Posted on 07/29/2007 5:40:44 PM PDT by Valin
In Pakistan they are as famous as Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, with 60m album sales between them, and their first musical collaboration has had 65,000 downloads and been number one on MTV. But the pop stars on one of the biggest Pakistani records of 2007 are not singing about young love or broken hearts, but terrorism. Yeh Hum Naheen, This Is Not Us, has become an anthem for Muslims wanting to distance themselves from extremism and violence and the artists want it to inspire a similar reaction in Britain, where the single has just been released.
One of the singers, Haroon Rasheed, says: "People are associating Islam with terrorism, we are all being tarred with the same brush, and it is time we stood up and said no, this is not who we are and this is not what we are about." The song's success in Pakistan has much to do with the lineup - Haroon, Ali Zafar, Hadiqa Kiani, Shafaqat Amanat Ali, Strings and Ali Haider have a huge fanbase. In Britain, where 43% of the Muslim population is of Pakistani origin, the record is on the playlist of Asian radio stations and cable music channels. But it may be a little harder to promote.
Project coordinator Waseem Mahmood, a 45-year-old author and media consultant, says: "The mullahs and hardliners will not be listening to this because they think music is forbidden. But the hardliners' voices are the loudest. It is time for the moderates to stand up for themselves."
Yeh Hum Naheen started when Mr Mahmood decided to combat growing puritanism in Birmingham's Muslim community after one of his sons was criticised for eating western food and the other sent home from Qur'an classes for wearing a Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
That means the four Pakistani's who know of him don't like him.
“Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt”
There’s gotta be a Ron Jeremy joke in there, somwehere.
>> That means the four Pakistani’s who know of him don’t like him.
ROFL!
Joking aside: this could be a big deal. Peer pressure can accomplish great things (for better or worse).
Way too early to know what effect it’ll have, if any, though.
Western music, western instruments, western dress, girls going to school. This is their “We are the world”. I think this could be a powerful force to crack the Islamic stranglehold.
We bitch and complain (appropriately, I might add) when there is no anti-terrrorism outcry from the Muslim world.
I hope we don’t belittle and berate those who do.
Personally, I think any Muslim who speaks out forcefully has my respect and prayers for safety, because I think they need both.
I still like Sonic the Hedgehog.
Yeah. Finally some visible support in the Muslim world for basic human decency!
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