The premise of the argument made by is that “booty-poppin” will undo the Islamic movement just as rock ‘n roll helped to undo Soviet-style communism.
Let me first say that there is some validity in this argument, and any young man is going to be attracted to a Beyonce or Shakira shaking her stuff for the camera and as Sheikh Abdul-Rahman would always say “we are Muslims, not homosexuals”. I grew-up in hip-hop and have been a lifelong hip-hopper and I am a Muslim and I know of many Muslim such as myself in the US and in
Europe.
What we tend to have in common is that we have a distaste for modern mainstream hip-hop which glorifies all manner of bad-behavior and a love for a more classical and positive hip-hop epitomized by the likes of or today and the likes of Public Enemy and KRS-One in the past.
The problem is, unless Russell hasn’t been paying attention, modern pop-rap glorifies materialism in many of its most idiotic forms, depicts women as solely sensual objects to be conquered and discarded, glamorizes murder and gang-violence and a culture of violence, promotes drug-usage and the like. Some of these issues may have been present in rock, but not to the extent that they are in pop-rap.
Living in America we can say that a second-generation of young Americans in the ghettos ( and beyond) are caught up in this lifestyle promoted by pop-rap and that it usually leads to prison and the graveyard for young men and early pregnancy and domestic abuse for females and the public education system and churches are helpless to defend against the likes of 50 Cent, Jim Jones and Young Jeezy.
This sort of music has been exported, it was in Sierra Leone as young rebels drove around listening to rap ( with what I guess they would say King Kong in their trucks now) and it hyped them to rape, maim, and kill just as I have personally see it hype people up to go and do drive-bys here in America and hey they are just keeppin it real , right?
That is a clear negative aspect of this music, that most will agree upon; but Russell is referring more to the aggressive sexuality in the music.
On that note I think Arab music and other music in the Muslim World is following suit. Just the other day while eating a falafel at a Palestinian shop I saw Arabic women gyrating all over the screen wearing tight and revealing clothes and while they were very good looking women, and even somewhat shapely, just on a side note, they need to work on their moves if they are going to compete with the African-American and Latina video hofessionals. I do not see it destroying the Islamic Movement, I do see Islam-influenced hip-hop and pop music in the Muslim World.
Unlike Russell, I do not see the proliferation of this kind of music, or the objectification of women, as a good thing. Of course it will be attractive to the lower impulses of men (and women) everywhere; but we have to recognize that is what it is, a lower impulse and gutter attraction. If Russell is going to argue that this kind of hedonistic mentality will be the anthem of the West against the forces of Islam then he will be making the case for Islamism a lot easier.
The 60’s generation had global revolution and all this generation has is the club and clubbing, and rap inspired pop music seems to be the norm of the upwardly mobile all over the world. Is it a good thing? I doubt it, and I see it as promoting a hollow and bankrupt lifestyle that sends hundreds of thousands of Americans to the therapists ( I mean pimps) couch after years of clubbing and one-night stands, hardly what the Muslim World needs.
Muslims are up-tight and irrational when it comes to sex; but this modern pop lifestyle is hardly a good alternative with its sexualization of children and “if it feels good do it” morality that is causing a decline in the West to the stages of latter-Rome.
The New York Times ran a on this brother yetserday and it basically outlined how the government lied on this man, scared the public into thinking he was a dirty bomber, in an unknown location doing Allah knows what to him without any legal represenation, and in general treated him like any right-wing junta treats its political prisoners.
After all that ordeal, and the posibility that this has caused Jose to go crazy, the government now brings an indictment alleging this broke brother who worked at Taco Bell was part of a financial support network for global jihad ( a term the US invented so I doubt he was part of it) and sought to help Muslims in Chechnya, Bosnia, and Albania and thats it.
No dirty bomb, no terror plots, olny the desire to defend Muslims who wree being slaughtered and oppressed. Is that terror? Or is that the best spirit that America has to offer and the same as those brave almost a century ago who ventured to Spain?
