Singer Deeyah: So who’s hung up on the ‘Muslim Madonna’?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If Norwegian-born Muslim singer Deeyah wants to be the next 'Muslim Madonna,' will mixing Muslim commentary with scantily-clad videos gain her credibility or just cheap publicity?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/03\/so_whos_hung_up_on_the_muslim_madonna\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Singer Deeyah: So who’s hung up on the ‘Muslim Madonna’?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If Norwegian-born Muslim singer Deeyah wants to be the next 'Muslim Madonna,' will mixing Muslim commentary with scantily-clad videos gain her credibility or just cheap publicity?\" \/>\n<meta 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Is that a gun or are you happy to see me?<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

In 1998, Canadian Muslim filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz made a film called \u201cDeath Threat<\/a>\u201d in which a young Muslim writer fakes a death threat against her to gain publicity for a new book. The plot backfires when publicity of the threat itself eclipsed all else. Enter 2006, when 28-year old Norwegian-born singer Deeyah<\/a> \u2013 of Indian, Pakistani, and Iranian heritage \u2013 stated that she has received death threats<\/a> after releasing her latest video (though given the recent upsurge in issued death threats, this aspect is likely true). She says the song in the video, \u2018What Will It Be,\u2019 is a call for women\u2019s rights in Islam \u2013 an issue with which many Muslims would otherwise agree. Deeyah, who spends most of her time these days in the UK and America, cut her teeth on Norwegian independent record labels before aiming for the mainstream pop charts. She has christened herself as a \u201cMuslim Madonna\u201d and is, in fact, working<\/a> with some of her collaborators. As for the video<\/a> itself, which resembles Dirrty-era Christina Aguilera (erm\u2026 we hear), it is notable for two things: a cameo featuring controversial Islam critic Irshad Manji, and an eerie resemblence to Dutch-Somali ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali\u2019s film \u201cSubmission,\u201d which led to the murder of co-creator Theo Van Gogh<\/a> (projected imagery, though not of the Quran, is used on her scantily clad body). However, once the threats subside (or not), there\u2019s the question of finding an audience for the message and music. \u201cA lot of us are working for women\u2019s rights, particularly in the Muslim world. I think we have more self-respect than to dance around naked to make our point,\u201d said Hoda Fahmy, who works with an education group for Muslim women in Canada. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that she has to use those means, because it\u2019s true \u2013 women are not able to speak up in a lot of these countries.\u201d Musically, it goes without saying that the Sami Yusuf<\/a> crowd will give Deeyah a pass, though she may also find her song too sabre-rattling for the mainstream hip-hop\/R&B crowd, too lacking in the Bollywood-inspired sentimentality of bhangra\/Indo-pop, and missing the edgy innovation of artists such as M.I.A.<\/a>. If she still fails to connect, it may be time for more publicity. The Muslim Council of Britain, normally used to commentary on public policy, felt the need to make a public statement<\/a> about the matter, declaring that she was probably a Hindu. \u201cHer real name is Deepika Thathaal. That\u2019s certainly not a Muslim name,\u201d said an MCB spokesman. \u201cOur suspicion is that this is all a big publicity stunt.\u201d Perhaps this is true, though some Hindu and Muslim names in India have interchanged over generations. But since public statements like these have been the first introduction to Deeyah for many (including us), the girl must be smiling.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com. He is based in London, England.\n<\/p>\n

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