Posts Tagged “Muslim”
As read on AfterEllen:
When you’re a teenager, rebellion seems like a rite-of-passage. Whether it’s swiping a pint of vodka from your parents’ liquor cabinet or shaving your head, you are an individual going through some serious life changes and you need everyone to know it.
For me, the ultimate outlet for my post-pubescent angst was punk rock. From an ill-advised nose piercing in a scary, Indiana tattoo shop to telling my parents I was going to the mall and ending up in a sketchy basement watching Anti-Flag’s side project, the punk scene introduced me to people I actually related to — feminists, gays, politically-motivated band geeks — many of whom I am still friends with today.
For 17-year-old Michael Knight, his ultimate rebellion came in the form of leaving his mother’s home and heading to a Pakistani madrassa, where he would study Islam. He burned out on the “demands of religious dogma” years later, but in 2003, he went on to write a novel titled The Taqwacores, a “punk-rock manifesto” that went from work of fiction to real, cultural movement:
Melding the Arabic word for god-consciousness with the edge of hardcore punk (hence Taqwacore), Michael imagined a community of Muslim radicals: Mohawked Sufis, riot grrrls in burqas with band patches, skinhead Shi’as. These characters were entirely fictional. But the movement they inspired is very real.
The book became something else when actual Taqwacore bands were popping up nationwide. This caught the attention of filmmaker Omar Majeed, who decided to film the bands as they toured the U.S., leading to the documentary Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam.
After 9/11, many of the Canadian and American Muslims involved in the project felt the need to do some serious venting, and Knight’s book gave them a platform to do so.
Sena Hussain, a lesbian “Pakistani Canadian drag king from Vancouver,” is the front woman for the first all-girl Taqwacore band, The Secret Trial Five. She told the Globe and Mail this spring that she didn’t have much interest in political music until 9/11 seriously changed how Muslims were portrayed in pretty much every aspect of life.
“It’s far from being a religious music, in that it’s not at all similar to Christian rock,” Hussain told the paper. “It’s about Muslims post-9/11, that’s the perspective I take. It’s very political and satirical.”
Hussain’s band caused quite a stir at the Islamic Society of North America’s Chicago convention in 2008. After a reading of the Koran and some “stern, spoken-word stylings,” her band took the stage and burst into their song “Middle Eastern Zombies,” prompting much of the crowd to leave, a call to the police and (the best part) a group of “excited hijabi girls rocking out” and chanting “Stop the hate!”
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam screened last month in Canada, and will be showing at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam Nov. 19 to 29.
The film’s goal is to show the wide array of young voices within the Muslim community. People who are willing to challenge everyone: from “homophobic Mullahs to warmongering Western politicians,” Majeed told the Globe and Mail.
“I don’t think Western media as a whole is ready for a complicated Muslim voice — they divide the world into good Muslims and bad Muslims,” Knight said. “But these kids are pissed off about everything.”
For more information about the Taqwacore movement or upcoming film screenings, check out the film’s website.
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Posted by: punksmurf in Current Affairs, Music, Web/Tech, tags: Facebook, homophobia, Music, Muslim, politics, same sex marriage, Serena Ryder, Sports
Currently listening to A Girl Called Eddy (album: A Girl Called Eddy)
You might - or might not - have read about the outrage caused by a British “journalist” called Jan Moir. The first time I heard about it was when a British friends of mine started posting about it, clearly showing their disapproval and disgust for Moir’s total ignorance. One even went as far as calling her the C-word (and he is one of the smartest, nicest straight man I know - so for him to use that word…). Anyway, read about it here and the update here (hello, 21,000 complaints and then some). Sounds to me as if Moir has a problem with certain possible “assets” of the homosexual lifestyle. And she’s conveniently forgetting the fact that similar “assets” can be found in heterosexual lifestyles as well. She’s issued some sort of apology in the meantime, but she clearly doesn’t get it. Jan Moir may think she’s not a homophobe, she can at least pride herself in being a bigot.
Fortunately, there are still good things happening in the UK; like this Scottish LGBT-friendly soccer team who are deservedly nominated for a Stonewall Award.
AfterEllen.com reviews an interesting comic book called Dolltopia, which is really a book for all ages, and discusses diversity. I’m not a big fan of the graphics, but it serves its purpose, and it does look interesting to me. Looks like creator Abby Denson’s been promoting Dolltopia across North America.
Globe and Mail ran an interesting article about the wiring of boys’ and girls’ brains. It turns out there’s no significant difference, but it’s magnified by parents… And - surprisingly - same sex schools.
According to this article the Taliban has published a rulebook, and reading it I didn’t know whether to wince or snicker at the stupidity of it all. I mean, any educated person instinctively knows that a band of bearded men telling others to treat women badly (I’m not even sure they are considered second class citizens), what to think, how to act and how to dress cannot be for the greater good. To the advantage of the Taliban; yes. For the greater good; no.
This veteran spoke out in favor of same sex marriage. I can only say that if he’s honored with any medals I am sure he has earned each and every one of them! I’d just want to give a hug and say thank you.
In the meantime President Obama is tackling DADT, the Canadians again show they may not shout as loud as the Americans do, but they are just as great. Halifax’s Chronicle Herald published an article on Canadian forces and their inclusion of gays. A friend of mine can attest to that; she didn’t join till she was 33. And she is still serving 19 years later. Just sayin’, President Obama.
