If one thing’s surer than Sid Vicious’ steel toe caps, it’s that  Taqwacore: The Birth of Muslim Punk took courage, faith and fearlessness to complete. This recently released feature documentary about the revolutionary twists, turns, triumphs and travesties of Pakistan’s Muslim Punk movement sure ain’t for the fainthearted.

Basim Usmani from The Kominas

The film is based on its namesake novel, The Taqwacores, written by Muslim-convert Michael Muhammad Knight, without which the Islam punk music scene may never have existed.  The book was published in 2003 and the movement was born, screaming…

Fiction: the Furnace that Forged a Movement

The title Taqwacores blends the Arabic for “God-conscious” and adds a (hard) core suffix. Its characters form Michael’s fictitious community of Muslim radicals and are as controversial as they come: Sufis with Mohawks, burqas with band patches and skin-head Shi’as that quite literally came to life.

The author describes his work as “a Muslim punk manifesto” and constitutes a personal catharsis/cartography on Knights external and internal trajectory. At the age of 17, the author left his native Rochester and white-supremist father, to study Islam at a Pakistani madrassa. This initial “rebellion” was followed by a second; which materialized in the form of his riotous, revolutionary book.

Creating a Scene

The Taqwacores struck a real chord with young Muslim readers across the globe and before you could say, “punk is defunct”, real red-blooded Taqwacore bands began to spring up.

In 2010, the documentary: Taqwacore The Birth of Punk Islam, the film was finished after three years of work. It follows Michael and his band of Muslim punks travelling across the U.S. and Pakistan: “transforming their worlds, their religion and themselves through the spirit of Taqwacore. “

In the spirit of taqwacore/ Photo by Kim Badawi

Through the eye of the lens, Michael and the Muslim punks embark on their first U.S. tour, “inciting a riot of young hijabi girls at the largest Muslim gathering in North America after Sena takes the stage.”

The camera criss-crosses continents with the band to wind up where the movement was born, in Pakistan.  There, members of the first Taqwacore band, The Kominas, bring punk to the streets of Lahore. Michael’s two worlds collide: the strict madrassa-made Muslim and the rebel without a cause dance for a while in on terra firma Pakistani, stomping, screaming, shouting and swearing.

Love Habibi Health Warning

There’s no denying that Taqwacore took great bravery to make. If you’re modest, traditional, timid, or tame, neither the book nor the documentary is for you. However, if like me you are possessed with a strong curiosity (and stomach) for all takes on our faith, be they  unique, obscure or even obscene, it’s well worth a gander….

More info and screening dates can be found here:

Salman Ahmad may be the most well-known Sufi rock star of the moment.  A dedicated Muslim, who claims his ponytail is a “gift from Allah”, he’s been described as Pakistan’s Bono. The Guardian caught up with Salman in London, where he was promoting his controversial new book, which counteracts extremism through music: aptly named: “Rock & Roll Jihad.”

The great Sufi rocker, Salman Ahmad.

Rock and Roll Radical?

Sufi rock may not be everyone’s cup of tea – in fact, some deem Salman’s music downright sinful. Still, he’s sold 25 million albums worldwide, is a UNU goodwill ambassador for HIV/Aids, has helped to raise money for refugees from Swat, and played at the Nobel peace prize ceremony in 2007. Not bad, if you ask me…

“I love music,” Salman tells The Guardian. “I feel also that my belief in Islam inspires my creativity, as it has inspired hundreds of thousands of Muslim artists over the last 1,400 years. That cultural heritage has been blurred by violence and fear.”

The Great Music-and-Islam Debate

Salman goes on to mention the competition between Salafi and Sufi value systems, which represent a lot more than music alone. Individual Muslims’ view on music, it seems is just the tip of iceberg on a whole host of other issues.

The London Muslim blog is less than impressed by Ahmad’s mission, labelling it as a “discredited gimmick” – using “an ageing Muslim Pakistani rock star to sing a few songs which apparently should do the trick and prevent any tendency towards extremism”.

