Rock The Casbah

True punk rock has always been a DIY enterprise. That is exactly what Micheal Muhammed Knight had in mind when he wrote The Taqwacores and published it himself using a xerox machine in 2003. The Taqwacores is about a group of fictitious young punk rockers growing up in Buffalo, New York who just happen to be Muslims. Soon, a very real Muslim punk rock scene had emerged, also called taqwacore, with bands such as Vote Hezbollah and Sagg Taqwacore Syndicate.

Knight was born Irish Roman Catholic in 1977. He got interested in Islam as a teenager through Malcolm X and Public Enemy. At 17, he moved to Pakistan to study at the Faisal Mosque, one of the largest in the world. In 2003, he had grown disenchanted with Islam's rigid teachings and angry at American imperialism after September 11th. His self-published book was read by legendary punk rock singer Jello Biafra, formerly of the Dead Kennedys. Soon it became a hit with young Muslims living in the west. Prof Carl Ernst of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina has said that The Taqwacores has become a Catcher In The Rye for young Muslims.

Taqwacore enthusiast Sabina England is a deaf playwright and a Muslim living in the Midwest. She says that taqwacore means, "being true to myself, having my own faith, and interpreting Islam the way I want to." Indeed, most music is against the common interpretation of Islamic law. Micheal Muhammed Knight and most taqwacores acknowledge their apostasy, and are neglecting or challenging Islamic law, although somewhat reluctantly. Taqwacore even has it's first anthem, "Suicide Bomb the Gap," by the Kominas. Sena Hussain, lead vocalist for Vancouver based taqwacore outfit, Secret Trial 5, says, "There's so much animosity towards Muslims and we need a dissenting voice to say 'fuck you' to people who pigeonhole us." Punk rock has had its share of new scenes that would eventually fizzle out, but taqwacore is hitting a nerve among Muslims and Non-Muslims alike who don't see any clear good guys in this "global war on terror." Can punk rock be a vehicle to bring alternative forms of Islam into the western mainstream, and start a more meaningful dialogue between these two civilizations that have had so much ignorance and distrust over the centuries?