An Islamic punk rock scene is emerging as another dimension of life for Muslims in America. “In this so-called war of civilizations, we’re giving the finger to both sides,” says the ‘godfather’ of the Muslim punk movement, Michael Muhammad Knight. “Given punk’s history and values, Muslim punk makes sense,” says the Pakistani-Canadian director of Taqwacore:…
Musician and song-writer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is going on tour again after a 33-year break. After converting to Islam in 1977, he stopped performing altogether, and only resumed his musical career around 2001. He slightly changed his position on the permissibility of music in Islam, and from then on performed music…
As French rapper Diam’s (born Mélanie Georgiades) releases her fourth album, S.O.S., new questions emerge around her conversion to Islam following the release of photos of the young musician leaving a mosque wearing a headscarf in French tabloid, Paris Match. She has refused to answer questions about her private life in the promotion of her…
Kinderen voor Kinderen (Children for Children), the children’s choir of Dutch public broadcaster VARA, has composed a song featuring Islam. The well known choir releases a CD every year that they subsequently sing on VARA. On Tuesday evening the annual performance included a song with the refrain “Allah Akbar”. The song has drawn criticism from…
With their European culture and Islamic faith, Bosnian Muslims want to act as a bridge between East and West but instead feel rejected. There are times when Aida Begic gets on a plane and the looks she receives from other passengers remind her of people’s fears and misunderstandings about Islam. A well-known Bosnian movie director,…