Nevertheless, the Sufi rock star remains faithful to his path: to shed light for young Pakistanis on alternative ways of being a Muslim and thereby illuminating choices they may not have previously considered.

“There wouldn’t be such a thing as counterfeit gold if there were no real gold somewhere.” - Sufi Proverb

Novara, Northern Italy, May 2010: Tunisian Muslim Amel Marmouri is stopped by the carabienieri, the Italian police, and fined 500 Euros for wearing a burqa.

Whether it’s a phenomenon or a mere fashion to apprehend Muslim women for covering up rather depends on how you look at it. For Izzedin Elzir, President of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy (UCOII) and a former fashion designer – the decision to fine Amel Marmouri is unacceptable:

“Veiled Muslim women have become the true upholders of western traditions of female dress.”  He insists in a fascinating Guardian article.

Good Enough for The Madonna =  Good Enough for Me?

“If we go and see the beautiful artistic representations of the Madonna, we see her with the veil. We don’t see her semi-naked, I think. For that reason, I believe it is the Muslims who are protecting the traditions of our country.”

Izzedin Elzir has condemned the fine, imposed under an Italian municipal bylaw passed in January. His heated remarks have caused uproar as the burka debate simmers to a boil around Europe. Last month, the Belgian lower house voted to ban full veils in public. In France, Sarkozy’s government is drafting a bill to the same effect.

Italy’s Northern League, however maintains that the country’s identity is inextricably tied up with its Christian customs. But the Imam feels that contrary to contravening Christian laws and heritage, the veil forms part of the fabric of Italian tradition:

“I believe Italian tradition is that which can be seen by going to a church, to a museum and seeing the beautiful images of the Madonna with a beautiful veil. That is our tradition.”

Living By the Rules…

Marmouri’s husband, 36-year-old Braim Ben Salah, insists that the couple was merely obeying the Qur’an, which states his wife “may not be looked at by other men”. But Elzir disputes that, as The Guardian reports:

“There are two interpretations,” he said. “One interpretation has it that the woman should be totally covered. Another says the woman should be covered totally, except for her face and hands. Both schools of thought are valid and it depends on the woman which school she chooses.

“The important thing is the freedom of the individual. Whether the face is covered or not covered, this belongs to the private sphere of the individual where we believe our constitution – the Italian constitution – guarantees religious freedom.”

In Your Face

The UCOII is not actually pro full veils. But the Imam asserts women’s rights and choices, alluding to equality for Muslim women and half-naked female Italian TV stars. His argument boils down to discrimination, and the bigger picture, which includes issues such as Italy’s spiraling economy and  climbing unemployment.

“I believe the politicians and those who have the responsibility for governing ought to be looking at the reality and trying to resolve the problems of society, rather than creating them.” He said.

Ben Salah (Amel Marmouri’s husband)  said that the fine imposed on his wife means she can no longer leave their house.

“So what is better?” asks the Imam. “That we condemn these hundred or so women who cover up their faces to spend the rest of their lives at home?”

I’ll bet my bottom dollar I’m not the first to tell you about Lebanese beauty Rima Fakih’s ascension to the throne as the first American Muslim woman to be crowned Miss USA.

Miss USA Rima Fakih

As I’m sure you know, Rima, 24 beat 50 other gorgeous finalists in the 2010 edition of the famous stars and stripes pageant held in Las Vegas. I’ve been reading about her victory in The Guardian. Born in Lebanon, she moved to the US as a child, relocating from New York to Michigan in 2003. Rima won Miss Michigan last year before sweeping to victory as the nation’s most beautiful woman.

Contesting, Contest and Contestants….

From one Muslim woman to another, it’s easy to sense how delicate a subject this could be: Miss USA involves swimsuits, evening gowns and interview segments where let’s face it: the emphasis is hardly on modesty.

Naturally, there have been some rumbles in the global Islamic community. While this Lebanese beauty’s victory is seen as a sorce of pride for many more liberal Muslims, its controversial for more conservative believers. The Guardian reports incidents of Islamic scholars issuing fatwas instructing women not to participate in such pageants.

