“Hip Hop Hijabis”: Catching Up with Muneera of Poetic Pilgrimage

April 15, 2013 By

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to catch up with director of the documentary film “Hip Hop Hijabis,” Mette Reitzel, who followed the lives of UK-based hip hop duo, Poetic Pilgrimage.

Poetic Pilgrimage consists of two Muslim convert women, Tanya Muneera Williams and Sukina Owen-Douglas, who have shaken the U.K hip hop scene.  Combining their rapping and singing skills, these two women manage to beautifully intertwine their faith with their Jamaican culture and love for hip hop. To these women, there exists no contradiction in their faith and their journey as musicians.

I managed to ask Muneera some questions through email about her thoughts on the upcoming documentary, her relationship with Sukina, some challenges within the hip hop scene, and intertwining culture with Islam.

[Read more...]

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Why I Sing

March 18, 2013 By

This post was written by guest contributor Yasmin N. Ali.

The sounds of violin spun around an increasingly frenzied melody of sitar, tabla and the loud, confident vocals of the lead singer.  He danced and spun around his band mates, all of whom were jumping to the steady beats pouring from the drummer.  The result was electrifying.

That was two years ago, at one of my first concerts.  That first wave of real, live music had hit me in the gut.  I stayed rooted in one spot and danced at the same time.  The sheer ingenuity and force that went into making something so beautiful took my breath away.

One week after that concert I did my first open mic night.  Two years and two bands later, I have performed at venues across Chicago and collaborate with a musical project that promotes unity between the Muslim and Jewish populations.  My music pays homage to my Pakistani American upbringing by combining influences from both countries – the melodies weave in and out of music that’s reminiscent of jazz, rock and blues.  Growing up in a conservative community, this wasn’t the easiest choice to make for me, but the truer I stayed to my art, the better I became as a person and a Muslim.

To say that I’m happy with the life I chose would be an understatement.  It still deadens me when I think back to a time when I had begun to believe that I had been silenced for good, and that opportunities and the world were perhaps meant for other people – not for me, not anymore.  I had just filed for divorce and was dumbstruck by what had happened.  It was a multitude of things that drew me from that torpor, and music was one of them.  [Read more...]

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Talking with “Hip Hop Hijabis” Filmmaker Mette Reitzel

February 12, 2013 By

Who comes to mind when hip hop and Islam are mentioned in the same sentence? Maybe hip hop and rap icons like Lupe Fiasco or Napoleon. The music genre and the religion have a long and intimate history; however, how many female artists come to mind?

In the U.K., a duo of women called Poetic Pilgrimage has been mixing their Jamaican culture, their politics and their Islam into the fabrics of England’s music scene. Made up of Sukina Abdul Noor and Muneera Rashida, the pair’s stories as two young women who converted to Islam and who utilize their musical talent drew the interest of Danish filmmaker Mette Reitzel.

In a documentary entitled “Hip Hop Hijabis,” Reitzal follows the two musicians for a period of three years, documenting their lives as black Muslim women musical artists and advancing women’s rights through their art. [Read more...]

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“Islamists Do Not Want Anyone To Sing”

December 17, 2012 By

Mali is a country well known for its strong musical traditions. In a country where music is viewed as part of a cultural heritage, it is especially used as a means through which history is recorded. Music is considered to be Mali’s “greatest and most important export product”. It is also a tool of resistance. While most of Mali’s popular musicians have been from the southern part of the country, northern Mali holds up as its own. A few of Mali’s most renowned musicians are from the North, and this region is also home to the famous Festival au Desert (currently “in exile”).  Music has been banned in the parts of Northern Mali which are currently under the rule of religious extremists.

Earlier this year, in March, a military coup took place in Mali. And although the details were at first confusing, it seems Tuareg secessionists, MNLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad) used the opportunity to make their move and form their long-sought-after separate and independent state, Azawad. At the same time, other groups rose in the turmoil, including the so-called Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and a Tuareg splinter hardline Islamic group Ansar Dine who aim to implement a strict code of Sharia in Azawad/Northern Mali. Recently, Ansar Dine, with the support of Al Qaeda, have subdued the Tuareg rebels and secessionists who sought a secular state. [Read more...]

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Ridiculing Boko Haram Where It Hurts

June 13, 2012 By

Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Anike, MMW’s newest contributor!  You may know her better from her blog as “cosmic yoruba.”  We’re thrilled to have Anike join the MMW team.

It is still quite rare to come across depictions of Muslim women in “mainstream” Ghanaian or Nigerian media. (By “mainstream”, I am referring to media available in English or pidgin as opposed to those targeting specific audiences and done in local languages.) When the rare West African Muslim woman pops up on screen, she is shown in ways that range from ridiculous to borderline offensive and just plain wrong. I have come to notice that most times when a Muslim women is portrayed in either Nollywood or Gollywood (Nigerian and Ghanaian movie industries respectively), it is clear that her character was written by people who are not Muslim. Take for example the song Sexin’ Islamic Girls by socially conscious and prolific Ghanaian rap group, FOKN Bois, comprised of emcees Wanlov The Kunbolor and M3NSA.

FOKN Bois are known to be politically incorrect in their lyrics, openly ridiculing many African and Western cultural taboos. Sexin’ Islamic Girls is from their album FOKN Wit Ewe, an album filled with tracks that are, in the words of Craig Duncan, “hilariously offensive,” and that deride different diverse groups of people including Christians, Muslims, Chinese, Rastafarians and white people, all the while possessing a greater meaning. FOKN Bois say that none of the songs on that album are meant to be seen as offensive, except to those of “moral weakness.” [Read more...]

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In the Name of Honour: The Free Aafia Siddiqui Campaign in South Africa

May 3, 2012 By

Earlier this year, South African Muslim media was abuzz with the story of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, an American-educated Pakistani cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted and sentenced to 86 years in prison for assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. The media campaign served to raise awareness about Siddiqui’s alleged abuse at the hands of the U.S justice system, and to assert her complete innocence. Her story is a difficult one, spanning the vastness of two continents and the complexity of terrorism politics in both of these. This post is not meant to cover the Siddiqui case, or to make any judgement claims as to her innocence or guilt. I would like to add that I sincerely advocate for justice for Siddiqui, who has no doubt suffered tremendously – whatever her political inclinations.

The focus of this post is the treatment of Siddiqui’s case in recent South African Muslim media. I am often accused in my community of unduly and unnecessarily vilifying the Muslim media, so I must add a disclaimer – that pointing out discrepancies in the media’s treatment of Muslim women or issues pertaining to gender is not an attack on all the work of an organization, but meant to create dialogue on how Muslim women can be better represented. The groups I speak of articulate a certain kind of gendered ideology, and it is their right to propagate this discourse. I do, however feel that, living in the multicultural and vibrant democracy of South Africa, alternate expressions of Islam and Muslim women need to be put forth. [Read more...]

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