Islam

Islam in Hip-Hop

   As a new wave of American Islamic rappers become more and more prevalent, so comes a new association and shared common identity among Islamic youth who share American, and religious culture. Theologies like that of the Nation of Islam and the Five Percent Nation have contributed to not only Islamic hip-hop, but all hip-hop's current form. There is much more of a focus on the Islamic religion and its importance in forming identities. Such a rappers career is a means of glorifying Allah.

American Islamic hip hop artists particularly see their work as serving two specific ends: to preserve the Islamic identity of Muslim youth and to educate non- Muslims about Islam and Muslims. (Khabeer 125) Artists like Mos Def and Lupe Fiasco represent this general drift within hip hop and the broader Black community toward Sunni Islam (Winters 266). Others like Q-Tip and Common further such trends in a somewhat mainstream sense. Many of these rappers try to reconcile ideals of love and understanding with the general population and Muslims alike, by using their words to heal some of the wounds in a post 9/11 world in which hostility still greets many Muslims in America.

 Mos Def speech. Features Verse from "Lord, Lord, Lord"

These lyrics come from the Kanye West track "Lord, Lord, Lord" but are Mos Def's verse in the song.

The power of observatiAnnotateon
Marvels and frights and strange delights
Attributes, properties, disciplines and novelties
Ecstatic patterns in the calendar design
Wilderness tours, guided for and by the blind
Cool ruler standing still sweating through the shades
He knew those lights only grew bright to fade
Dead wrong pageantry, lottery and games
Sleight of hand provided by extravagant and fake
The carnival tilt bell the hustle for the age
They clutch what they covet, what must they give away?
Who was uninvited who was asked to come and stay?
Surprise, it's your life, it's your business anyway
So please pardon these and such curious minds
Peace, safe passage, precious time hither and gone
The day of days, Yawm al-Qiyāmah
This tiny stone illuminated by a star
The only star so large many more
To make our largest star show small
Furthermore, the end is not the end no stop but a pause
And what we can witness isn't all there is at all
Custom  scotch and pork chops
The passion, expansion, the order of the random
See the dreamers, see the sleepers
Why'd you wake them?
Sweet Jesus and life on Earth
Seek heaven first
Let's put in this work

     The terminology that these rappers use are very evident when examined closer. "Phrases like “dropping science” and addressing women as “earth” and men as “son”
and “god” are examples of references from Five Percenter theology that are replete in hip hop music and vernacular" (Khabeer 126).


Even as many Muslims participate and widely engage in music, many others yet view music as "haram" or prohibited (Khabeer 128). Some Muslims reconcile their music practices of performing or listening to music by participating in particular ways. Some artists like "Native Deen" only use percussion instruments in their music. Other Muslim musicians assert that the content of an artists lyrics determine whether their music is permissible or not. In such a case, one's music must be glorifying or promoting Islam. Others still point out that the prophet Muhammed himself did not discuss the permissibility of music, and that it hardly of consequence. Many Muslims themselves argue that "one of the primary consequences and goals of creating Islamic-themed hip hop is providing an alternative to the messages of commercial hip hop music and culture. While the message in the music of these Muslim hip -hop artists may also appeal to non-Muslims, there is deliberate effort to offer this musical alternative to Muslim youth" ( Khabeer 134). Others argue yet that music allows many Muslims to help transmit art into the society that they belong, which helps form an identity that they so desperately need and that "in addition to serving the cultural needs of the general Muslim community, Islamic hip hop also, perhaps particularly from the perspective of the artist, is about asserting a religious identity that continues to acknowledge their ethnic culture" (Khabeer 136-137). It seems that most Muslims in music (specifically hip-hop)  profess that they aim to provide a positive influence to young Muslims that is somewhat contrary to what they feel mainstream hip-hop does in the current day and age. 

                                              An example of Native Deen's music:

Khabeer, Suad Abdul. "‘Rep That Islam’: The Rhyme And Reason Of American Islamic Hip Hop." Muslim World (Hartford, Conn.) 97.1 (2007): 125. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

Winters, Joseph. "Unstrange Bedfellows: Hip Hop And Religion." Religion Compass 5.6 (2011): 260-270. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.