of writing "The Rape of the Lock". However, Pope applied these qualities satirically to a seemingly petty egotistical elitist quarrel to prove his point wryly.


title: Satire

text: Daniel Defoe pursued a more journalistic type of satire, being famous for his "The True-Born Englishman" which mocks xenophobic patriotism, and "The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters"—advocating religious toleration by means of an ironical exaggeration of the highly intolerant attitudes of his time.


title: Satire

text: The pictorial satire of William Hogarth is a precursor to the development of political cartoons in 18th-century England. The medium developed under the direction of its greatest exponent, James Gillray from London. With his satirical works calling the king (George III), prime ministers and generals (especially Napoleon) to account, Gillray's wit and keen sense of the ridiculous made him the pre-eminent cartoonist of the era.


title: Satire

text: Ebenezer Cooke (1665–1732), author of "The Sot-Weed Factor" (1708), was among the first writers of literary satire in Colonial America. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) and others followed, using satire to shape an emerging nation's culture through its sense of the ridiculous.


title: Satire

text: Several satiric papers competed for the public's attention in the Victorian era (1837–1901) and Edwardian period, such as "Punch" (1841) and "Fun" (1861).


title: Satire

text: Perhaps the most enduring examples of Victorian satire, however, are to be found in the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, in "The Yeomen of the Guard", a jester is given lines that paint a very neat picture of the method and purpose of the satirist, and might almost be taken as a statement of Gilbert's own intent:


title: Satire

text: Novelists such as Charles Dickens (1812-1870) often used passages of satiric writing in their treatment of social issues.


title: Satire

text: Continuing the tradition of Swiftian journalistic satire, Sidney Godolphin Osborne (1808-1889) was the most prominent writer of scathing "Letters to the Editor" of the London Times. Famous in his day, he is now all but forgotten. His maternal grandfather William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland was considered to be a possible candidate for the authorship of the Junius letters. Osborne's satire was so bitter and biting that at one point he received a public censure from Parliament's then Home Secretary Sir James Graham. Osborne wrote mostly in the Juvenalian mode over a wide range of topics mostly centered on British government's and landlords' mistreatment of poor farm workers and field laborers. He bitterly opposed the New Poor Laws and was passionate on the subject of the British government's botched response to the Great Irish Famine and the mistreatment of British soldiers during the Crimean War.


title: Satire

text: A number of works of fiction during this time, influenced by Egyptomania, used the backdrop of Ancient Egypt as a device for satire. Some works, like Edgar Allan Poe's "Some Words with a Mummy" (1845) and Grant Allen's "My New Year's Eve Among the Mummies" (1878), portrayed Egyptian civilization as having already achieved many of the Victorian era's advancements (like the steam engine and gaslamps) in an effort to satire the notion of progress. Other works, like Jane Loudon's "", satirized Victorian curiosities with the afterlife.


title: Satire

text: Later in the nineteenth century, in the United States, Mark Twain (1835–1910) grew to become American's greatest satirist: his novel "Huckleberry Finn" (1884) is set in the antebellum South, where the moral values Twain wishes to promote are completely turned on their heads. His hero, Huck, is a rather simple but goodhearted lad who is ashamed of the "sinful temptation" that leads him to help a fugitive slave. In fact his conscience, warped by the distorted moral world he has grown up in, often bothers him most when he is at his best. He is prepared to do good, believing it to be wrong.


title: Satire

text: Twain's younger contemporary Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) gained notoriety as a cynic, pessimist and black humorist with his dark, bitterly ironic stories, many set during the American Civil War, which satirized the limitations of human perception and reason. Bierce's most famous work of satire is probably "The Devil's Dictionary" (1906), in which the definitions mock cant, hypocrisy and received wisdom.


