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Monday Mixtape: Tunes that Make You Go Act (A Special Ramadan Edition), Part II

Music hardly exists in a vacuum. Like an interconnected web, each tune, each track released to the world both came from somewhere and leads to something else. At Aslan Media, we recognize that very few albums come to us without influence, and it’s those artists that walked the road before who helped shape the styles and expressions of the music artists we profile in this website today.

To show that music, in its purest form, is an expression that knows no physical, cultural, societal or economic boundaries, Aslan Media is proud to bring you Monday Mixtape, a regular new feature where profiled artists on this site share with us the tracks that inspire and influence who and where they are as music artists. The genres covered by these playlists are limitless, as are the artists they include, which can include those from countries outside the Middle East that carry universal messages found in every region of the world.

When we originally began compiling suggested tracks for a Ramadan series of Mixtape, our aim was to use this special month as a springboard in providing readers with music that both inspires and reflects the views and practices of various Muslim artists. What we quickly found is that like anything that holds a personal ideal or commitment, belief is not simply triggered by an on-off switch, but rather situates itself on an ever-growing continuum, each variegated form of commitment just as valid as all the others.

For many, belief is a shared moral compass that brings people together in both times of distress and celebration. In honor of Ramadan, and the sacrifices we all make for whatever we believe in, this Mixtape is deliberately open-ended, allowing each artist to redefine his/her interpretation of Islam as not necessarily religion, but as trust, loyalty, action, consolation, teacher… and to describe spiritual fulfillment in songs that are not necessarily about faith.

Take a listen of our second installment:

Love and Peace or Else – U2

Watch the video here

One of my favorite tunes that calls people to action in its unique way, and I think that fact that Bono & The Edge do try to change the world themselves makes it even better for this Mixtape.

- Mosno Al Moseeki, singer-songwriter

Ra7tak fe Emanak – 050 Band

Watch the video here

La Illaha Illa Allah – Arabian Knightz, MC Amin, Rush, Yasser, Miss Raw

Watch the video here

I believe this song is inspirational because it calls to check the knowledge we have of Islam, and to search for the truth. That takes us back to the first command by Allah to the prophet Mohammed (PBUH), TO READ!

- Sphinx, rapper, Arabian Knightz

Insha Allah – Maher Zain

Watch the video here

This track is an energy booster and spirit lifter. It helps me get through hard times and simply reminds me to have faith and never give up.

-Eman Jueid, Aslan Media Content Manager and UK Coordinator

Met’asema El Arzaa – Ramy Nawar

Watch the video here

Assan Ishq Namaz – Abida Parveen

Watch the video here

Music by Pakistani living legend Abida Parveen never fails to inspire and mesmerize me. Her divinely-inspired voice passionately expresses the deeper themes of divine love, sorrow, and longing that are often found in Islamic mystical/Sufi poetry. In this song, she sings famous verses by renowned 17th century Punjabi poet Bulleh Shah. I love her ability to infuse so much pure emotion into the original poem and express how meaningful the lyrics are. The song opens with these important and relevant verses:

Parh parh ilm hazaar kitaaban

qaddi apnay aap nou parhiya naee

jaan jaan warhday mandir maseedi

qaddi mann apnay wich warhiya naee

aa-vain larda aye shaitan de naal bandeaa

qaddi nafss apnay naal lariya naee.

[Yes, you have read thousands of books,

but you have never tried to read your own self;

you rush in, into your Temples, into your Mosques,

but you have never tried to enter your own heart;

futile are all your battles with Satan,

for you have never tried to fight your own desires.]

This message of self-reflection, humility, and holding one’s self accountable captures the compassionate heart of Islam and is conveyed so powerfully when Parveen sings it. Bulleh Shah reminds us that when we judge others or perceive ourselves as “more pious” or “superior,” we fall into arrogance, hypocrisy, and failure to see our own faults. I believe these lyrics are relevant to social justice struggles as well and how self-critique and accountability is needed so that we don’t reproduce oppressive forces in our own movements. It is respect and compassion for every human being that makes Bulleh Shah’s message so beautiful and Islamic.

-Jehanzeb Dar, Writer, 'Teaching Against Islamophobia'

Ar-Rahman – Ahmed Sa’ad

Watch the video here

Beni Beni – Niyaz

Watch the video here

"Beni Beni" has a beautiful cadence that reflects human yearning. We yearn for the divine, for love, for earthly pleasures, and this song is a great embodiment of this.

- Fatemeh Fakhraie, writer, I Speak for Myself

Let it Be – The Beatles

Watch the video here

I was originally a classical violin student. That all changed when I was 16: a truck ran a red light and spun our totaled minivan into the intersection; I got caught into the force of the spin and was slammed between my chair and the door. I walked out of that accident with a concussion, a minor bleed in my brain, neurological damage and a paralyzed right hand. I also had problems walking, and to this day, I still deal with speech issues that never resolved. The days I spent in the rehab clinic through the end of high school were some of my loneliest. People would offer me their prayers, and I remember resenting it, because when it came to God, a part of me felt betrayed, like He wasn't there to protect me that morning I needed him the most.

I don't know how, but somehow Paul McCartney's "Let it Be" (written after his mother Mary visited him in a dream one night during a lonely period in his life) became the thing that kept me going through the rehab grind, and when I finally had to come to terms with the fact that my hand would probably never heal, I remember singing that song to myself; those three simple words became the moral compass I needed to forgive and move on. Twelve years later, my hand is still bound up in a wrist brace, but when I look down at it now, I actually see it as a blessing in disguise. Thoreau once wrote, "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves." To me, that's what spirituality, Islam or any other name, is: a shared moral compass that brings people together in both times of distress and celebration. Through its stories, symbols and metaphors, we find comfort in faith, direction in its messages, understanding in ourselves, and it's through our interpretations that we come to terms with our reality and where the things that happen to us fit in with our need to press onward.

-Safa Samiezade’-Yazd, Aslan Media Arts, Culture and Music Editor

Umi Says – Mos Def

Watch the video here

It captures the essence of some of Islam's most simple & profound messages - without sounding too preachy. Very few artists are able to do this as well as Yasiin Bey. It is a sincere, positive message of self-reflection & remembrance that anyone can appreciate ... it just resonates a bit more if you are Muslim

-Omar Offendum, rapper

In case you missed it, make sure to check out the first installment of our Ramadan Mixtape series.

*Photo Credits:

U2: JJ Booth via Flickr

Arabian Knightz: Art-AK via Flickr

Maher Zain: Arne List via Wikimedia Commons

Mos Def: WFUV via Flickr

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