amir sulaiman: the meccan openings

Amir Sulaiman's latest album, The Meccan Openings, is available for FREE download here. (And if you don't like downloading, most if not all of the songs are available on YouTube in some form). I haven't finished listening yet but so far the first couple of tracks have really drawn me in. I'm really curious to get a better sense of where Amir Sulaiman is at spiritually.

My lyricism is an exercise in exorcism.
But the exoteric call it eso-terrorism.
I learned jihad from Rumi.
The Sunni call me Shia.
The Shia call me Sufi.

somalia: nevermind by amir sulaiman

black faces
white tongues
the smell of sea water
taunts with sarcasm
drink me


oh somalia
im sorry i couldnt be there for you
but while you were trying to to get your daughter
to drink her urine
a singer died
while your children
were falling from the tree of life
scattered bushels of rotten fruit
some whiter children were shot


oh somalia
only if your beautiful wasnt so black
only if you were
gaza or
libya or
bahrain or
egypt or
norway or
england or
japan or
america
or the moon
i would mention you in a poem


only if you had
oil or
poppy or
timber or
rubber or
white people
i would mention you in my prayers


oh somalia
only if your beautiful wasnt so black
the world has grown accustom to watching you die
since i was a child
somalia - synonymous with suffering
african meant adversity
an african struggling was like
a fish swimming
a dog barking
somalia meant starvation


nevermind the magic in your poetry
or
the glowing saints rising from your lands like a thousand moons


nevermind the beauty of your beaches
or
the utter perfection in the hips of your women


oh somalia
only if you didnt wear the resemblance of eve
like an ornate funeral shroud
we wouldnt see you as our sin
and avert our gazes
in shame
turn our faces
to blame
only if your lack of the worldy
didnt remind us
of our lack of the other-worldly
perhaps then we would mention you


oh somalia
only if your beautiful wasnt so black

my name is khan (finally saw it)

A few months ago, without actually having seen the film, I had posted some links/letters regarding the movie My Name is Khan and the controversial decision by the Muslim Public Affairs Council to honor the film with its "Voices of Courage and Conscience" Media Award. (see my name is not khan and my name is still not khan ). The film has been described as a kind of "Muslim Forrest Gump" where the hero, Rizvan Khan, a Muslim man with Asperger Syndrome is on a mission to meet the President of the United States and tell him "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist."

Now that I have seen the movie (thanks to the used DVD bin at Blockbuster) I'm in a better position to appreciate what the disagreement was about. I totally see Su’ad Abdul Khabeer's point about the film. It's portrayal of African-Americans in rural Georgia was definitely archaic, stereotypical and problematic. And in spite of the criticisms which can still be made about how Hollywood deals with race, one would be hard pressed to find a contemporary American film which portrays Blacks in such a fashion.

But My Name is Khan, is most definitely not an American film It is an Indian-centered film for an Indian audience. So even though most of the film was set in the United States, most of the dialogue was in Hindi or Urdu and most of the subjects/agents in the film were of Indian descent; Indian store owners, professors, motel managers, news reporters, and doctors, etc. (so "of course" the African-American characters will be poorly fleshed out stereotypes).

In fact, it wouldn't really be correct to call it a "pro-Muslim" film. From an early scene in the movie we see Rizvan Khan's mother teach him explicitly that there is no difference between Muslim and Hindu. There are just two kinds of people in the world, good people and bad people. And so we see many examples of "bad Muslims" (e.g. a terrorist recruiter speaking in a mosque, a Muslim couple who are too embarrassed to pray in front of non-Muslims, Rizvan's jealous and then estranged brother Zakir) and good non-Muslims (Rizvan's Hindu wife and stepson, the white couple who befriend them, different Sikh and Hindu Indian-Americans who support Khan on his journey). In fact, we see many more examples of Hindus and Sikhs being victimized in the post-9/11 environment than we see of Muslims. (And African-American Muslims are absent).

Basically I think our evaluation of the film depends entirely on where we choose to set the bar. If we want to compare My Name is Khan to more typical Hollywood portrayals of Muslims (see planet of the arabs) then of course we would say that MNIK is wonderful. And I would actually say that, except for the scenes involving African-Americans, MNIK is basically a fun, entertaining, Bollywood film. But if we demand a higher degree of excellence, and especially if the film is to receive an award from a major Muslim-American organization because of its "courage" and "conscience" I think it is fair to hold the film to a higher standard. And by that standard, the other winners of the 2010 MPAC Courage and Conscience Media Award were more deserving.

In fact, looking at past winners of the award, I'm tempted to think that some other cultural productions and performances are more deserving... Don Cheadle in Traitor for instance or Keith David as Abu 'Imam' al-Walid in the Chronicles of Riddick. Some more controversial alternative choices might be Amir Sulaiman, the film New Muslim Cool, Mos Def and K'naan on Austin City Limits, Lupe Fiasco and others. Lets hope that MPAC is more "courageous" when it gives out awards in the future.

the alchemist

Here is a video for [the alchemist] by Amir and Mikail Sulaiman from their upcoming album, The Meccan Openings:

[the alchemist] by Sulaiman.s Temple from The Meccan Openings from amir sulaiman on Vimeo.

I'm in the middle of a book about the Andalusian mystic, Seal of the Saints, Shaykh al-Akbar Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi and so I'm really intrigued by the title (one of Ibn 'Arabi's major works is called Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya or the Meccan Openings/Revelations/Illuminations so I'm wondering how deep the correspondence goes between the titles.

"my everything" by liza garza

A powerful piece from Latina poet (and Muslim), Liza Garza:



Laza Garza's website
Liza Garza's Myspace Page

amir sulaiman: like a thief in the night

So one of the albums I did end up getting at the aforementioned trip to the music was was Amir Sulaiman's Like a Thief in the Night which I definitely recommend. I was able to find videos clips to go along with two of the tracks. One is the very short film by Bobby O'Neil called Spit:


and then there is also the more sensitive piece "She Said I Prefer a Broken Neck (To a Broken Heart)" which appears on Like a Thief in the Night. But this particular performance is from Def Poetry Jam:



See also: upon the ashes of babylon

upon the ashes of babylon

Here is an entire talk entitled Upon the Ashes of Babylon from a powerful Muslim spoken word artist, Amir Sulaiman. The event was part of Islam Awareness Week 2006 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada. Amir's words manifest a quiet confidence which I find compelling. He has a way of framing issues which is really cathartic and healthy... it reminds me of how I felt when I read Malcolm's speeches for the first time.

Upon the Ashes of Babylon
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Past Grenada posts on Amir