title: Satire

text: Karl Kraus is considered the first major European satirist since Jonathan Swift. In 20th-century literature, satire was used by English authors such as Aldous Huxley (1930s) and George Orwell (1940s), which under the inspiration of Zamyatin's Russian 1921 novel "We", made serious and even frightening commentaries on the dangers of the sweeping social changes taking place throughout Europe. Anatoly Lunacharsky wrote ‘Satire attains its greatest significance when a newly evolving class creates an ideology considerably more advanced than that of the ruling class, but has not yet developed to the point where it can conquer it. Herein lies its truly great ability to triumph, its scorn for its adversary and its hidden fear of it. Herein lies its venom, its amazing energy of hate, and quite frequently, its grief, like a black frame around glittering images. Herein lie its contradictions, and its power.’ Many social critics of this same time in the United States, such as Dorothy Parker and H. L. Mencken, used satire as their main weapon, and Mencken in particular is noted for having said that "one horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms" in the persuasion of the public to accept a criticism. Novelist Sinclair Lewis was known for his satirical stories such as "Main Street" (1920), "Babbitt" (1922), "Elmer Gantry" (1927; dedicated by Lewis to H. L. Menchen), and "It Can't Happen Here" (1935), and his books often explored and satirized contemporary American values. The film "The Great Dictator" (1940) by Charlie Chaplin is itself a parody of Adolf Hitler; Chaplin later declared that he would have not made the film if he had known about the concentration camps.


title: Satire

text: Modern Soviet satire was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. This form of satire is recognized by its level of sophistication and intelligence used, along with its own level of parody. Since there is no longer the need of survival or revolution to write about, the modern Soviet satire is focused on the quality of life.


title: Satire

text: In the United States 1950s, satire was introduced into American stand-up comedy most prominently by Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl. As they challenged the taboos and conventional wisdom of the time, were ostracized by the mass media establishment as "sick comedians". In the same period, Paul Krassner's magazine "The Realist" began publication, to become immensely popular during the 1960s and early 1970s among people in the counterculture; it had articles and cartoons that were savage, biting satires of politicians such as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the War on Drugs. This baton was also carried by the original National Lampoon magazine, edited by Doug Kenney and Henry Beard and featuring blistering satire written by Michael O'Donoghue, P.J. O'Rourke, and Tony Hendra, among others. Prominent satiric stand-up comedian George Carlin acknowledged the influence "The Realist" had in his 1970s conversion to a satiric comedian.


title: Satire

text: A more humorous brand of satire enjoyed a renaissance in the UK in the early 1960s with the satire boom, led by comedians including Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, whose stage show "Beyond the Fringe" was a hit not only in Britain, but also in the United States. Other significant influences in 1960s British satire include David Frost, Eleanor Bron and the television program "That Was The Week That Was".


title: Satire

text: Joseph Heller's most famous work, "Catch-22" (1961), satirizes bureaucracy and the military, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Departing from traditional Hollywood farce and screwball, director and comedian Jerry Lewis used satire in his self-directed films "The Bellboy" (1960), "The Errand Boy" (1961) and "The Patsy" (1964) to comment on celebrity and the star-making machinery of Hollywood.


title: Satire

text: Contemporary popular usage of the term "satire" is often very imprecise. While satire often uses caricature and parody, by no means are all uses of these or other humorous devices satiric. Refer to the careful definition of satire that heads this article. "The Cambridge Companion to Roman Satire" also warns of the ambiguous nature of satire:


title: Satire

text: Satire is used on many UK television programmes, particularly popular panel shows and quiz shows such as "Mock the Week" (2005–ongoing) and "Have I Got News for You" (1990–ongoing). It is found on radio quiz shows such as "The News Quiz" (1977–ongoing) and "The Now Show" (1998–ongoing). One of the most watched UK television shows of the 1980s and early 1990s, the puppet show "Spitting Image" was a satire of the royal family, politics, entertainment, sport and British culture of the era. Court Flunkey from "Spitting Image" is a caricature of James Gillray, intended as a homage to the father of political cartooning.