Dearborn Shows its Support

Rima has received notable support in her hometown of  Dearborn, Michigan, home to many a car manfacturer and a thriving Muslim population. The city is regarded as the capital of Muslim America because of its large Islamic community.

Crowned Rima Fakih

In an interview with the Detroit Free Press before the competition, Rima aired her own views on the subject: “I think the community in Dearborn might be a little on the strict side, but my family in general are not,” she said.

A Two-Sided Coin

Rima’s family originates from Srifra, in southern Lebanon and different branches of the family follow the Muslim and Christian faiths. After relocating from Lebanon, she was sent to a Catholic school in New York, and her immediate family in Dearborn celebrates Christmas.

Several Arab-American groups sponsored Rima in the early days of her pageant career, including the Michigan branch of the America-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Director Imad Hamad told the Detroit Free Press that he encountered  opposition from some local Muslims who thought beauty contestants were “not something they wish to see”. But he added: “It took a great deal of passion, guts, courage and self-confidence to compete for a title like this.”

As Miss USA, Rima will be awarded a one-year lease on a New York apartment, living expenses, an undisclosed salary and other bolt on goodies.

Today there are around 35-40,000 Muslims in Poland,  including Poles, Tatars, Arabs, Turks, Palestinians. The majority of Poland’s Muslims (around 11-13,000 people) live in Warsaw.

Despite being an overwhelmingly Catholic country, since the 1970s, Poland has also housed a small but swelling immigrant Muslim community. These newcomers join the country’s tiny, sporadic Tatar communities to make up the fabric of Poland’s diverse Islamic community.

Poland’s Muslim Community. Pictured with Prince Charles

A Small but Significant Tatar Footprint

Tatars have been in Poland since around the 14th century. Local rulers employed them because of their fame as fearsome horse-borne warriors.

The small Polish village of Kruszyniany houses the descendants of Muslim Tatars who arrived in Poland in the 1700s. Home to just 160 people, a mere 10 of whom are Tatar Muslims, this tiny village on the Belarusian border still has its own mosque. In March 2010, Kruszyniany played host to Britain’s Prince Charles, on his official visit to Poland! There’s a fascinating article about Kruszyniany and Poland’s Muslim Tartar community at Dawn.com.

The four remaining Tatar families cohabit peacefully with their Catholic and Orthodox neighbors. At the end of World War II, some 300 Muslim Tatars lived in the village and today; Kruszyniany remains a spiritual home for Poland’s 5,000 Tatars. Mustafa Jasinski is 99, and the oldest member of the community. He is also the imam of Bialystok, a city of 295,000 people, 40 kilometers west of Kruszyniany and home to most of Poland’s Tatars.

On Fridays, Jasinski leads prayers in Bialystok’s Islamic centre, which was once a city library. The sermon is in Polish, although the verses of the Quran and the prayers are in Arabic. A curtain separates men and women.

Community member Lila Smolska, who’s in her seventies, told dawn.com: “I pray in Polish in my heart and recite the prayers in Arabic, the ones our grandparents taught us.”

‘I feel Polish, then Tatar, then Muslim’

Interweaving Cultures and Customs

The story of how Tatars got to Kruszyniany goes like this: In 1679, Poland’s King Jan Sobieski ran out of cash to pay his Tatar troops, so he awarded them land in an area including the village of Kruszyniany. The oldest grave in the village cemetery dates to 1699, and its headstone is etched in Arabic. The Tatar language was originally related to Turkish, but ceded to Polish when the Tatars married locals.

Tatars from across Poland still chose Kruszyniany as their last resting place, and the graveyard reveals the blending of the two cultures. On the headstones in Polish, the names mix Islamic tradition and local language. Szachidewicz, for example, with its classic Polish “icz”, is derived from “shaheed”, Arabic for witness, or martyr, of the faith.

We Like It so We Think We’ll Stay…

During the ‘70s and ‘80s Poland also attracted students from socialist-aligned Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern and African countries, many of whom decided to stick around. By the end of the ‘80s this community had developed and grown to become more active and better organized. Today you’ll find mosques and praying houses in Warsaw, Białystok, Gdańsk (built by the Tatar community), Wrocław, Lublin and Poznań. There are also praying rooms in several other Polish cities.