Are you on Facebook, and confused about “live feed” and “news feed”? Check out this page on how to adjust the settings to make it less confusing, and more desirable for you to read (some people seem to post every fifteen minutes - if you know what I mean)…
Charlize Theron. I like her. Vocal human rights advocate. Don’t get me wrong, but she is such a hussy! She kissed a lady for charity. Some lucky lady (she coughed up $140,000 but got a 20-second smooch)…
More Serena Ryder news. (I should get paid for this. I’d settle for a smooch with Serena. Just kidding! Or am I?) She’s currently touring the US with labelmates NeedToBreathe (Serena’s playing Chicago on Halloween!) and “Is it o.k.” will be released in the US on November 3rd - almost a year after its release in homeland Canada. Read more on it here. In the meantime Serena’s also featured in one of City Sonic’s episodes on how she started out. Watch it here.
When I found out Vertical Horizon had a new album out (”Burning the days“) I was thrilled; I wasn’t aware of the fact the band had reformed. Their album “Everything you want” was one of my favorite albums in the late ’90s. Now and then, I still play a couple songs with the singer of my band. Let’s hope they start touring again 
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Gay Moroccan author Abdellah Taia tells all: “Taia has defied Moroccan society’s don’t-ask, don’t-tell attitude toward homosexuality — and prison sentences that are still on the books in the North African kingdom — to write five autobiographical novels about growing up poor and gay in the northern coastal city of Sale. The novels, peppered with sexually explicit passages, have catapulted him to fame in his native country and made him the de-facto poster child of its budding gay rights movement.”
In the meantime in the UK:
EastEnders is to screen a storyline involving a Muslim character who has a gay affair.
New character Syed Masood, a Muslim property developer who has a girlfriend, is to fall for openly gay Christian Clarke.
The couple will be shown kissing and 24-year-old Masood, played by Marc Elliott, finds his “religion and sexual feelings in conflict”. But the Muslim Public Affairs Committee say that the BBC should have a “normal friendly Muslim character.”
Last year, the BBC received more than 150 complaints over a gay kiss between Christian and Lee Thompson which was shown before the 9pm watershed.
Diederick Santer, the EastEnders executive producer, said BBC1 soap’s production team had researched the plot while working with academics, gay Muslim support groups and the Muslim Council of Great Britain. He said: “We’ve always tried to make EastEnders reflect modern life in multicultural Britain and we’ve always told social issue stories relevant to our diverse audience.
“This isn’t a moral tale of right or wrong; it’s very much a human interest story where a young man struggles with the conflict between his faith and his feelings. To all intents and purposes, Syed’s a ‘good’ Muslim man: he doesn’t drink, smoke or engage in sex before marriage. But he struggles with his sexuality when he finds himself drawn to Christian and he believes this goes against his faith. This is not a story about Syed and Christian’s physical relationship – we don’t see anything beyond one kiss. It’s more about the inner turmoil and conflict Syed endures trying to remain true to his faith while questioning his sexuality. Syed has already been ostracised from his family and community once and if he’s true to his heart he risks losing his family again.”
But Asghar Bokhari of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee said: “The Muslim community deserves a character that represents them to the wider public because Islamophobia is so great right now.
“There’s a lack of understanding of Muslims already and I think EastEnders really lost an opportunity to present a normal friendly Muslim character to the British public.”
A survey published last month showed that UK Muslims have significantly less tolerance for homosexuality than their French and German counterparts.
The poll, part of the the Gallup Coexist Index 2009, found that not one of the 1,001 British Muslims interviewed believed homosexual acts were morally acceptable.
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It was only a matter of time:
Indonesia - Muslim clerics are seeking ways to regulate online behavior in Indonesia, saying the exploding popularity of social networking sites like Facebook could encourage illicit sex.Around 700 clerics, or imams, gathering in the world’s most populous Muslim nation on Thursday were considering guidelines forbidding their followers from going online to flirt or engage in practices they believe could encourage extramarital affairs.
Inside Facebook, an independent Palo Alto, Calif.-based blog dedicated to tracking the site, says Indonesia, a nation of 235 million, was the fastest-growing country in Southeast Asia for the site in 2008, with a 645 percent increase to 831,000 users.
It is already the most visited site in Indonesia, and with less than 0.5 percent of Indonesia’s citizens wired, there is a huge potential for growth.
“The clerics think it is necessary to set an edict on virtual networking, because this online relationship could lead to lust, which is forbidden in Islam,” said Nabil Haroen, a spokesman for the Lirboyo Islamic boarding school, which was hosting the event.
Though followers could still be members of the networking site, guidelines dealing with surfing the Web and Islamic values are urgently needed, he said.
“People are typically using Facebook to connect with their friends, family or learn about local and world issues and events,” said Debbie Frost, a Facebook spokeswoman. “We have seen many people and organizations use Facebook to advance a positive agenda.”
Ninety percent of Indonesians are Muslim and most practice a moderate form of the faith.
An edict by the clerics would not have any legal weight. But it could be endorsed by the influential Ulema Council, which recently issued rulings against smoking and yoga. Some devout Muslims adhere to the council’s rulings because ignoring a fatwa, or religious decree, is considered a sin.
Amidan, who heads the Ulema Council, said the growing number of Facebook users in Indonesia was a controversial subject among Muslim leaders and that he favored a ban because of possible sexual content.
“People using Facebook can be driven to engage in distasteful, pornographic chatting,” said Amidan, who was monitoring the two-day conference in the town of Kediri, in eastern Java.
Many clerics are concerned that “inappropriate content” on Facebook could be accessed by children, said Amidan, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name.
Facebook is the top ranked site in Indonesia, ahead of search engines Yahoo and Google, according Alexa.com, which tracks Internet traffic. Nearly 4 percent of all Facebook visitors are from Indonesia, making it the largest source of visitors after the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy.
The thing that really bugs me is what those clerics define as “distasteful and pornographic” things. It’s outdated, and a distorted view of how they would like to see women: submissive and covered up from head to toe.
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