Speaker makes case for Islam and hip-hop
20-11-2003
By Sandy Kofler
University of Illinois, Daily Illini:
Hip-hop and Islam aren’t usually thought to be associated with one another, but Hesham Samy Alim proved otherwise during his presentation Wednesday night at the University.
Alim, a visiting scholar at Duke University, is devoted to studying hip-hop culture. Various Muslim, African-American and other registered organizations invited him to the University to give his presentation, “Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim: Uncovering the Hidden Histories of African-American Muslim Movements in the Hip-Hop Nation.” The lecture focused on Islam’s place in the medium of hip-hop — a relationship between religion and music that greatly lacks public acknowledgement, Alim said.
“I remember mentioning this topic to one of my colleagues and having them laugh,” Alim said. “They’re like, ‘What? Islam and hip-hop culture? What’s going on, how are these two even compatible?’ It shouldn’t be as surprising as it is. It’s only surprising because it’s so misunderstood.”
Alim said that many pioneers of hip-hop music were influenced by Islamic teachings and that the two share a bond in social protest.
“Islam itself is a strong source for social change and social protest. Hip-hop culture developed as a resistance to oppressive conditions in the United States,” Alim said. “African-Americans were developing this form, and many other musical forms developed by African-Americans, as a way to protest social and economic conditions that they were experiencing.”
Alim started his career as a hip-hop scholar while completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
“At the time, we were sort of reading whatever texts were out there on hip-hop culture and writing about them … Today hip-hop literature has exploded. There’s so much stuff that I can’t even get it all into my class,” Alim said.
Alim co-authored his first book, Street Conscious Rap, during his senior year of college. The experience eventually led to opportunities teaching hip-hop culture at Stanford University and later at Duke University, where he now teaches a cultural studies course.
For the past few years, courses in hip-hop have been integrated into university curriculums across the country. This spring, the University is offering a class in hip-hop culture as a section of African-American Studies 199, “KRS-One: Hip-Hop Artistry and Social Activism.”
Jamaal Clark, senior in applied life studies, attended the presentation.
“I like hip-hop so I thought it would be interesting,” Clark said. “I never really thought about the Islamic aspect of it before.”
http://www.dailyillini.com/nov03/nov20/news/stories/news_story06.shtml
Comment:
Indeed rap is a medium which is very popular with youth in the west, and at the moment is passing so amny unIslamic concepts. What a refreshing change to hear Islamic groups like Soldiers of Allah and An nasr productions who are using this medium to pass Islamic ideas. On Mp3.com SOldiers of Allah once held the top 4 positions for all downloads and to date they have registered over 1 million downloads.
or Ahlul Bait