Epic e-pics

#Ears to Hear & Eyes to See...

Pretty much everyone on social networking sites has caught the meme virus, or is atleast aware of it. Animation is hot right now, so to keep with the times, in this post we're going to look at the power of *pictures* 

...i'm talking cartoons, comics and sketches (politically/religiously motivated ones).

Now, if at any point you turn on the news, chances are something morbid is going to pop up on either Palestine/Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Syria etc. It’s safe to say that currently, the Muslim world has got conflict coming out of it’s ears.. wars, oil, politics, corruption, poverty..

Despite us regularly hearing all this stuff on the news, there is an overwhelming notion from within the Muslim community that the material given by the news is not enough to go by or it's biased and sheds Islam in the worst possible light. These views result in the rocky relationship between Muslims and the mainstream media (read more here). So, how have some Muslims tried to express their take on things and show events from another angle? By going back to the drawing board. Literally.

If you browse through the internet and look through websites, social networks and forums, there is a wealth of some really very powerful and witty graphics coming out of the Muslim world showing a side to the conflicts not seen in the mainstream. 

Political/religious cartoons are by no means an unheard of phenomena, in fact, they date all the way back to Leonardo Di Vinci and perhaps even before (i'm not kidding, check it out). Animation is a good way of spreading a message as it is not as restricted or limited by factors such language barriers in the same way posters are. Also, it's pretty amazing how much of a message one little cartoon can carry, but then again, they do say a picture is worth a thousand words.

So, visual propaganda? Animated expression? Decide for yourself.

Here are some examples.

 

Too preoccupied with wealth to care about other parts of the Arab world?

Holocaust used to justify violence by Israel?

Syrian government targeting civilians?

Palestinians, victims of the new Holocaust?

All Muslims labelled as terrorists?

Saudi Arabs aiding Western corruption?

Powerful stuff (maybe I got a bit carried away with the amount of images though)

So, readers, what do you think..? 

• Are graphics such as these promoting propaganda and conspiracy, or are they just a new way of giving a voice to the voiceless by shedding some light on the realities in the Muslim world?
  
• Just as Music is being used as a tool of re-education, are pictures not re-educating but showing re-ality? 
• Are cartoons and graphics showing the bigger picture more so than actual pictures (shown on news)?
• Finally, what effects can such images have on the Muslim community?

All feedback welcome.

When Words Fail, Let the Music Speak

So unfortunately  Islamic fundamentalist groups like the Taliban appear to be portraying Islam in a negative light and promoting that whole barbarian, terrorist, extremist stereotype that's floating around, but what are Muslims doing about this? 

...Quite a few things actually (which I hope to explore in later postings) ..and one such response is ♫♪♫ Music ♫♪♫

The Islamic Hip-Hop scene has been a method of re-educating listeners about what Islam is really about and stripping away modern misconceptions to bring forward Islam's core teachings.

Historically, rap and hip hop culture has always been non-conformist movement reflecting on a wide range of areas in the given urban climate. Whilst most rap or hip hop songs have the general themes of life, death, love, hate, money, poverty and crime, there has always been a lingering presence of God, religion and spirituality found amongst the lyrics. Based on the unignorable (is that even a word?) role Islam appears to have in contemporary times, there has been an upsurge of Muslim rappers and singers.

Now, hip hop (in fact, music in general) and Islam… On the face of it, you’d think how on earth do the two even link together? The answer; Islam has a word view aimed at everyone and carries a message of equality, love and oneness… and music is one of the fastest, catchy-est (and coolest) media tools out there  and a method  of ‘preaching’ or getting a message across in the modern era. So, it’s actually a stroke of genius amongst Muslim musicians to incorporate Islamic teachings into their lyrics as a form of “dawah”… Using their lyrics to invite people to Islam and re-educate the masses.

There are loads of examples of ‘preaching’ Islamic teachings through lyrics… Teachings about basic Islamic principles such as ideas about God, the prophet, prayer and ritual. Check this out;
 

Allah’s the most gracious,
He made the universe the most spacious
Seen and heard in all places, but still appear faceless
Embraces all races, all caste and all cases
In every spec of life he’s the substance of all traces

(Wu-Tang Clan – Sunlight)

Catchy, right?

