Are You Ready for Taqwacore?
On one level, this looks like a really good sign: that young Muslims are using rebellious music to challenge paradigms. But on another level, it’s disturbing when said rebellion includes Hizballah and suicide bombing:
Kourosh started a band and named it after one of the bands in the book: Vote Hezbollah. Soon came more groups, such as the Boston-based Kominas, whose achievements include penning the catchiest song ever to work the phrase “Suicide-bomb the Gap” into the chorus.
This video is worth watching to see the reactions from the fundamentalist elements of ISNA, although some of that reaction (especially when security showed up) might also have been due to the fact that the band kind of sucked, and they were playing really loud and really bad in a place that wasn’t expecting it (looks like a hotel ballroom): TAQWACORE Teaser and rough scene.