Since the overthrow of Communism in 1989, other Muslim immigrants have arrived in Poland, including Turks and Muslims from the former Yugoslavia. There are also smaller groups from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries.

In February 2010 plans were unveiled to launch an Islamic center, including a mosque in Warsaw. The Centre of Islamic Culture, mainly financed by a Saudi investor, includes architectural plans for an 18-metre high minaret on the three-story building. In addition to the prayer room, the centre will also host library with a multimedia room, art gallery, restaurant, café and shop.

Ae Fond Kiss (Just a Kiss) is an unusual romantic drama set in Scotland. It tells the tender, often tragic story of forbidden love between Casim, a Pakistani-Scottish Muslim DJ and Roisin, an Irish teacher.

Set in Scotland, Ae Fond Kiss was directed by  the legendary Ken Loach and released in 2004. It won several awards, and was honoured at the Berlin Film Festival, the British Independent Film Awards and the European Film Awards (among others) for its sensitivity in tackling the touchy, yet topical subject of inter-faith love in multi-cultural Glasgow.

Featuring virtually unknown leading actors Atta Yaqub (Casim) and Eva Birthistle (Roisin), Ae Fond Kiss also received positive acclaim for their strong, convincing performances. The plot deals with tradition, belief, belonging, community and the magnetism of love, however unexpected and seemingly unsuited.

Happily Never After

Casim Khan comes from a devout Pakistani Muslim Family, and is duly intended to marry his cousin Jasmine. So far, so good, until Casim, who works as a DJ, meets Roisin at his sister’s school… and falls madly in love with her.

The big question is whether their love is strong enough to weather the potential backlash from their respective Muslim and Catholic communities. Roisin is inevitably fired because the big wigs at the Catholic school where she teaches don’t accept her relationship with a Muslim man. Their argument is that as a separated woman, her romance with Casim goes against  the faith.

A Question of Honour

The film’s parallel plot revolves around the trials and tribulations of Casim’s sisters. His younger sister, Tahara is stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to fit in with either her Scottish schoolmates or her Pakistani relatives.

His older sister, Rukhsana, has to kiss goodbye to her fiancé because Casim’s new relationship brings the family such dishonour.

And Then We’ll Sever…

I really enjoyed the light this film threw on some of the issues that confront second generation expats in countries like Scotland, where on the surface, everything tessellates, but underneath, faith and fear tie unfathomable knots within families and communities.

The film’s title comes from a line in a Scottish poem by Robert Burns: “Ae fond kiss, and then we’ll sever…”

Holiday season is kicking off for many of us, who are excitedly planning our Summer vacations. For many of us, choosing our ideal  destination includes looking for places our faith is understood and accepted.

Thanks to a great article in IslamOnline.net, I discovered that Brazil is becoming a popular holiday spot for Muslim tourists from around the globe who want to enjoy a great vacation while sticking to their religious traditions.

A Warm Welcome, Brazilian Style

Brazil is the world’s top tourist destination for Muslims, (after Great Britain). In fact, many Brazilians show interest in discovering more about Islam when they meet Muslim tourists.

“Once my food got cold because the waiter didn’t stop asking me about my country and religion,” Egyptian tourist Abdel-Rahman Yehia, 51, told IslamOnline.net.

Sajida Obeid, 58, was fascinated by the open, friendly atmosphere she encountered in cosmopolitan Brazil.

“I came with my sons after hearing so many good information from Brazil and would chose this country to live if I had to move out from Lebanon” – she said.

“We are happy to open our doors to any nationality, religion and ethnicity, this is the face of Brazil,” said Roberto Almeida, media officer for the Ministry of Tourism and Information.

“The vast numbers of Arabs in this country, who have made good achievements and just sent good news to their relatives, have made it suitable for Arabic people to come and visit.”

