Muhammad was a Punk Rocker

Muhammad Rocked the Casbah - Lydia Crafts @ Texas Monthly via Andrew Sullivan - Muslim Punk Rock
Photo Credit - Kim Badawi

This is probably the coolest thing I've heard about in politics and music in a long time. Texas is the reason though. For cities like San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston, the mixed cultural identities slammed up against bastions of certain cultural identities tend to produce the desire for resistance. And, to stereotype Texas a little, there's an independent streak in all Texans. We go our own way because that's the way we decided to go. So the fact that a kid in San Antonio took Islam punk isn't surprising. But it is very cool, both for the Texas music scene and for the ideological struggles between the West and Islam and within Islam itself over modernity.
Money Quote: "On tour, the taqwacore bands allowed each other to embrace their contradictions as young Muslim Americans confused about their religion, identity, and place in the world. They prayed together, philosophized about Allah, visited mosques in Harlem and Ohio, shouted their grievances about President Bush, and generally thought for themselves."
I raise a glass for the rise of Islamic punks. These kids are the ones who will change perceptions about Islam, all while producing punk rock music. I think we win all the way around on this.