As a musician myself (not hip hop), my opinion is that people need to look for and appreciate sonic depth in music versus getting too absorbed in lyrics and lifestyles of artists. I feel that Muslims should try to become less attached to the cultural aspect of an art form…for me the point is not to just create entertainment to be consumed but to create something that generates introspection, and is worthy of laud. Ideally, If people wish to create music, he/she needs to have exposure to as many styles and influences as possible and find their own voice to share with the world, rather than being boxed into a specific genre based on religion or ethnicity or whatever. There needs to be appreciation of a range of musical styles…. classical composers such as Mozart or Beethoven, as well as the talents of Lupe or Common, as well as the experimentalist of Radiohead…but if anything, don’t settle for the status quo….and create something that challenges yourself and others.

My 2c.

I support DJ BLM, Kumasi and that whole genre 100% but Suhaib Webb is also my homie. Insha’Allah we can all agree to disagree in a Islamic manner.

During the last decade of traveling across the Muslim world, I have met musicians, activists, scholars, Islamists, and ordinary people in more than a dozen countries, including Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, countries in the Persian Gulf, and Pakistan. That is a wide swath, home to upward of 500 million people; but that’s still only a third of the Muslim world. Muslim metal, hip-hop, and other forms of pop music continue all the way to Indonesia…

http://www.chronicle.com

Like heavy metal, hip-hop, and other macho forms of music in the West, in the Muslim world these genres tend to be dominated by men, whether musicians or fans. The problem is so acute that the brochure for a 2006 rock and hip-hop festival in Morocco included an open letter from one of the female organizers titled “Girls Wanted.” But as one female artist lamented to me, as long as it’s considered immoral, or at least unsafe, for young women to go out on their own to concerts, let alone to be on the stage playing “Satanic music,” it will be men who make up the majority of metal musicians and fans in the Muslim world.

Firstly, the subject at hand seemed rather strange to me (”MUSLIM Hip Hop?? Seriously?”) as I’ve never heard any songs or read about any of the artists; but i found it interesting and intriguing that Imam Suhaib writes about it on his blog -surely it’s a matter that affects our Ummah.

Before I sound judgemental or anything, I still listen to music, I grew up on it, I am surrounded by it (from the supermarket to the mall to the streets), it goes to the extent that every word I use could remind me sometimes of a song: for instance, the words I’m using while writing this post like “music” reminds me of Madonna, the word “hand” reminds me of Ataxia, “sorry” of Tracy Chapman, “remind” of Air, and the list is endless…

I watched the video, and I have to say I was troubled and disturbed. The “artist” (forgot his name, sorry!) is trying to put a halal face on something that is considered haram in the first place. And what about the screaming groupies in the video? Is this a proper way to act?

It’s not because he’s trying to sing about something deep that he has to use cacophonic sounds to get his message across.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf said in a lecture he gave called “Real Love”, if you’re attracted to cacophonic sounds, something’s definitely wrong with your heart.

But I’m in no position to talk and/or criticize from the religious point of view as I don’t the academic background to do so, though I will take it from the sociological one.

Why do we listen to “Muslim” Hip Hop? Why do we NEED it? Is it just our way of staying in touch with the society we live in? Is it our way of showing to the others “hey, look I’m still like you” but in a “halal” way?

The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (from 18th-century ENLIGHTMENT period, ironically) once said “Man is born good, society corrupts him”. In our muslim concepts, this is called fitra.

We should not be deluded by the fact that the artists are trying to do good with their music and in the end, they misrepresent the whole idea!

I support the fact that we should be fully integrated in our society, in our community, etc. BUT there are certain limits to everything.
Don’t go off dancing to some “Muslim” Akon just because he sings about Muslim matters!
Do not convince yourself by saying “Oh it’s fine, this is halal music, man!”

I totally agree with Imam Suhaib for these artists to take a year off and go study the deen.

Perhaps they will understand that their style is not appropriate with the Islamic message?

Let’s all take this step by step, a sort of Music Rehab. And Allah SWT will help us in our endeavors.

Wassalam

“I would encourage Muslims to avoid these superstars, inviting them to events, paying them big sums of cash and treating them with such pageantry.”

“Is Imam Suhaib talking about him self here?

We know that Arabs love white prostitutes and they get the most money of all of the hookers. Has anybody asked Imam Suhaib how much he gets paid to do his lil fake Arab-American accent while they parade him around their “Religious gatherings”.

See below

“Show business is show business. Seems these intolerant self appointed “Scholars” are just worried they may be losing their fan base. And what is up with the Eminem reference??? Don’t “Imams” have better things to do with their time then to drive more people away from Islam????”

Interesting a brother recently took shahada with me al-humdulillah. Perhaps the question is, what type of Islam are we teaching the people in the first place? This watered down Krush Groove Islam is saddening and when people realize that they were bamboozled by you, they will be upset. I know because, as one convert told me, “The problem wasn’t with me, it was those who explained Islam to me. The watered it down and turned it into something else.”

“I noticed he has failed to mentioned the fact that He is living off that…
“ARAB MONEY!!!”