Embracing the Muslim and Arabic Cultures

Besides face-to-face conversations with Muslim visitors, Arabic traditions, music and drama are also very popular among Brazilians. A soap opera called O Clone, which revealed Arab Muslim life, traditions, customs and history to Brazilian viewers proved a great hit. According to a TV vox pop, Brazilians’ interest in Arab and Muslim culture increased by 60 percent after the soap opera was aired.

Brazil’s Arab communities in Brazil are also going strong and hold monthly meetings to educate the Brazilian public about their faith, traditions and culture.

“Many of our guests are Brazilians but also we have a great number of Arabic Muslim tourists that come over to check out our work and give their opinions to help us improve our job,” said Claudio Muhammad Baker, spokesperson for Muslim Association of Santos.

Brazil’s Thriving Muslim Community

The Islamic Brazilian Federation estimates there are 1.5 million Muslims in Brazil, the majority of whom are descended from Syrian, Palestinians and Lebanese immigrants. Iraqis also arrived in Brazil since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Sao Paulo, the Brazilian capital is home to ten mosques, including the Mosque Brazil, which was the first mosque built in Latin America, in 1929.

Most Muslims live in the states of Parana, Goias, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, but there are also significant communities in Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio Grande do Sul.

Copacabana anyone? I’m already packing my sunscreen!

I recently blogged about the history of Islam India, and then, while reading the travel section of The Guardian I stumbled across a beautiful article on the largest southern Indian pilgrimage festival in which Hindu pilgrims commemorate a Muslim warrior.

Guardian travel writer William Dalrymple jumps right into the thick of extraordinary menagerie of sound and color, following the pilgrims on a journey that unites India’s Hindus and Muslims.

How it All Starts

Each year, from mid November to mid January of the following year, 10 to 50 million Southern Indian men leave their homes and walk to the shrine of demon-dispelling God, Lord Ayyappa atop a mountain in the Western Ghats of Kerala.

Lord Ayyappa hails from the union of the two most powerful deities in Indian cosmology, Shiva and Vishnu, and, according to Dalrymple’s investigations, he “is worshipped as a celibate ascetic meditating in remote mountain forests for the benefit of all mankind.”

As a mark of respect, the pilgrims themselves take vows of celibacy and purity, grow beards and eat simple fruit and millet bestowed by the forests.

Lord Ayyappa’s pilgrims make no caste or creed distinctions. Mainly Hindu, they eat and travel together; and unite at the small hill town of Erumeli to pray not just at the temple but also at the town’s mosque.

Cue: The Muslim Hero

The Mosque prayers honor legendary help given to Lord Ayyappa by a Muslim warrior named Vavar.

“Vavar was a good friend to Lord Ayyappa,” pilgrim Sakkara Swami explains to the Guardian writer. “He had an army, and he and his fellow Muslims helped Lord Ayyappa kill the demon Mahisi, and all the devils who were threatening the world.”

Another pilgrim named Prakashan adds: “In memory of their friendship we visit the tomb of Vavar on our way to see the Lord. Every pilgrim must stop here and seek Vavar’s blessings. This is our tradition.”

A Warm Welcome

Both Mosque and local Muslim community welcome the pilgrims. Imam Hajji Abdul Karim explains “Every year at the start of the pilgrimage season we make a procession from here to the temple, where the Hindu priests receive us. Then we all go on to the church, where the Christian priests make us welcome.”

The Imam has never felt animosity or opposition from India’s other religious communities during the pilgrimage season.

Although he affirms that Muslims only believe in one God, they respect all faiths, he says “The Hindus respect Vavar, and we believe also that he was a great saint. So where is the problem? They believe what they believe. But if they come here we must be hospitable and make them welcome.”

An Important Lesson for the World

This makes the Mosque and the pilgrimage itself a landmark in inter-faith dialogue and relations.

“It’s not just India. The whole world is fighting about religion…” says the Imam. “But this is a place where you can show the light of peace, a place that brings all religions together. All human beings are equal here. There is a lesson here for everybody.”

Remember the Burka Barbie controversy?  Well, seems she’s not the only doll to detonate a debate on the rights, wrongs and relevance of ethnic toys. UK supermarket chain ASDA hit the news around 12 months ago with the launch of its ‘Talking Muslim Doll’. The aim of the game? To help the UK’s Asian immigrant children learn Quranic Arabic….