title: Satire

text: Created by DMA Design in 1997, satire features prominently in the British video game series "Grand Theft Auto". Another example is the "Fallout" series, namely Interplay-developed "Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game" (1995). Other games utilizing satire include "Postal" (1997), "State of Emergency" (2002), "Phone Story" (2011), and "7 Billion Humans" (2018).


title: Satire

text: Trey Parker and Matt Stone's "South Park" (1997–ongoing) relies almost exclusively on satire to address issues in American culture, with episodes addressing racism, anti-Semitism, militant atheism, homophobia, sexism, environmentalism, corporate culture, political correctness and anti-Catholicism, among many other issues.


title: Satire

text: Satirical web series and sites include Emmy-nominated "Honest Trailers" (2012–), Internet phenomena-themed Encyclopedia Dramatica (2004–), Uncyclopedia (2005–), self-proclaimed "America's Finest News Source" "The Onion" (1988–). and "The Onion's" conservative counterpart "The Babylon Bee" (2016–).


title: Satire

text: In the United States, Stephen Colbert's television program, "The Colbert Report" (2005–14) is instructive in the methods of contemporary American satire; sketch comedy television show "Saturday Night Live" is also known for its satirical impressions and parodies of prominent persons and politicians, among some of the most notable, their parodies of U.S. political figures Hillary Clinton and of Sarah Palin. Colbert's character is an opinionated and self-righteous commentator who, in his TV interviews, interrupts people, points and wags his finger at them, and "unwittingly" uses a number of logical fallacies. In doing so, he demonstrates the principle of modern American political satire: the ridicule of the actions of politicians and other public figures by taking all their statements and purported beliefs to their furthest (supposedly) logical conclusion, thus revealing their perceived hypocrisy or absurdity.


title: Satire

text: In the United Kingdom, a popular modern satirist was the late Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the internationally best-selling "Discworld" book series. One of the most well-known and controversial British satirists is Chris Morris, co-writer and director of "Four Lions".


title: Satire

text: In Canada, satire has become an important part of the comedy scene. Stephen Leacock was one of the best known early Canadian satirists, and in the early 20th century, he achieved fame by targeting the attitudes of small-town life. In more recent years, Canada has had several prominent satirical television series and radio shows. Some, including "CODCO", "The Royal Canadian Air Farce", "This Is That", and "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" deal directly with current news stories and political figures, while others, like "History Bites" present contemporary social satire in the context of events and figures in history. The Beaverton is a Canadian news satire site similar to The Onion. Canadian songwriter Nancy White uses music as the vehicle for her satire, and her comic folk songs are regularly played on CBC Radio.


title: Satire

text: In Hong Kong, there was a well-known Australian Kim Jong-un impersonator Howard X whom often utilised satire to show his support for Hong Kong city’s pro-democracy movements and liberation of North Korea. He believed that humour is a very powerful weapon and he often made it clear that he imitates the dictator to satirize him, not to glorify him. Throughout his career as a professional impersonator, he had also worked with multiple organisations and celebrities to create parodies and to stir up conversations of politics and human rights.


title: Satire

text: Cartoonists often use satire as well as straight humour. Al Capp's satirical comic strip "Li'l Abner" was censored in September 1947. The controversy, as reported in "Time", centred on Capp's portrayal of the US Senate. Said Edward Leech of Scripps-Howard, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks... boobs and undesirables." Walt Kelly's "Pogo" was likewise censored in 1952 over his overt satire of Senator Joe McCarthy, caricatured in his comic strip as "Simple J. Malarky". Garry Trudeau, whose comic strip "Doonesbury" focuses on satire of the political system, and provides a trademark cynical view on national events. Trudeau exemplifies humour mixed with criticism. For example, the character Mark Slackmeyer lamented that because he was not legally married to his partner, he was deprived of the "exquisite agony" of experiencing a nasty and painful divorce like heterosexuals. This, of course, satirized the claim that gay unions would denigrate the sanctity of heterosexual marriage.