May Allah bless him and reward him for his intentions to help suffering Muslims.
It is quite clear from this case that the goverment wanted to set an example; to show that they could take someone off the street and put them in jail and deny them of all of their rights and the legal process. Who better to do this than a Puerto Rican ex Latin King from a poor family.
How much sypmathy was a spic raghead gonna get from mainstream America, they figured, and they were right as most of America remained silent.
The major Muslim organiztations also remained silent on this case while documenting every time Sami al-Arian had a bowel movement, and they should be ashamed of themselves over their cowardice on this issue. I will also point out that organizations such as the and Puerto Rican leaders did not speak up for this brother.
The Muslims and people of good-will who read this blog many not have money and power; but I encourage you to call your represenatives and voice your displeasure over this case and more important than anything else pray to Allah for justice.
On a Lighter Note .who are the people that think Sarah Silverman is funny?
I have benefited from two different conversations in the past few days with two different soldiers in two different wars. With the modern media we are accustomed to seeing graphic war footage on TV and the internet, and even in-depth personal interviews from time to time, but there are often things you want to ask people who have been to wars and fought in them that journalists may forget to ask.
The first guy I met was an American soldier who had been in Tikrit, Fallujah and all throughout occupied Iraq with the Army.
He was gung-ho, a true believer, and believed every line of bullshit he was fed from his superiors in the military who have a vested interest in keeping the soldiers on the frontline as ignorant as possible. He accepted everything he was told; Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9-11, a war on Iraq was launched to prevent another terror attack, and the occupation will create safety for America, if the US succeeds in Iraq it will strop terrorism.
Of course anyone who follows the news knows that none of the things this soldier believes and was told are true; but he is not alone as I have talked to other American soldiers, who may know a lot about video games, sports, girls, alcohol, drugs, cars and music, but know nothing of the way the world works and are easily led to believe such rubbish.
They march gladly to the frontlines in Iraq filled with lies as their officers and overseers in the Pentagon know full well deceived and taken advantage of young Americans who are products of our failed educational system. Right-wing supporters of the war and how our current military system works refute the notion that the military is made up of the poor, African-Americans and Latinos disproportionately and point to the amount of white soldiers from the South and rural areas throughout the nation and on that note they are right. What they get wrong is the fact that these rural and small town white soldiers ( and those from deindustrialized cities) have a lot in common with African-Americans and Latinos in that most come from failed educational systems.
One of the biggest areas in which these educational systems fail, is not in math and science, although they certainly do that, but in the teaching of history, geography and current events. Couple that with the fact that most of these kids come from uneducated or provincial families and you will found that their knowledge of the world is less than that of your average West African with a 6th grade education. They are taught that the rest of the world is inferior, oppressed and denied of freedoms and that America is that beacon of shining light (although none of them will travel abroad unless they are in the military) and wrap themselves in the flag at every chance while remaining ignorant of the rest of the world.
It is quite easy for these young men and women, who have been taught nothing of the world and the “other”, but to fear all others . To get them to march off into war under false pretenses while Bush touts No Child Left Behind, he is in need of their ignorance. Before I finished talking to this soldier he told me that there were a lot of good things happening inIraq because for the first time they had real schools and hospitals that were built by the Americans.
Can you imagine that level of ignorance? This guy believed that there were no real schools and hospitals before the Americans came? Iaq had the best educational and health care system in the Arab World, and one of the best in the world, until the 1980 s I think the officers left that out of their pep talk.
Regardless, this true believer, armed with ammo, but not facts or learning, remains gung-ho for the war.
The second soldier I talked to was an Israeli soldier who had been inLebanon earlier this year as part of the war. This guy was the exact opposite of the American soldier and he was extremely well-aware of the political nuances related to the invasion and very well-versed in current events and history and told me he wanted to learn Arabic.