Making Muslim Studies Fun for Asian Kids

Talking Muslim Doll costs  £24.99 and comes in girl and boy versions. Aamina and Yousuf speak if you squeeze their foot. “As-Salamu’Alaikum,” says Aamina,  ”my name is Aamina and I am a Muslim.”  Yousuf wears a mosque cap. Both dolls utter essential Quranic words, phrases and surahs and translate the Arabic sentences into English.

The dolls are primarily aimed at Asian families that want their English-speaking children to get a handle on Arabic phrases they’re likely to hear at home or in a mosque.

Farzana Rahman, the founder of Desi Doll Company, which makes the dolls explains the raison d’etre behind the dolls to the Daily Telegraph: “I wanted to create something fun. When I was a child I went to the mosque every day, learnt my prayers and recited them. But there was nothing much fun about it.”

Everybody’s Talking…

The Talking Muslim Doll, which debuted in the Bradford branch, is just part of an extensive new range of goods launched by Asda last year to branch further into the ethnic market. The chain also launched an Asian range under the George Label, including saris, salwa kameez suits, jewellery and shawls.

West Indian hair care products, Polish mother day cards, and Indian fashion magazines  also feature in the new range,  which ASDA launched to extend the notable sales increase spurred by its ethnic range in 2008. Sales of Eastern European staples such as borscht, herring, sauerkraut and carp increased by 90% in ‘08, along with West Indian fruit and vegetables.

While a Talking Muslim Doll may not be everyone’s favourite plaything, I do agree with Farzana Rahman that it’s a gazillion times better for a child’s health and development than a videogame…

Have you bought a Talking Muslim Doll or know somebody who has? Please let us know what you think of it!

It’s Semana Santa in Spain, and Easter Holy Week is one of the most sacred national holidays. Yesterday, while having coffee in the sun at an outdoor cafe in Barcelona I saw one of the extensive processions with its hundreds or maybe even thousands of followers, parade past, holding coloured banners and mourning the crucifixion.

Yet Easter week has seen a strange turn of events in Cordoba, in the south of Spain. On Thursday, a confrontation erupted between Muslim tourists and guards at the world-famous Cordoba Mosque. Two people were arrested, and two guards injured.

In a bizarre twist of fate, the Mosque, which was turned into a Cathedral in the 13th century, bans Muslim prayers. The guards involved in the scuffle are employed by the local Catholic bishop to make sure no Muslim tries to pray at the site.

Look, but Don’t Pray…

The incident involved several members of a group of 100 visiting Muslims from Austria who began to pray in the Mosque, and were ordered to stop by guards.

According to The Guardian, Cathedral authorities said the guards had invited the visitors to continue looking around the building that was once the world’s second biggest mosque, but without praying. Not surprisingly, tempers on both sides flared.

Space for Everyone

Spain’s Cordoba Mosque occupies a space of 24,000 sq metres and the Junta Islamica Group of local Muslim converts have long campaigned for the right to pray in part of it. The group insists that Muslim prayers wouldn’t disrupt Cathedral activities or inconvenience visitors and would promote intercultural understanding.

“They publicise the building as a mosque because that brings in tourists, but they do not allow the Muslims who pay money to go inside to pray,” group member Mansur Escudero told The Guardian.

He said Muslims are frequently stopped and prevented from praying.

Causing Confusion

“They argue that canon law does not allow Muslims to pray there, though they have been happy to permit visiting Saudi princes and other dignitaries, including Saddam Hussein, to pray,” he said.

Mansur went on to explain to that the new bishop appointed at the Cordoba Mosque said in one of his first public addresses that Muslim prayers would not be allowed as this would create confusion.

“The shared use of the cathedral by Catholics and Muslims would not contribute to the peaceful coexistence of the two beliefs,” the statement from the bishop’s office said.

This huge Spanish Mosque is equal in size to three football pitches. There are only three larger mosques in the world – One in Mecca, one in Istanbul, and one in the Moroccan port city of Casablanca.