Abdul Haqaa: I pray you are well and thank you for this question. Actually, I take $0 for speaking for visiting a community. In fact, all the classes that I teach are for free. I hope and pray that Allah will preserve that as it was something I was taught by my teachers, who learned it from their teachers back to the early days of Islam. I have even recorded studio lectures for free and donated the profits to the organization. I currently live in a one room place, sleep on the floor while my family lives in another country. In other words, I’m surviving.

However, when I travel I do have certain demands which I will list below:

1. No first class or business class tickets, economy or nothing.
2. No fancy hotel, just a simple decent clean place to rest

Can you say….. HATERS!

May Allah make our love and hate for His sake alone.

Abdul Haqq one thing to consider is that such a responses are only going to prove what many have assumed. The Muslim HH community is unable to divorce itself from the evil constructs that HH was based on. By using foul language and coming out like some kind of hard cat on the streets, making false assumptions and calling me out like you wanna battle, you have done nothing but further my claim that you, and your friends, are religiously in bad shape.

Abdul-Haqq

May Allah make us on the Haqq
SDW

Just as we are asking our scholars to support us… they need us to support them. Give advice, admonish with proper etiquette, refrain from personal attacks and always wish that the truth be manifested on the others tongue so that you can submit to it. This is the way of our righteous predecessors…. wa Allahu Alim.

I am the producer / director of the film DEEN TIGHT which is a documentary film about this very subject. http://deentight.com/

The Deen Tight film tells this story from the perspective of the artists and ex-artists (those for hip hop and those against it). We give a platform for both sides of this debate to express themselves.

Some people have asked why we did not include the scholars in this film. This was a calculated decision and our main intention behind this was to protect the sanctity of our teachers due to the fact there is not a consensus amongst them concerning this issue. Some scholars have not only expressed acceptance of Muslim Hip Hop, they have actually advocated it and attended concerts themselves. Others have adamantly condemned it and those who participate in it. This can be very confusing for the Muslim masses who rely on the opinion of the scholars to navigate through the murky waters of modern life.

For example: The rap group ‘Native Deen’ won the award for Best Nasheed Artists at the Mahabba Awards in Abu Dhabi in 2006 and 2008. Several of our most renowned teachers of the tradition reside on the Scholars Counsel for this awards show. I am not claiming that this means that any of these scholars advocate Muslim Hip Hop in any way, however; one can see how this could be misleading to someone who goes to these men for religious counsel to then hear another teacher from the tradition condemn a group who performs Muslim hip hop. The Deen Tight film was funded by some of these very scholars for the purpose of gaining a thorough understanding of the issue so they could then get together and discuss it with full knowledge of all the variables.

As someone who has been studying this closely for the past 3 years, speaking with artists, ex artists, teachers and scholars on the subject… I recommend a Muslim Hip Hop Summit where qualified scholarship and the artists sit together and discuss the issues from A – Z. I know that several of the artists have private sanctions from scholars to perform Muslim Hip Hop. I have spent time with other artists who are simply doing it because they want to, sanction or not. I have spent time with scholars who say its something that needs to stop and have discussed the issue with scholars who say its not only ok to do.. but that its absolutely needed. I’m certain that if we are to label something as “Muslim” then there needs to be qualifying prerequisites in place for it to be sound, however; I’m not personally interested in either promoting or condemning Muslim Hip Hop at this time. I’m interested in finding a solution for what is clearly a very real issue in our community. I’m interested in a consensus amongst the scholars so that the masses will know exactly what Islam says about these issues. If that consensus is not reached, then I fear that this problem will only worsen over time as people begin to lose faith in our scholarship for not being able to properly guide them through these trying times. Right or wrong, we can see this trend already happening. I pray that Allah protect us from this because without the guidance of our rightly guided scholars, we will surely falter.

My main point is that if even our scholars are differing about this subject how can we expect the masses to agree on a single course of action?

I would advise people to keep Adab when engaging in this discourse. It is a sensitive issue for many and thus should be handled carefully so that there is no room for Shaytan and the lower self to come into play. I advise our artists to be respectful of our scholarship and dialogue with them in an appropriate manner. I offer advice to our scholars not to fall victim to name calling and arguing. Mentioning specific names in these posts is distasteful and if one is not careful could fall under the category of slander.

Prophet Muhammad said :”Do you know what backbiting is?” They said, “God and His Messenger know best.” He then said, “It is to say something about your brother that he would dislike.” Someone asked him, “But what if what I say is true?” The Messenger of God said, “If what you say about him is true, you are backbiting him, but if it is not true then you have slandered him.” (Muslim)

Culture and Islam (in the West) and how it fits within the context of our Deen is something our scholars are still figuring out for themselves. During this process it is imperative that we remain one Ummah and if we disagree… that we do so as brothers who love one another and desire good for each other. The goal isn’t to win a debate… the goal is to do that which is most pleasing to Allah… and Allah knows best.

the environment described with men and women dancing together, the music so loud you cant even hear the words, that doesnt really sound like “islamic” hip hop -

and also – to the artists, i always envisioned them being more like early 90’s rappers in terms of the lyrics having actual substance than imitating the trash that is most modern rap where the lyrics arent even understandable or audible.

the more correct environment to me would be more like that for an opera house, the crowd isnt rowdy,everyone stays in their seats – and there is no booming music that overpowers the lyrics.

my 2 cents.