Unlike the American soldier he is not gung-ho, and is cynical about the situation and wants to see a solution to the political crisis in the region and even told me the US needed to leave
Iraq. When I told him I didn’t think there would be any solutions to the problems of
The educated man has a reluctance to go into war and conflict, he has a lot to live for and wants to enjoy his life and travel the world, and Israel has one of the most educated populations in the world, hence the political quarreling over every security issue (people are privy to facts), in America if you don’t have money we keep our young dumb in order to serve those with the educations, money and ambition. The young American didn’t see any nuance in his Muslim enemies in battle, they were all evil, motivated by Satanic evil impulses, and merica is a heavenly force of good motivated by God in his mind.
The Israeli told me of the horrific conditions Palestinians live under in Gaza and their grinding poverty ant he understands why they do what they do, even if he disagrees with it, and told me that one day he hoped to travel in the Arab World when there is peace because he admired Arab culture. See the difference in the two? It is education.
A commenter going by the name of Dariush (a guy who mistakes Islam for leftism and is under the false notion that cultural relativism is in line with the teachings of Islam) recently challenged me on what he claims to be anti-Shia statements and my reference to those Shia groups who seek to intimidate people at masjids over the issue of Iraq. He obviously hasn’t seen the in Detroit amongst Iraqi and other Shia or been to a place like St. Louis with a large Iraqi Shia population and knows what is going on or he is willfully ignoring it.
The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of support for the US occupation of Iraq amongst certain Shia groups in America and that Iraqi Shia living in America are now serving in Iraq as interpreters and helpers of the American occupation by the thousands. In St. Louis I can also tell you that there is a lot of support for Muqtatda as-Sadr and other Shia death squad figures amongst the local Iraqi Shia (and many of them participated in the occupation and were paid handsomely by the US) and they have tried to intimidate other Muslims here ( with no success).
St. Louis is even the home to an he was hiding in (and the guy went around St. Louis telling people he beat Saddam up but that is not in the official version of the story).
If you did not support the US invasion of Iraq, and do not support the occupation, then I encourage all Muslims to not support the busineses of people who have participated in the occupation and are home to pro-occupation forces and possibly have links to Shia death squads, and do not put money into the hands of people who will openly tell you they are sending money to support pro-occupationgroups with links to death squads.
In St. Louis this includes the Holy Land Market on South Grand.
If you are going to buy halal meat then give that money to someone who doesnt have blood on their hands.
A picture can speak a thousand words, and maybe a video can speak ten-thousand words. Amir over at has provided a full of the Shia hit on Saddam that has been made possible by the US placing their paymasters in power in Baghdad and protecting their death squad leaders.
Insha Allah I pray that Allah blesses me to die with the dignity that Saddam died with as his last words were the Islamic kalima ash hadu anlah ilaha ilallah wa ash hadu annu Muhammadur rasululah and before he could get the last word out the Shia thugs who were chanting out Shia prayers and chants ( including the name of Moqtada as -Sadr) sent him to hang showing what kind of repect they have for the deen.
This event took place in the dark, with men wearing ski-masks, taunting the person they are executing and yelling out religous chants of a sectarian nature. I ask this question; how is this video different than any of the vidoes that have came out of Iraq showing atrocities committed by terroristic elements of the insurgency?
Mark my word, Sunnis in Iraq will not forget this video, and it will be used to fuel a new and vigorous wave of violence as those men in ski masks will be coming for them next if they do not protect themselves.
Brother Abu Eassa has also written a very nice on this topic.
FYI .
I am not intimidated by groups of Shia thugs in America who bankroll death squads and train them while America looks the other way and seek to use our masjids as celebration halls.
There is a certain American who is happy right now. They are downright giddy as they get ready to celebrate the end of this year in a spirit of drunken madness or in midnight payer services.
When Saddam Hussein from the rope it made their year and their thirst for his blood was quenched at the site of the execution of Saddam Hussein.
This man, who never showed any aggression towards America until he was invaded by
America, was hated by so many Americans even though for many years he was a key American ally. Why the hate?
