Celt Islam at ReggaeDubwise.com | The Fastest Growing and Largest Internet Reggae Community

Artist - Celt Islam | Blog (7)

Celt Islam & Bongo Chilli " Live" at Bass Camp Saturday 8th November

Celt Islam (11/07/08 13:17:21) Tag: Celt Islam and Bongo Chilli

Peace Folks. This weekend saturday 8th november 2008 Celt Islam along side Bongo Chilli plus speical guests will be performing at Bass Camp - Music Box ,Oxford road , Manchester.

Hope you enjoy the show, peace and one love, Celt Islam ;-))

Comments | Total: 0

del.icio.us

Technorati

YahooMyWeb

Celt Islam mp3 downloads now available

Celt Islam (10/05/08 15:25:10) Tag: Celt Islam mp3s

Comments | Total: 0

del.icio.us

Technorati

YahooMyWeb

BBC Asian Network " Fricton Introducing" Presents : Celt Islam.

Celt Islam (09/20/08 07:46:05) Tag: Celt Islam on BBC radio "Friction introduces"

BBC Asian Network " Fricton Introducing" Presents : Celt Islam.

Friction Introducing 22 - 26 September 2008

Start the week by getting to know a brand new artist in Friction Introducing. This week representing Manchester Celt Islam unleashes his skills on the Friction Fam.

Friction Introducing : http://www.
bbc. co. uk/asiannetwork/friction/friction_introducing.
shtml

Celt Islam website : www. myspace.
com/celtislam

Comments | Total: 2

del.icio.us

Technorati

YahooMyWeb

Time/Space by Celt Islam now out on 12" Vinyl

Celt Islam (09/12/08 01:57:43) Tag: Celt Islam's new 12" single

Time /Space by Celt Islam is out now on 12" email celtislam@googlemail.com for a copy.

Comments | Total: 0

del.icio.us

Technorati

YahooMyWeb

Knowledge

Celt Islam (05/12/08 18:12:14) Tag: Islam

Acquire knowledge, it enables its professor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven. It is our friend in the desert, our company in solitude and companion when friendless. It guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament amongst friends and an armour against enemies.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

Comments | Total: 0

del.icio.us

Technorati

YahooMyWeb

Islam has nothing to do with terrorism !

Celt Islam (05/08/08 19:47:59) Tag: Islam

Islam has nothing to do with terrorism !

Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. ( Al Quraan - 5:32)

Asalaamualaykum [peace be upon to you ]

Most Muslims stand against terroism and are very out spoken about it , but what you can see is that the media tends to brush them aside in order to justify the war on a so called noun {terrorism }.

I have no doubt in my mind that terrorism is used by people for political gains as in the case of USA UK and Iraqi insurgents , but when you hear nothing but words like Islamist ,Islamism, Islamic fundamentalist, Islamic terrorism,or Islamic radical it does beg one to think what is the real message here.

So as far as I am concerned, "radical Islam" or " Islamic terrorist" is a contradiction in terms.

It is not possible to be a true Muslim and simultaneously a violent terrorist. The Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that a Muslim is the one from whose tongue and whose hand you are safe.

It is absolutely necessary to scrutinise the terminology and words we use: As you must be well aware of a certain fact , "spectrum of radicalization" is not an Islamic concept. It is a concept which is alien to Islam and the existence view of Muslims.

The Qur'an does not talk of "moderates" and "radicals", but of "muminun" { belivers } and "kafirun" { disbelivers } – of those who accept and those who reject divine guidance.

The Qur'an identifies the kafirun { disbelivers } as "the people of the left" and the muminun { belivers } as "the people of the right".

The term "radicalization" derives from the word "radical" which used to refer to the root or source of a matter, but which is now usually used to identify some form or other of extremism. It is usually the concept or label used by those who wish to target or isolate specific groups, whether Muslims or non-Muslims, who are perceived as imagined or potential threats to the currently dominant status quo which endorses and supports the disguised, unelected and therefore undeniably undemocratic, ruling banking elite, the 200 or 300 or so families who control 90% of the world's wealth.

Since the original revelations of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, may Allah bless them and grant them peace, all categorically forbid the practice of usury and interest based economy, anyone who wishes to abide by this divine prohibition is automatically labelled as "radical" both by the bankers and by the politicians and organisations who support them.

Ask yourself this? what kind of person spends his or her life trying to come up with the most efficient technological means of exterminating large numbers of people as swiftly as possible? What kind of person makes their living not only by producing these weapons but also by selling them to both sides of any conflict?

What kind of person is prepared not only to buy these weapons but also to use them? What kind of person does not care who they kill or how they kill or why they kill? Can they be described as real human beings? I think not.

It has long been apparent, however, at least to those who are not taken in by the politicians' predictably scripted misleading rhetoric, that the current offensive in the Middle East is not simply concerned with securing control of oil reserves in the region.

Lets look at the current radical and terrifying so called "war on terror" is that if there is a radical response to this offensive, whether in the region itself or further afield, then this is the direct result of the current implementation of American Zionist foreign policy in the Middle East .

What we can see now is that in the course of this so-called "war on terror" countless innocent non-combatant civilians have been caught up in the conflict and have suffered as a result, losing their liberty, their property, their well being and almost as often as not their lives, to such an extent that the repercussions have been felt far beyond the theatre of war.

