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Making Music, Making Muslims. a Case Study of Islamic Hip Making Music, Making Muslims: A Case Study of Islamic Hip Hop and the Discursive Construction of Muslim Identities on the Internet Master’s thesis Intercultural Encounters Master’s Programme Study of Religions Faculty of Arts Inka Rantakallio October 2011 CONTENTS GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................4 I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................5 1. Muslim hip hop as a reflection of globalization................................................5 1.1 Previous research ...................................................................................8 1.2 Research questions and the structure of the thesis.................................9 II MATERIAL, THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHOD ......................11 2. Research material ............................................................................................11 2.1 Description of research material ..........................................................11 2.2 Reflections on the research process and material ...............................14 3. Identity as a theoretical framework .................................................................16 3.1 The concept of identity........................................................................16 3.2 Religious communities, the Internet and music in identity construction................................................................................................18 4. Discourse analysis and identities.....................................................................20 III CONTEXTUALIZING THE STUDY: ISLAM, MUSLIM IDENTITIES, THE INTERNET AND HIP HOP..................................................................................25 5. Muslim identities.............................................................................................25 5.1 Muslims in the United States .............................................................28 5.2 After 9/11 ...........................................................................................30 6. Muslims online................................................................................................32 7. Islam and music...............................................................................................34 7.1 The meaning of ‘Muslim hip hop’: Differences between Nation of Islam, Five Percenters and orthodox Muslims...........................................35 7.2 Islamic hip hop music: A subgenre for religious education and identification ..............................................................................................37 7.3 Halal hip hop, haram hip hop............................................................39 7.4 Hip hop music as a cultural and socio-political critique....................41 2 IV A CASE STUDY OF MUSLIM HIP HOP: CONSTRUCTING IDENTITIES IN DISCOURSES ON THE INTERNET...................................................................44 8. What is MHH?...................................................................................................44 8.1 The front page, mission and history of Muslimhiphop.com ...............44 8.2 Criteria.................................................................................................50 9. The education discourse: Making dawah through Islamic hip hop ...................53 10. The halal-haram-discourse: Islamic hip hop as a permissible alternative .......62 11. Social change discourse in Muslim hip hop ....................................................70 11.1 Calling for Muslim unity....................................................................71 11.2 Opposing socio-political injustices and stereotypes ..........................75 12. Creativity, commercialism, Islam: Negotiating Muslim identities and hip hop ...................................................................................................................82 12.1 “Hip hop was around”: Arguing for the right to artistic self- expression...................................................................................................82 12.2 Mainstream success without the career?............................................89 V CONCLUSION....................................................................................................100 SOURCES AND REFERENCES........................................................................105 3 GLOSSARY The following translations were compiled with the help of http://www.islamic- dictionary.com, Pratt (2005) and Ba-Yunus&Kone (2006). They are intended to be general and easy to understand, not thorough explanations. Alhamdulillah “Praise to Allah”. Awrah Body parts that should be covered. Dawah Promotion of Islamic values and beliefs. Deen (Islamic) way of life. Dhikr/Zikr Remembrance of God; also a Sufi ritual aimed at this. Dua Calling to Allah or asking favours of Him. Hadith Talk attributed to the Prophet (words, actions, opinions, characteristics); central source of example and knowledge. Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca; part of the five pillars of Islam. Halal Permissible, allowed for Muslims. Haram Forbidden, not allowed for Muslims. Inshallah “God (Allah) willing”; “If Allah wishes”. Iman Faith. Islam Submission (to God’s will). Jahiliyah State of ignorance as 1) forgetting the truth about and belief in one God in the time before the Qu’ran was revealed; 2) general misbehavior of humans. Jazakallah (Khairun) “May Allah grant you (goodness)”. Jihad 1) Personal struggle against evil and sin; 2) Holy war in defence of Islam. Kufir (sg.)/ Kufar (pl.) Nonbeliever(s). Makruh Disliked, detested. Often refers to actions portrayed negatively in the sunnah or the Quran. Mashallah ”Whatever Allah (God) wills”; often used in expressing surprise about good deeds or achievements. Munkar Wrong-doing, sin. Nur Light (from God). Qur’an Holy book of Islam; believed to have been sent by God to prophet Muhammad. Ramadan A month in the Islamic calendar during which Muslims fast the daylight hours, pray more and try harder to avoid sinning. Rasul Messenger of God; e.g. Prophet Muhammad. Sala(a)m(aleikum)/ “Peace”; an Islamic “hello”. Assalamu aleikum “Peace be unto you”; a typical greeting. Salallahu Alayhi Wasalam/ “Peace (and blessings) be upon him” (pbuh). SAW Shahadah Islamic profession of faith. Sunna Qur’an and the Hadiths. Tawhid Central Islamic doctrine claiming that God is One and unique. Ulama Muslim scholars. Ummah Global Muslim community. Wa Alaikum Assalam “And Peace be upon you”; response to ‘salam’ or other Muslim greeting. Wa Jazakallah Khairun “And may Allah grant you goodness (too)”. 4 I INTRODUCTION 1. Muslim hip hop as a reflection of globalization Over the last years, hip hop culture has become more mainstream and its audience more diverse, including many Muslims around the world. This is related to globalization, a process characterized by accelerating flows, blurring boundaries and increased interconnectedness of economies, cultures, nations, information and people that affects the everyday lives of people in practically every corner of the planet.1 A recent development linked to globalization is the emergence of Islam-related websites and Muslim hip hop, which are both new forms of global Muslim networks.2 This thesis is a case study about how Muslims represent and construct social and religious identities within the global hip hop and Muslim community in an online context, focusing on a single web site entitled Muslimhiphop.com. Many researchers have agreed that hip hop is a truly global phenomenon, but have focused more on local interpretations and case studies.3 Also, the connections between religion and hip hop have not been widely researched. Therefore, a study about Muslim hip hop in an online context represents a new point of view to the academic research about Muslims and hip hop and will provide new knowledge with the help of research that is close to the many interrelated themes of the topic. The history of hip hop begins in the Bronx suburbs of New York City in the 1970s. The main elements which at that time came together and began to form an emerging hip hop culture are DJing (turntablism), hip hop (music), graffiti art and dance (most notably breaking). Also clothing and talking are often considered as essential parts of the hip hop lifestyle. Since then, hip hop culture has spread all over the world. One of the distinctive aspects of hip hop is that it typically is and has been the venue of young people. 4 Of the abovementioned elements, this thesis focuses on hip hop music. Music becomes popular when it sounds good, and although music enjoyment is related to social and 1 Cf. Ritzer & Stillman 2003. 2 Cf. cooke & Lawrence (eds.), 2005a. 3 Cf. e.g. Mitchell, ed., 2001; Alim et al. (eds.), 2009. 4 Cf. e.g. Chang 2005; Rose 1994, 34; Masquelier 2010, 230. For more about the early history and development of hip hop culture cf. e.g. Chang 2005; Watkins 2005; Rose 1994. 5 cultural conditioning, hip hop has seemed to transcend such boundaries.5 Alastair Pennycook and Samy H. Alim argue that while hip hop culture is widespread and diverse as well as related to a plethora of global issues such as Islam, it is also one of the most important subjects to focus on in the study of globalization6; as hip hop music moves across the globe through the Internet and other media, it is altered and reused in culture and identity construction. Since its very beginnings, hip hop culture and rap music have
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