And also fully in-line with Islamic teachings regarding God and His majesty.

Heres an example of hip-hop by the well-known “Native Deen”;

As you can see, the general theme of this video appears to be one of empowerment, however, the lyrics also contain Islamic teachings regarding the individual and society. Definitely no terrorist activity to be seen here.

So, readers.. What do you think about this modern form of dawah? 
How far has Islamic hip hop influenced society? Has it at all?
Will it continue thriving?

All comments welcome.

The One about Malala

-Malala-

I’ve decided to kick start with a blog about Malala Yousufzai, who is currently all over the news. For those of you who are fully out of touch with recent affairs, Malala, aged 14, from Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled Swat region was shot in the head and neck by a gunman for publicly speaking against the Islamic extremist views regarding the education of females and promoting “western culture” in the area.

There has been an upsurge of support for Malala (who is currently in the UK receiving treatment), and she has come to represent a beacon of light in a culture otherwise steeped in the darkness of ignorant customs (very poetic, I know).

The wider concerns within this story cover the controversial topics of the role and rights of women in Islam. Although, it would now appear that because of the puritan thinking of extremist groups such as the Taliban who follow a type of Islamic ideology which is against female education and rights, there are in reality no such "type" of Islam ...it appears that the Taliban ideology is based more upon backwards cultural practices, because pretty much any authentic Islamic source will inform you just how important education is for Muslims. (See here).

Radical's distorted grasp of Islamic teachings

In fact, this whole case just shows that the Taliban (and similar radical groups) terrorise their fellow Muslims just as much as they terrorise non-Muslims. It now remains to be seen whether or not the lines between the views of radical Islamists and mainstream Muslims will be blurred or grouped as one... in a wider context, have the views and practices of minority groups monopolised and re-constructed how Islam has been portrayed in the modern world? I mean, the media already tends to get it wrong and chances are, this won't help anything.

Back to Malala... We know that in ancient times, women weren’t afforded the right to education, but clearly that mentality is not exactly ‘ancient’ in some parts of the world, but rather a modern reality. Why are such radical minority groups threatened by the education of females? Is it because they see females as confined to the limited social roles of wives and mothers? Perhaps they fear educated women will begin a revolution and reconstruct the extreme-patriarchal social systems they have in place. Is education seen as a threat out of fear for the consequences of freedom?

On a rather cheesy finishing note, kudos to Malala Yousafzai, named apparently after Malalai of Maiwand, a Pashtun poet and warrior woman. If this is the case, she has more than lived up to her name for having the courage of her convictions and standing up for her beliefs. More Malala’s in the world could mean an end to backward stances on the basic human right of education and bring forward the type of revolution groups such as the Taliban have always feared.

Feel free to add any comments

Peace.

A Warm Welcome ^_^

Hello and welcome to The Muslim Media Monitor; a journey through the realms of the internet with the aim of uncovering and sourcing both open and obscure examples of Islamic portrayal in the modern world manifesting through a variety of sources such as chat rooms, blogs, online comics and videos.

The reason why I decided to start this blog was because I feel the internet provides an insight into views of “average” people, and so, it would be interesting to hear what the people have to say about Islam related issues (which there is certainly no lack of these days), as opposed to what is shown in mass media.

I ask

Is the media doing what it’s supposed to do and telling us what’s going on in the world or is everything we hear on the news staged; a set of half-truths and cover ups? Is Islam misrepresented because of this? What’s really going on in the world and what do the people think? 

This blog isn’t exactly going to be one fixed topic, but rather, I see it as a journey based on whatever is current.. any new material or news that comes up, or whatever I happen to stumble across in my research. It may get pretty controversial (which I personally see as a good thing), so let that be a warning to ye of a sensitive disposition.

Finally, I hope that you enjoy perusing through my weekly(ish) blog, feel free to comment, and I leave you with an image to reflect on ...which I also thought was pretty cool ^_^

Peace.