Islam is a religion based on peace and love. Sometimes, the only thing that goes through distortion is a pure source. Nevertheless, the message of Islam is in its purity and submission to God. The anti-Islam movie that surfaced the web took the whole Muslim community by storm and angered it. Some of the reactions from the Muslim community didn’t reflect the true essence of Islam. Civilized self-expressions are very important in this case. Hip-hop is one tool the youth can use to express and channel their thoughts.

Hip-hop artists Deen and Sphinx teamed up and launched a track called “Muslim” in response to the ignorant video “Innocence of Muslims” and the violent protests that occurred as a result.

Deen, whose name means “way of life” in Arabic, was born in California to parents of Pakistani and Afghan origin. Sphinx is one of the members of Egyptian hip-hop based group Arabian Knightz.

The track is a civilized reply to what was proven a hate message from ignorant souls that used freedom of expression to hide as a coward and promote hate.

What Deen and Sphinx did was to rise up and alert the Muslim community that we all should stick together and put our views across using civilized art or other civilized ways of expression.

Arab News had a discussion with the talented artists about their views on this issue, Islam, and of course the track Muslim.

Do you think the Muslim community would respectfully validate “art” being a reply to the anti-Islam movie?

Sphinx: “Well, as long as Islam validates it, then it doesn’t really matter whether Muslims do or not; but with that being said, I think the majority of the Muslim community would.”

Deen: “I believe in our present day, art provides us the biggest platform to communicate our message in a very palatable form to a wide demographic of people. From an Islamic point of view, if you look at the time period when the Qur’an was revealed, poetry was at its peak in Arabia and yet God provided the Prophet (peace be upon him) with a message that could not be matched by any human or jinn. Hip-hop is a form of modern-day poetry, and we’ve done our best to represent our beliefs and our people in this song. From the reactions we’ve been getting so far, our fellow Muslims have embraced that, and the common sentiment has been that they’re proud that somebody stepped up to speak on their behalf.”

How often do you think impulsive reactions against such events can affect the image of Islam?

Sphinx: “I think it always does, because unfortunately, it’s always the ignorant actions that reflect Islam and ruin it for the rest of us. If we were only to actually act Islamic, then people could for once get the real image. Take the below quote from the Qur’an for example (Sura 25, verse 63): ‘And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace’.”

Deen: “Muslims are already under a microscope. I feel like a lot of Western media are already looking for any reason to paint a negative image of Islam, and these impulsive reactions just provide them with more fuel to add to their fire. However, as Muslims, we should be mindful of our actions because of our beliefs, and that should take precedence over everything else.”

How can we educate people to really follow the Prophet’s legacy, which is being humble, and respond to hate actions in a civilized manner?

Sphinx: “I am trying to do so with music, which has made me fortunate enough to be flown out to countries in Europe to meet with people and show them the other side and actually have a direct dialogue with a group of students about the subject. I have learned that people really want to know and are very curious, because what the media spread is all hate against Muslims.”

Deen: “I think the best way is to lead by example. People need to educate themselves. Islam urges us to read, research, and to not follow things blindly. We’re doing our part through our music to spark ideas in people’s minds and give them a different perspective on things. Inshallah, our work can influence them to look further into what they believe. We aim for our positivity to breed more positivity.”

Islam is a religion of peace. What is the role of the media in changing that fact?

Sphinx: “I will quote comedian Russel Peters when he made the comparison of how the media show the ‘Hillbillies’ of America on the news when they interview random people in the streets and the people outside the US just assume that every American is an idiot. Basically, the media is only showing the Hilbillies of the Islamic community, which is spreading the same kind of ignorance. If the media actually showed more of the everyday Muslim, which is the majority of us in the world, everyone would get a more accurate picture of the teachings of Islam.”

Deen: “The best way I can explain it is like this: If you see persons who say they are Muslims eating pork chops, would you consider them a good representative of Islam? Equally so, if you see persons who say they are Muslims killing innocent people, would you consider them a good representative of Islam? Both of these scenarios mention individuals that are blatantly committing acts that go against Islamic teachings, and yet, the media will take the actions of such individuals as the latter and push it to the public like they are the sole representatives of Islam. In our song Muslim, I say the following in one of my verses: ‘50 people don’t speak for 2 billion; we aren’t the ones who dropped them 2 buildings... Nowhere in Islam is it cool to be killing innocents, if they practice that then they don’t know what their religion is’. Meaning, you can’t judge the majority by the actions of a misguided non-practicing minority. The media have a responsibility, and they should be held accountable for the way they report things. The unbiased facts need to be told.”

When you first saw the movie, what did you feel?

Sphinx: “I, of course, felt disrespected and disgusted; but I also knew that it was ignorance that created this movie, and that educating the people should have been the only reaction.”

Deen: “I was displeased, because once again some ignorant fool is attacking our religion and the Prophet. However, I think this American proverb says it best, ‘You must not enthrone ignorance just because there is much of it’.”

The track has been spreading around the globe. Any special comment or feedback that caught your attention?

Sphinx: “What really stood out was the number of e-mails I got, saying, ‘Why don’t more people like you speak?’ and my answer is always, ‘There are many people that speak out; the media just chooses to ignore us because truth doesn’t get ratings’.”

Deen: “Yes, a brother based in Dubai named Mohamed Khalil tweeted me, saying, ‘amazing song man, no dissing or disrespect to any religion no matter what, very smart lyrics, I love it!’ That response right there summed up the essence of what our goal was with this song, and to see it reached people the way we intended it to is very beautiful and gratifying.”

The track is done in English; what’s your response to people that think Islam is only represented by Arab speakers?

Sphinx: “Well, our message is mainly to non-Muslims, which mostly don’t speak any Arabic. Secondly, Arabic is only mentioned in the Qur’an as the way God will preserve it— not that it’s some magical language. Islam is for all mankind and not just for Arabs.”

Deen: “My response is, Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Wake up. Islam is universal, and whether it’s said in Arabic or not, our message is for the world.

— To listen to the track and support, please visit:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DChSzksTbXI

Twitter: Follow Deen @DEEN562 and Sphinx @ArabianKnightz


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