Taqwacore is a genre of Muslim punk music. It’s actually a movement created by young Muslim’s (Sunni’s). Michael Muhammad Knight is the author of the book by the same name that seemed to launch the movement into reality. Here’s an excerpt from the novel,
“On Fridays the living room doubled as a masjid, mostly for kids from the campus who couldn’t identify with the MSA. They were nowhere near being ersatz mumins of Fasiq’s level, but you still had girls who didn’t cover their hair, guys who went to clubs down on Chippewa and so forth. Our house with its punk posters and vandalized Saudi flag was the closest thing they had to a comfortable Islamic experience in which they could pray and embrace their culture without having to feel inadequate.”
One band, influenced by the novel, named The Kominas and have a myspace page.They seem to have a big following.
It’s kind of interesting to see how so many young Muslims are angry and expressive but find their identity rooted in both Islam and punk rock. I personally can’t say how they define Islam. But it’s a combination of two extremes. They seem to be angry, youth who don’t want to fit into the Western world because of racism etc but they also can’t completely identify with their parent’s view of Islam. How do you guys think this movement has begun to grow and thrive? Is there a real need for young people to have an ‘alternative Islam’? Or is true Islam just about submission to Allah, without such worldly concepts as punk, coolness, clubs, music?
I first heard of Taqwacores two years ago via MuslimWakeup!, a sorta liberal Muslim website. Their views are more liberal, wheN i was actively participating in it, mohja kaf was writing erotica on Muslim women, homosexuality was condoned, and they heavily supported Asra Nomani and Amina Wadud. Also, the founder, Michael Muhammad Knight converted to Islam, converted out and then came back to Islam, the islam that fit HIS lifestyle.
I'm not comfortable in speaking in terms of 'alternatives', as it seems to only deepen sectarian differences already aplenty in our community.
I'm all for a neo-traditionalist outlook (contradiction? I'm thinking not now days...). I think it can't have any staying power otherwise...a 'fad' comes to mind.
By neo-tradition, I mean new traditions taking shape to address our needs with respect to modernity. Hijab is perhaps a great example of a neo-tradition...it never existed in it's current manifestation (the function of Hijab was taken up by the Jilbab, Abaya, Burqa, etc). The Hijab as a neo-tradition is pivotal in urbane Muslim societies. It extends the social contract with women to include them into the public sphere in rather unprecedented manner with conservative blessings.
Yet, we can't deny the same neo-traditional development is rather punk in a Western context...how shocking is a Hijab? As 'bout as shocking as chains, doc martain boots, and an F-you T-shirt.
As for the progressives, I just can't take them seriously. Any attempt at a serious discussion with them degenerates quickly into childish bickering (more drunken frat boy than punk, I suppose)....
^^ Yes, I agree with you that Islam itself is as 'anti-establishment' as anything for the West. For example in America a woman is praised for being dressed scantily, in heels, make-up, with highlighted hair, with the right handbag etc. How shocking is a woman who thinks of the soul, not the body and rejects materialism in favor of spirituality? I think these young punks are caught in a generational issue. They don't want to be molded and suppressed by their parents. So they've formed a subcultural movement that allows them to practice the Islam they want to practice. They can pick and choose elements that suit them.
Slightly offtopic, but what makes someone with a nice bag, nice shoes, nice hair and clothing materialistic and vapid? Being spiritual doesnt mean you have to wear ugly clothes/shoes and that you cant have nice things.
Sara, I'm not saying that valuing nice things is wrong. I'm illustrating two extremes. The extreme of a Western materialistic woman and comparing that to the rejection of materialism in favor of religion. Most people are somewhere in between. We all love 'stuff' but being Muslim, God helps us to remember that our stuff can't rule us.
Also I think it's true that women in America are more valued if they are closer to the "Miss America" image. Femininity relies on alot of outside help such as makeup and heels, hair. So a woman who is not aware of her spiritual side and instead focuses only on her physical self (an extreme) will be more involved in the materialism of the world. But (another extreme) a woman who has submitted so wholly to Allah that she feels her soul is just contained in this shell of a body that will die... she rejects materialism. She will wear simple clothes. It's not that being spiritual means you wear ugly things. But you don't value things as much as you value the soul.