I’ve been saying this a lot lately in conversation with friends: I always thought that my idealism would fade away as I became older. But aside from a supremely apathetic phase in my 20s, my idealism has remained intact. Certainly it has become a crankier form of idealism as I’ve become more informed about the world and watched as humanity has failed to live up to its potential again and again, but I still believe that if everyone put aside self-absorption and pettiness, we could have a great thing going on her on earth. And as an avid/rabid music listener, I’ve always been open to finding good music wherever it may be hiding, from whatever race, creed, class and corner of the globe it may be coming from.
So when I was tripping around Netflix looking for something interesting to watch one day, Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam and The Taqwacores caught my eye quickly and held my attention. I was posting about it on my social media networks before I even watched it.
The Taqwacores is a feature film based on Michael Muhammad Knight’s novel of the same name. Knight is a Muslim convert from an Irish Catholic family who wrote about a fantasy he had of a punk house full of Muslims. Or, at least, he thought it was a fantasy until the book was published and got into the hands of young Muslims across the U.S. who identified with the characters, ideas and music portrayed. Soon, as Knight says, they connected the dots, and a loose network of misfit Muslims was strung together. Friends were made, bands were born and taqwacore become a word used for Muslims living in the spirit of punk, questioning, fighting, learning and living by their own ideals.
Taqwacore: The Birth of Islam Punk is a documentary about Knight and the real-life people and bands that were brought together by his book, ultimately culminating in an all-inclusive celebration and exhibition of the power of music to knock down barriers and draw people together.
I came away from this duo of films invigorated and excited that people are still out there using music as a tool for the betterment of the world, to include the excluded, to give voice to subversive thought, to be heard over the din of blind, self-serving authority figures.
Check out this thoughtful interview conducted by Jian Ghomeshi with Michael Muhammad Knight and Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam filmmaker Omar Majeed for Q TV.
The trailer for The Taqwacores:
The trailer for Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam:
The Taqwacores soundtrack is well worth a listen on its own. Here are a few tracks.