title: Satire

text: Like some literary predecessors, many recent television satires contain strong elements of parody and caricature; for instance, the popular animated series "The Simpsons" and "South Park" both parody modern family and social life by taking their assumptions to the extreme; both have led to the creation of similar series. As well as the purely humorous effect of this sort of thing, they often strongly criticise various phenomena in politics, economic life, religion and many other aspects of society, and thus qualify as satirical. Due to their animated nature, these shows can easily use images of public figures and generally have greater freedom to do so than conventional shows using live actors.


title: Satire

text: News satire is also a very popular form of contemporary satire, appearing in as wide an array of formats as the news media itself: print (e.g. "The Onion", "Waterford Whispers News", "Private Eye"), radio (e.g. "On the Hour"), television (e.g. "The Day Today", "The Daily Show", "Brass Eye") and the web (e.g. "Faking News", "El Koshary Today", "Babylon Bee", "The Beaverton", "The Daily Bonnet" and "The Onion"). Other satires are on the list of satirists and satires.


title: Satire

text: In an interview with "Wikinews", Sean Mills, President of "The Onion", said angry letters about their news parody always carried the same message. "It's whatever affects that person", said Mills. "So it's like, 'I love it when you make a joke about murder or rape, but if you talk about cancer, well my brother has cancer and that's not funny to me.' Or someone else can say, 'Cancer's "hilarious", but don't talk about rape because my cousin got raped.' Those are rather extreme examples, but if it affects somebody personally, they tend to be more sensitive about it."


title: Satire

text: Satire is also gaining recognition for its value in social science research, particularly when authors are seeking to unpack complex social issues like gendered racism.


title: Satire

text: Literary satire is usually written out of earlier satiric works, reprising previous conventions, commonplaces, stance, situations and tones of voice. Exaggeration is one of the most common satirical techniques. Contrarily diminution is also a satirical technique.


title: Satire

text: For its nature and social role, satire has enjoyed in many societies a special freedom license to mock prominent individuals and institutions. In Germany and Italy satire is protected by the constitution.


title: Satire

text: Since satire belongs to the realm of art and artistic expression, it benefits from broader lawfulness limits than mere freedom of information of journalistic kind. In some countries a specific "right to satire" is recognized and its limits go beyond the "right to report" of journalism and even the "right to criticize". Satire benefits not only of the protection to freedom of speech, but also to that to culture, and that to scientific and artistic production.


title: Satire

text: In September 2017 The Juice Media received an e-mail from the Australian National Symbols Officer requesting that the use of a satirical logo, called the "Coat of Harms" based on the Australian Coat of Arms, no longer be used as they had received complaints from the members of the public. Coincidentally 5 days later a Bill was proposed to Australian parliament to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995. If passed, those found to be in breach of the new amendment can face 2–5 years imprisonment.


title: Satire

text: As of June 2018, the Criminal Code Amendment (Impersonating a Commonwealth Body) Bill 2017 was before the Australian Senate with the third reading moved May 10, 2018.


title: Satire

text: Descriptions of satire's biting effect on its target include 'venomous', 'cutting', 'stinging', vitriol. Because satire often combines anger and humor, as well as the fact that it addresses and calls into question many controversial issues, it can be profoundly disturbing.


title: Satire

text: Because it is essentially ironic or sarcastic, satire is often misunderstood. A typical misunderstanding is to confuse the satirist with their persona.


title: Satire

text: Common uncomprehending responses to satire include revulsion (accusations of poor taste, or that "it's just not funny" for instance) and the idea that the satirist actually does support the ideas, policies, or people being ridiculed. For instance, at the time of its publication, many people misunderstood Swift's purpose in "A Modest Proposal", assuming it to be a serious recommendation of economically motivated cannibalism. Much later in history, in the weeks following 9/11 the American public at large found works of satire to be in bad taste and not appropriate for the social climate at the time. Some media outlets at the time, like essayist Roger Rosenblatt in an editorial for "Time" magazine's September 24 issue, would go so far as to claim that irony was dead.