Gangstas Embrace Islam?

[Sheliak]

I just heard a song on the radio by Busta Rhymes and it sounds strangely like the call to prayer of the Muslim faith, correct me if I'm wrong.

What kinds of threats would America face if groups like the Nation of Islam surged, especially when this war against fascist Islamics has not concluded?

 

[JoeZhang]

The Nation of Islam has nothing at all to do with Islam and being a Muslim - it steals some of the language but that's it, they are unconnected.

 

[Sheliak]

The song is called Arab Money and it just disturbs me. I'm sure it will stir controversy perhaps it should even be banned.

 

[JoeZhang]

Having viewed the video, I would think that most Muslims would find it blasphemous and offensive to their region, I doubt it's going to be used as a rallying cry for the faithful...

 

[JoeZhang]

I'm sure it will stir controversy perhaps it should even be banned.

You don't believe in free speech? you think songs should be banned? should offensive books be burnt?

 

[Christopher]

I just heard a song on the radio by Busta Rhymes and it sounds strangely like the call to prayer of the Muslim faith, correct me if I'm wrong.

Although the song does include some lines from the Qur'an, it is not a song endorsing Islam or even about Islam, except peripherally. Here are the lyrics:

http://www.metrolyrics.com/arab-money-lyrics-busta-rhymes.html

It seems to be a satire/critique of the wealthy Arab elite and their conspicuous consumption, and is also apparently mocking their Islamic faith. The song has been denounced as racist and inflammatory by many Muslims, since it juxtaposes lines from their holy text with references to sex, gambling, profanity, etc. Far from "embracing" Islam, the song displays ignorance, insensitivity, and even hostility toward Arabs in particular and Muslims in general.

 

[Squiggy]

I'm sure it will stir controversy perhaps it should even be banned.

This is a deplorable thought.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The song is called Arab Money and it just disturbs me. I'm sure it will stir controversy perhaps it should even be banned.

Nah, free speech is quite a bit more important than offended sensibilities

 

[SlyCardie]

The song is called Arab Money and it just disturbs me. I'm sure it will stir controversy perhaps it should even be banned.

I heard this over the weekend, not really a mystery why the US isn't the most popular nation in the world with songs like that.
I'm also pretty certain that most affiliated with the song aren't Muslim, although Busta Rhymes might be.

 

[Christopher]

I'm also pretty certain that most affiliated with the song aren't Muslim, although Busta Rhymes might be.

Apparently he is a Muslim, making it even more surprising that he'd participate in a culturally insensitive song like this.

Still, the song itself, as I said, is not particularly about Islam, but seems to be primarily about the secular Arab elite and their culture of greed. Who knows, maybe the intent was to make an ironic point by juxtaposing that shallow venality with verses from the Qur'an, in order to call attention to the contrast between what Islam teaches and how these nominally Muslim oil billionaires behave. But if that was the intent, it didn't work very well. For all I know, he's celebrating that materialistic culture and his own hobnobbing with its members, and failing to recognize the contrast with his professed faith.

Either way, if it were about Islam per se, it wouldn't be called "Arab Money." Arabs are an ethnic group, not a religion. A song called "Italian Money" wouldn't necessarily be about Catholicism per se, although things like the Vatican and Mass and confession might be mentioned in it as part of the overall culture.

 

[Nociod]

Whan an awful song, this coming from someone who actually likes some rap songs...

What's with the damn synth voice effects in all the recent rap songs? It sounds like crap.

 

[Barbados Slim]

Since when was Busta Rhymes a "gangsta?"

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

Rappers going Islam ain't nothing new

You got the big Ice Cube, Mos Def, it ain't just a 'black' or 'American' thing since you have plenty of whites like Vinnie Paz and the guy from Irish-American from House of Pain, and foreign rappers like Akhenaton

but what it really boils down to is....

"Rap Music Is Pigshit"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lB8V_CyOiA

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Hip hop culture - which (usually) celebrates excess - seems completely at odds with traditional Islam, which espouses modesty in dress and prohibits alcohol or drug use. Some of these rappers may have adopted the trappings of Islam, but it's hard to imagine that they're actually practicing the faith in the traditional sense.

