A Muslim music video, country-western style

June 12, 11:17 AMAnn Arbor Islamic Issues ExaminerSakina Al-Amin

Previous Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Ann Arbor Islamic Issues Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

 Watch, & you may be surprised

When you cruise the streets of the metro Detroit area you are more likely to hear rap or Arabic music (click for two of my fave artists) coming from car stereos rather than country music.  But that doesn't mean Detroit doesn't have her avid country fans. 

Ironically, the first Muslim music video that received nation wide press and coverage was for a country song!  In December 2007, over 2,000 American Muslims were asked what they wished they could say to the world.  Their responses were then documented and many were displayed creatively on youtube for the world to see.  Many non-Muslim Americans don't realize how similar Muslims are to themselves; they don't realize that we are normal human beings with aspirations and needs just like theirs.  The video exhibits that fact in a clever and wholesome manner. 

Sister Lena Khan, a graduate of UCLA, decided to make a video regarding American Muslims in which viewers would be simultaneously eductated and entertained.  Around the same time Brother Kareem Salama had released his first album which featured a beautiful song entitled A Land Called Paradise.  The song became the background music for Lena's video which features a plethora of American Muslim types holding up signs with personal statements on them.  The statements are serious, funny, informative, and surprisingly, they're exactly what you might expect to hear from any given American person off the street.

You'll have to watch the video above to know what I mean.  I have three favorite statements from the video; after you see it, let me know which are yours!  

• Kareem Salama is the first Muslim country singer!
• Yusuf Islam and Dawud W. Ali are two of the best Nasheed artists, or Islamic singers