Muslim Entertainment: Seeking new audiences, Muslim artists go mainstream

Wild World, indeed

For many years, Muslim artists – especially of the musical persuasion – have preferred the relative safety of playing in the Muslim sandbox. (We mean this literally, as most Muslim musicians have decided to cater to Muslim children with non-controversial themes and without conventional musical instruments.) Similarly, Muslim comedians – with the notable exception of Dave Chappelle – have stuck with Muslim themes and/or mostly Muslim audiences in an effort to provide some comic relief to the stress of life as a Muslim in the West. However, as the years pass after the 9/11 attacks and hostile attitudes towards Islam and Muslims continue to grow, a concerted effort is being made to reach out to non-Muslim audiences for various reasons. While the desire for commercial success cannot be overlooked, the principal driver for this artistic shift seems to be the creation of a relevant place for Muslims in Western culture.

“The language of song is simply the best way to communicate,” explains Yusuf Islam, aka the former Cat Stevens. “Politics essentially separates people, whereas music has the power to unify.” Islam is making the leap back into mainstream music after a 28-year hiatus with a new single (Heaven/Where True Love Goes) and a new album, An Other Cup – instruments and all.

The idea of returning to popular music struck Islam when his wife bought his son a guitar, which Islam then picked up after the family had gone to sleep. “It felt like I was being helped to do it,” says Islam. “I can’t describe it any other way.” Similarly taking the plunge into mainstream music is the lesser known – although with an arguably larger fanbase among Muslim youth – Dawud Wharnsby-Ali, who, like Islam, is another performer of Muslim children’s music who is returning to his folk musician roots.

Another Yusuf, namely British-Azeri nasheed artist Sami Yusuf, has long since made waves with his well-produced albums of traditional Islamic devotional music. But in his last album, 2005’s My Ummah, he made the decision to release two versions – one with and one without musical instruments (Yusuf is himself a classically trained multi-instrumentalist who plays the violin, piano, and lute, among others). The result has been anger among some of his earlier fans who decry the use of instruments other than the duff, a millenia-old percussion instrument, as haram (forbidden), though others ban that too. Others, such as the Taliban-influenced journalist convert Yvonne Ridley, have derided Yusuf for selling his fans a “pipe dream” while so many Muslims are suffering in the world.

Sami responds not only by saying he “want(s) to show that Islam represents a huge amount of people and cultures,” but that he “love(s) music. I love Bach, I love Chopin – I love, I love U2!” He also points to the passionate response to his music among Muslims as evidence of the majority opinion on music, that instrumentation and performance are allowed – if not encouraged – if it uplifts people. The Muslim comedian Azhar Usman agreed, saying Ridley’s opinion was “based on a literalist and highly ideological, fundamentalist understanding of the religion of Islam.”

Speaking of Muslim comedians, two of the most notable – Britain’s Shazia Mirza along with Usman – have branched out from their Muslim roots to seek audiences that will put their talents to the test. “The greatest comedy transcends all religions and colours,” said Mirza. “Woody Allen transcends his Jewishness, Richard Pryor transcends his blackness.” Azhar, best known for his stint with the “Allah Made Me Funny” comedy tour, has reached out with his Tinku’s World sketches featured on MTV Desi. Though there is still a passing reference to Muslim issues, those used to hearing non-stop jokes about veils or bombs from these two may now be disappointed.

The conflict that Muslim artists sometimes find themselves in arises from these creative lines in the sand. For musicians, it can comprise the use of musical intruments of any kind. Graphical artists fall afoul sometimes when they depict human forms. Comedians have a hard time laughing at themselves when critics, like Ridley, insist that Muslim suffering precludes any priority on leisure or creative fulfillment. When Yusuf Islam announced his reentry into popular music, he encountered a storm of criticism from Muslim scholars who claimed he was crossing the line. Islam shot back with a paper citing Islamic texts defending his position. “Ignoring the power of the media is one of the main reasons, I believe, for our failure as a global community in creating a more peaceful and just world,” he explained.

It remains to be seen whether or not these efforts will have their intended outcomes. Certainly all of these artists will find themselves challenged by the broader opportunities for creative expression, not to mention being judged by more discerning audiences than they are used to performing for. And new non-Muslim fans might miss the intended message altogether, given that it is purposely less overt and more universal. Other Muslim artists, like Everlast, Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco, and Peter Murphy, have chosen not to otherwise differentiate themselves from their non-Muslim peers, save for their public religious identification.

But most of the above mentioned artists have stressed the importance of trying to connect with a larger audience that has seen few, if any, positive impacts of Muslims on their lives. “It is important for me to be able to help bridge the cultural gaps others are sometimes frightened to cross,” explained Islam prior to the release of An Other Cup. “You can argue with a philosopher, but you can’t argue with a good song. And I think I’ve got a few good songs.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.