That said, I think the original question of what kinds of "threats" America would face if Islam became more popular is completely off base. America allows freedom of religion, therefore, anyone should be able to practice Islam freely and without restriction anywhere and any way they like. In fact, Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the U.S., if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Christopher]

That said, I think the original question of what kinds of "threats" America would face if Islam became more popular is completely off base. America allows freedom of religion, therefore, anyone should be able to practice Islam freely and without restriction anywhere and any way they like. In fact, Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the U.S., if I'm not mistaken.

Absolutely. It's profoundly wrong to assume that the militant Islamist factions are representative of Islam as a whole. They aren't, any more than David Koresh and the Branch Davidian cultists were representative of Christians as a whole. The myth is that the current conflict is one of Islam versus the West. It's not. It's really about conservative, fundamentalist Islamism (i.e. the belief that politics and the state should be based on Islamic law) versus liberal, modernist Muslims and secularists within the Islamic world. We just got caught in the middle because we took sides. There are a vast many Muslims who disagree with the beliefs and goals of the militant Islamists, and in fact most of the targets of Islamist terrorists are fellow Muslims, those who refuse to go along with them and are seen as traitors for embracing a more cosmopolitan, liberal, or secular way of life.

There are also millions of Muslims who are good, loyal Americans. There are two Muslims currently serving in the US Congress, and there are Muslims in the Bush administration as well, including the current (as of this writing) US Ambassador to the UN and the former director of the NIH. Dozens of American and foreign Muslims were among the victims of the World Trade Center bombings on 9/11; the Al-Qaeda terrorists therefore violated one of the most fundamental tenets of their own faith by murdering fellow Muslims, as well as by killing noncombatants, another Qur'anic no-no. Osama bin Laden is not a legitimate Muslim cleric and his claims to religious authority are fraudulent. He has been disowned by his entire family, whose members overall are quite Westernized and friendly to the US (which is probably part of why he hates us so much -- he's displacing his family issues).

So Islam is not the threat. Ignorance and prejudice -- on both sides -- are the real threats.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The song is called Arab Money and it just disturbs me. I'm sure it will stir controversy perhaps it should even be banned.

I heard this over the weekend, not really a mystery why the US isn't the most popular nation in the world with songs like that.

Yes, because we can be judged entirely based on the works of a single artist of a single genre of music.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

There are two Muslims currently serving in the US Congress

Two? I only know of one (Rep. Keith Ellison). Who's the other one?

 

[NCC1701]

This whole situation reminds me of the Tool song "The Eier von Satan", which some mistook for a recording of a Nazi rally, when it was actually a recipe for hash cookies being read in German.

 

[Rincewiend]

I just heard a song on the radio by Busta Rhymes and it sounds strangely like the call to prayer of the Muslim faith, correct me if I'm wrong.

What kinds of threats would America face if groups like the Nation of Islam surged, especially when this war against fascist Islamics has not concluded?

Welcome to 1985...
Even i knew then that there where some rappers that followed the Islam faith, or at least they claim to...
But as others have stated, it's probably the Nation Of Islam, which has very little to do with the real religion...
Now, go back to be scared of anything that doesn't follow your version of American Christianity...

 

[Christopher]

There are two Muslims currently serving in the US Congress

Two? I only know of one (Rep. Keith Ellison). Who's the other one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Carson

Welcome to 1985...
Even i knew then that there where some rappers that followed the Islam faith, or at least they claim to...

Plenty of prominent American entertainers and athletes for decades have been Muslim. Cat Stevens (Yussuf Islam), Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Ahmad Rashad, etc. Given how fond Americans are of sports, and how many Muslim-American athletes there are, I'm surprised that there's still so much intolerance and ignorance about Islam among Americans.

But as others have stated, it's probably the Nation Of Islam, which has very little to do with the real religion...

Not really. Some rappers, such as Ice Cube, have had some affiliation with the NoI, but that can't be assumed about most Muslim entertainers. The Nation of Islam is a black-supremacist political organization that espouses a heretical variant of Islamic belief; they believe their founder was a messianic figure, the embodiment of Allah in anthropomorphic form, which is a blasphemous notion in traditional Islamic terms. Primarily, though, their ideology is one of the supremacy of the black race.