If we are going to go around and order puppet regimes and fraudulent democracies to kill ex-tyrants then we are going to have to kill all of those Latin American dictators America supported during the Cold War and then we are going to have to go after the House of Saud, the Algerians, all of the Central Asian Republics and good friends of America such as Hosni Mubarak. We will have to go into the Congo, Angola, Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Uganda and hang thousands of warlords and mass murderers and then go to Afghanistan and ask for the head of American allies such as . But, the US is not going to do that with the selective morality that is practiced; and an ignorant American public, most who have never been abroad and are mystified ten miles from their homes, don’t even know the names of the tyrants ( and there is a good possibility have never heard of the nations they terrorize).
America rejoiced at the death of Saddam because they know who he is, have been treated to years of media vilification of the man, and for many are aroused at the display of White Power in the dark infidel nation of Iraq and are the descendents of those who cheered as swung from the tree. I am sure that the American offices in the pentagon at their meetings of the will rejoice n this act.
I am not going to defend Saddam, he was a tyrant and guilty of countless thousands of crimes; but he did not do anything that any other Iraqi leader in his time wouldn’t have done if they wanted to stay on top.
He saw the Iranian threat and faced it and was supported by virtually the entire Arab World and the West and was given the name “Seif-ul-Arab” He was brutal to the Kurds, murderous to the Kurds; but so was Turkey and they never lost the support of the US. The invasion of Kuwait was a serious crime; but there have been many such invasions in the recent past. At the end of the day this new Iraq will produce a Shia version of Saddam or it will cease to be a nation-state and all of the fairy tale notions of Bush and the neo-cons will go down in history as folly and historians will ask why America entered a war and got rid of one brutal tyrant for another and caused a decades long civil war in the process.
America and who seek to make an alliance with them. In case you have seen it this is the of the Shia hit.
Eid Mubarak if I don’t talk to anyone before the Eid which will either be celebrated on Saturday or Sunday insha’Allah.
I am providing three links that may prove to be beneficial for this Eid.
I will also remind brothers that is our responsibility, despite what some ashamed post-Muslims and the Cultural left think and ( who eat meat and let other people do the killing and that is fine), to for the Eid, and that means putting the knife ourselves and cutting the throat with the name of Allah and making sure that meat is a blessing to the people.
In closing I will also say that I am having pizza for my Eid Celebration insha’Allah and that more and more American-Muslims are Americanizing their Eid celebrations.
If anyone is around in St. Louis, Muslim or non-Muslim, and want to share in the event, email me.
This is late, but put this up.
An upper-class Brazilian who was in my cab because of her attendance at some sort of a global conference in St. Louis complained to me that she disliked all of the recent Brazilian films that have been popular in America because they “ only speak of the gangs and the killings and drugs and now that is what people think of when they hear the word Brazil” and I told her they also think of three other things” football, shapely women in dental-floss bikinis on the beach, and Carnival”.
Obviously she has a different taste in film than I do.
I enjoy seeing films that highlight struggle, conflict, violence and poverty and other serious issues. You will not see me watching too many emotional films about the failed relationships and troubled careers of yuppies that are peppered with all kinds of psycho-babble and disdain for people of faith (hence on HBO I love The Wire and The Sopranos and hate Sex in the City and Extras or whatever it is called).
For many years the stories of the young men and women on the streets of Rio, New York, Africa and Thailand were never told and it took decades for their stories to be shown on the screen and it causes many bourgeois people in all of those societies to cringe as they see those films as painting a bad image of their society for all of the world to see.
I believe that Spike Lee, maybe my favorite director of this era, was very influential in inspiring this new generation of filmmakers particularly in Latin America and
Africa.
Reading the today you will see that violence on the streets of Brazil is not limited to films such as City of God and The Lower City; it is real. Thankfully, we have people such as Fernando Meirelles and Sergio Machado to tell their stories so maybe one day the right people will be informed and act to try and solve some of the problems that leads to the deaths of so many young men who just become statistics and those who suffer around them.
Of course this could be America, where thousands are murdered every year, and they are mostly poor and mostly black and Latino, and mostly, the media and public officials don’t give a shit.
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