Disqus - Latest Comments for SalmanC

Re: Islam and Hip Hop by Brother Ahmad James

SalmanC — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:03:34 -0000

Salaams,

I think we basically agree, Sheikh. In a purely democratic forum, any number of misguided opinions could be mistakenly accepted as shari'i by the sheer force of the number of voices promoting them. Not that these opinions shouldn't be voiced; we should just be clear on where opinion ends and where knowledge begins.

Here's where I'm confused: have we been talking about shariah this whole time? I'm not so sure that that was understood by everyone in the conversation. Imam Suhaib, for example was mainly concerned with how hip-hop is used for dawa. Many of the commenters were coming at it from a cultural angle. Your original post, which started this conversation, didn't explicitly say anything about shariah or what it would say about hip-hop. It just gave examples of how recent, mainstream hip-hop tends to go against much of what we stand for as Muslims. There were nothing explicitly legal or binding about the text of the post. To me, that says, "Okay, the Sheikh is giving us his opinion and I'm free to agree of disagree with it."

Of course, I understand that you probably base your opinions on your knowledge of Shariah. But how are we to understand how you arrived at your conclusions unless we're privy to your train of thought? Explaining what the Shariah says on these issues would be of great benefit to us all. Convincing us of your informed opinion, rather than simply giving it to us, would only strengthen us in our deen.

I think this is why many of us began quoting Dr. Abdallah -- he explains his positions so that we are at least capable of understanding them. This is a core characteristic of the Muslim community in the West. We like to question things until we understand them. In my (normal, non-shari'i) opinion it's a strength, not a weakness.

Re: Islam and Hip Hop by Brother Ahmad James

SalmanC — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:09:20 -0000

Salaams,

Here's where I'm confused: have we been talking about shariah this whole time? I'm not so sure that that was understood by everyone in the conversation. Imam Suhaib, for example was mainly concerned with how hip-hop is used for dawa. Many of the commenters were coming at it from a cultural angle. Your original post, which started this conversation, didn't explicitly say anything about shariah or what it would say about hip-hop. It just gave examples of how recent, mainstream hip-hop tends to go against much of what we stand for as Muslims. There was nothing explicitly legal about the text of the post... no quotes from the Quran, Hadith, or fatwas. To me, that says, "Okay, the Sheikh is giving us his opinion and I'm free to agree of disagree with it."

I think this is why many of us began quoting Dr. Abdallah -- he explains his positions so that we are at least capable of understanding them. This is a core characteristic of the Muslim community in the West: we like to question things until we understand them. In my (normal, non-shari'i) opinion it's a strength, not a weakness.

Re: Islam and Hip Hop by Brother Ahmad James

SalmanC — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:24:05 -0000

Mashallah brother Ahmad, I envy your manners.

Re: Islam and Hip Hop by Brother Ahmad James

SalmanC — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:20:17 -0000

asalaam alaykum Sheikh Abul Hussein,

I'm curious, since I'm not educated on the topic, what role individual understanding can play when discussing topics like this one. I was among those who quoted from Dr. Abdallah's paper on Cultural Imperative. Granted, I'm not a scholar of any of the Islamic sciences, but I do think that I grasped the meaning of that essay. Is more education required of me before I add my voice to a discussion amongst fellow Muslims? Perhaps there are simply some guidelines I could follow to make sure my comments meet a certain standard. I would assume that we are technically permitted to form our own understandings on these issues, and voice them, since that's generally the type of behavior a blog is meant to facilitate. With that assumption in mind (and please correct me if I'm wrong), how should we move forward?

I agree that you, as a scholar, are deserving of a great deal of respect. I apologize if any of my words added to the offense done to you. I would imagine, though, that much of the fervor ignited by your original post came from a genuine love of our backgrounds, rather than any explicit disdain for you or the teachings of Islam. I pray that you can therefore be patient with us.

Re: A Challenge To Muslim Hip Hoppers and Entertainers

SalmanC — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:19:36 -0000

asalaamu alaykum brother Suhaib,

I have to say that I find the tone of this greatly disappointing. You're attempting to delegitimize those who disagree with you by calling them intoxicated. You're also misrepresenting all of the arguments made in favor of hip-hop in the previous post. No one argued that music should be used as a means of spiritual mobility. You're the only one who said anything about that.

I would imagine that the supposed intoxication you're referring to came about because of the tone of the original post, which equated hip-hop to satanism. Making a statement like that is really throwing down the gauntlet, and if you're going to do it, you need to back up your claims with some sound argumentation, which didn't happen. All of the evidence brought against hip-hop in the last post was anecdotal. Our objections don't amount to dissing you or your credentials either, as you said earlier. No one objects when you discuss the deeper meanings in Sura Yusuf because we all trust your knowledge on such matters. But when you speak out against hip-hop, you're entering the realm of opinion. Painting others' opinions as intoxicated in such contexts is entirely dishonest.

Your invitation to leave music for a year in favor studying our religion more deeply is entirely noble. Your insights into music, and hip-hop specifically, are also entirely valid and I respect them. I actually did a huge purge of my iTunes library after our discussion in the last post because your opinions on the matter make a lot of sense. But your arguments should be able to stand on their own. Painting your opposition as illegitimate is only going to sow discord. You said earlier that you respect the opinions of your brothers and sisters in Islam. I invite you to act like it.

I would be entirely willing to give up Islamic entertainment in favor of studying our sciences for a year. I look forward to your guidance in future posts.

Re: A Challenge To Muslim Hip Hoppers and Entertainers

SalmanC — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:09:19 -0000

asalaamu alaykum brother Suhaib,

I would imagine that the supposed intoxication you're referring to came about because of the tone of the original post, which equated hip-hop to satanism. Making a statement like that is really throwing down the gauntlet, If you're going to do that, you need to back up your claims with some sound argumentation, which didn't happen. All of the evidence brought against hip-hop in the last post was anecdotal. Our objections don't amount to dissing you or your credentials either, as you said earlier. No one objects when you discuss the deeper meanings in Sura Yusuf because we all trust your knowledge on such matters. But when you speak out against hip-hop, you're entering the realm of opinion. Painting others' opinions as intoxicated in such contexts is entirely dishonest.

I would be entirely willing to leave Islamic entertainment for a year in favor of studying our sciences. I look forward to your future posts as guidance in this matter.