Music | July 25, 2009 | 6 comments

The real Muslim punk underground

source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=107010536&sc=fb&cc=fp

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JulyJones
Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 novel, The Taqwacores, imagined punk rockers who practiced Islam on their own terms. At the time he was writing, Knight, a convert to Islam, had grown disillusioned with his faith.

The word taqwacorewas made up, a portmanteau of the Arabic word for "God-consciousness" and hardcore. The novel sold more than 15,000 copies worldwide. It made its way to Texas, where a teenager of Persian descent — Kourosh Poursalehi — read the book and thought the characters were real.

"It came together for me like, 'Wow — I'm not the only one experiencing this,'" Poursalehi says. "There are other kids out there into all this kind of music."
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6 comments // The real Muslim punk underground

  • stephanieskier
    • 0
      stephanieskier  

    • The Kominas are a dynamic and provocative music group whose art includes composing and recording the original song "Blackrock Beach" for the play WaterBoard: a play about torture, performed by Stephanie Skier and Nadeem Mazen.

      Below is a promotional video for that play.

    • 2 years ago
  • aquamammal
    • 0
      aquamammal  

    • Hardcore means you aren't a slave to imaginary sky daddies.

      Fuck this movement. But I can't wait for these dudes to be persecuted by there own kind. Let the fatwah's commence.

      Religion, what a joke. These kid's don't know Crass, don't know Bad Religion, don't know Screeching Weasel. Of all religions, Islam is probably second most anti-expression. First is scientology.

      XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • aquamammal:

      Really? I thought hardcore means other people don't tell you what you are. You know, like you just did. i suspect they have a few return finger gestures for you too. All in good fun.

      How do you know what they listen to btw?

      I must say though as someone who had christian contemporary forced on them as a teen ager and learned to despise it, these guys seem an order of magnitude more genuine.

      As for the persecution I'm sure they already are.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  

    • the Kominas myspace page has some singles on it. They're really pretty good. Not all of it is in English but most of it is. Actually scratch that It might all be in english, just some bits are more hardcore that others. They really are not bad though. You don't have to be a hardcore fan to like their stuff.

      http://www.myspace.com/thekominas
      it's the same link as the one in the article.

    • 2 years ago
  • Xion
  • CarlosIsDown
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