Hip Hop Diplomacy

As the Western newsmedia went back into panic mode last week after the failed terrorist attack in Times Square, we learned very quickly that the main suspect, Faisal Shahzad, was not only linked to the Pakistani Taliban and other Al Qaeda affiliates, but was yet another follower of the prolific Yemeni-American Islamist cleric  Anwar Al Awlaki. Awlaki was a source of inspiration, if not direct encouragement, for the so-called “underwear bomber” from Christmas, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, as well as the army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in November, Nidal Malik Hasan. Even before Mr. Shahzad parked the Pathfinder in Times Square, President Obama had  signed a secret order authorizing the killing of Awlaki, making him Global Terrorist #1.

However, there are many who would argue that the targeting of Imam Awlaki is little more than the latest attempt by the US government to create a public enemy in order to justify increased military action against countries like Yemen, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.  One such skeptic whose own profile resembles that of the “well-educated, well-heeled”  Abdulmutallab and Shahzad, is American-born, Harvard-educated rapper Abu Nurah. His defense of Imam Awlaki, though it may land him on the Terrorist Expatriation List, calls neither for violence nor terror, but rather a transition from blind patriotism to informed activism, which he captures in the title of his new album: “Don’t Be A Citizen”.

In a blogpost from January 10, titled “Hands off Anwar Al-Awlaki”, Abu Nurah describes Awlaki as “a reputable scholar who finds himself the victim of character assassination”, while expressing disappointment at the lack of support from the US Muslim community.

“So while our government actively cooperates with the government of Yemen in attempting to assassinate Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, everyone including the American Muslim community tacitly approves or at least looks the other way.”

He goes on to suggest that the CIA may have been covertly involved in the Christmas bombing attempt, citing a number of “clues” related to the “security lapse” that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam. Whether you subscribe to such theories or not, as well-documented as they may be, what is important here is not Abu Nurah’s accusations against the CIA or the USG. Rather, what is valuable is the case of an American-born, well-educated Muslim man who has been strongly influenced by the lectures of Imam Al-Awlaki but has not taken up arms, like Abdulmutallab, Hasan, or Shahzan, choosing instead a pen and a microphone as his weapons with which to wage the “war of knowledge and truth”.

Abu Nurah goes on in his post to describe how he was “instantly gripped” by Awlaki’s “storytelling ability” when he came across the Imam’s popular lectures, and how he admired the Imam’s “love of justice” and care for the “suffering of his fellow Muslims.” Nurah makes no mention of Awlaki’s alleged call for violent jihad, nor of his alleged connection with Al Qaeda, but praises his “courage” in expressing “unpopular” beliefs.

What we can learn from this is that Imam Al-Awlaki’s words have the power to inspire thoughtful artistic creation as well as psychotic attempts at murder, and therefore may not be as easily blamed for the actions of the Imam’s more impressionable followers. Years ago, conservative politicians tried to blame a rise in adolescent crime on rap lyrics and we learned (hopefully) that the lyrics were reflecting society ills, not creating them. In the same way, one could easily make the argument that jihadist propaganda on the Internet is a reaction to the antagonism felt by Muslims the world over from the “West”, and not the cause of such antagonism.

In his own lyrics, Abu Nurah incites his listeners to question leaders and news media, to renounce notions of “citizenship” that pit “us” against “them”, and to embrace “ideals of justice and human rights for all.” Quite a different approach than those taken by his fellow Awlaki-ites, Major Hasan, Omar Farouk, and Faisal Shahzad, and yet inspired by the same rhetoric. In honor of this paradox, I offer an excerpt from Abu Nurah’s song “Rebel Militia”, demonstrating one Muslim’s artistic interpretation of the call to jihad.

forget the camouflage let’s bring this out in the open

it’s a shame i never became the citizen you were hoping

because i pledge allegiance only to the creator

these patriot sellouts like to label me a traitor

i lay waste all those years of indoctrination

the day i took my shahada and welcomed emancipation

my occupation was simply for paper creation

spitting microphone venom was just a side operation

they call them terrorists but the term is mujahideen

resistance fighters fear nothing but the unseen

you know them only from the lies the media submit

that’s why you can’t imagine that their cause is legit

our collateral damage is justified as an accident

theirs is called terrorism by the corporate news outlets

so your mind is co-opted and your views take shape

they tell you it’s liberation while iraq is raped

this is the start of an era, not the apocalypse

bringing heat to these bastards plus truth to the populace

this is the start of an era, not the apocalypse

rebel militia, it’s abu nurah that’s dropping this