Look, for example, at what has happened in the United States since the twin towers attack in 2001, at how many innocent Arabs and Muslims and even people who look like Arabs or Muslims have had their basic human rights violated simply on the basis of "suspicion" which under current legislation does not even have to be reasonable. Of course when the authorities are criticised for these injustices, the blame is laid at the feet of "the radicals", but for whom it is alleged, these draconian measures would not have been necessary.

The Sufi's say , "If you persist in anything, you will arrive at the truth of the matter." – May you persist in your research until you do, remembering always that the ocean of existence is a mirror in which you see your self – and that whoever knows their self, knows their Lord. Peace

www.myspace.com/celtislam

Comments | Total: 1

del.icio.us

Technorati

YahooMyWeb

Celt Islam by Jamal Jimenez

Celt Islam (04/30/08 07:30:46) Tag: Islamic sufi dub junglist

CELT ISLAM

By Jamal Jimenez.

Many Muslim musicians are at the forefront of a growing movement within contemporary music. One that blends traditional musical forms and ideas, uniting these traditions with cutting edge contemporary music technology, an ancient to future music whose definitions are constantly in flux, redefined and reconstructed in ever new and interesting kaleidoscopic fusions.

Muslim musicians involvement in contemporary Western music is not new and for instance there is a strong tradition in Jazz music of Muslim artists and a general respect of Islam and spiritual aesthetics. One such example is Pharoah Sanders the Afro-American saxophonist, who grew out of the free jazz movement in the late 60's and early 70's and played with jazz legend John Coltrane, has composed such songs as Hum Allah and Tauhid and has
played with musicians of the Gnawa spiritual tradition in Morocco. In fact the experimentalist Jazz liberators who developed out of the growing black self-determination movements in the US between the late 50s and early 70s were the forerunner of the exploratory passions of contemporary musicians.

They abolished the artificial structures within Jazz and incorporated all manner of influences including African and Middle Eastern music and
these visionaries are undoubtedly one of the major inspirations of what we today call world music.

The diversity and scope of Muslim musicians in the modern global music scene is impressive and wide reaching and there are many notables such as Mercan Dede, an Instanbul born Ney player and Trance DJ who unites traditional Turkish Modal and Sufi themes with Western electronic ambiance and beat science.

In a similar vein there is the Iranian born US resident Susanna Deyhim who interprets traditional Sufi poetry such as that of Rumi and Hafez in a modern sonic art flavour. There is also Youssou Ndour the Sengalese vocalists and Muslim in the vein of the Sengalese Sufi orders and whose voice has been compared in its greatness to soul legends Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding.

So far the artists I've mentioned have their roots in Muslim lands yet there is an equally interesting situation happening amongst Muslim musicians raised in the US, UK and Europe.There seems to be hundreds of Muslim rappers and Hip Hop artists and there are at least two US based web sites dedicated to Muslim Hip hop.Two of the most interesting are former Tribe Called Quester Ali Shaheed Muhammed and Muslim Latino rappers Mujahideen Team who are part of the Remarkable Label crew who as a whole present themselves as the standard in contemporary Muslim music.
Closer to home mention must be made of Aki Nawaz the owner of Nation Records and member of Fundamental, who are part of the extensive Urban Indian music scene.

Before I introduce an artist I feel is truly emblematic of the growing sense of an Islamic aesthetic within contemporary music, I'd like to refer to
an obscure Record by Flamenco artist Curro Piñana who recorded a Flamenco record in the 70's that interpreted the poems of the legendary Andalusian visionary Islamic mystic Ibn Arabi into Spanish and set them to standard Flamenco forms such as the Soleas. The reason I make reference of this record is that it shows the wonderful possibilitiesthat present themselves musically to express and make aware Islamic sensibilities and equally shows the truly cross cultural human unity that exists within Islam.

Celt Islam is an outfit that is reflective of this Islamic aesthetic touching the outer frontiers of contemporary music and is the front
piece for the ideas and music of Abdullah Hamzah who is producer, keyboardist and percussionist for Celt Islam Sound System and The Nine Invisibles, two intertwined outfits based in England and Sweden.

As the name implies Celt Islam is a pseudonym representing Abdullah's origin and faith.He is British of Irish and Scottish descent and a practising Muslim who converted to Islam in 1989.

Abdullah Hamzah formed Celt Islam Sound System in 2001 and describes their sound as a fusion of dub-jungle and alternative
electronica with an Islamic punk attitude, the sound of a modern Sufi Western Muslim!

He is also part of the Nine Invisibles formed by Kava Kava & Ship of Fools drummer Mick Reed, a group Abdullah describes as alternative psychedelic dub breaks and who are just about to drop their third album, 'By Any Means Necessary.'

Describing his initiation into music, Abdullah reflects, "Ever since I have been a kid, really all I have wanted is to create sounds and get into
that field, to get on stage and entertain people. It sounds bizarre but that has always been inside me and even when I was a kid I used to draw pictures of bands and stuff. I was inspired by the Beatles and the first records I were given when I was a kid were "She Loves You" and "Blueberry Hill" by Fats Domino.'
He continues, 'I had this little mono record player and I used to stick my ear next to it to try and get inside the sound. And even throughout the seventies my father bought me a stereo and he got me into music and it kind of escalated from there. It wasn't until the eighties that, in my teens, I discovered reggae through listening to Bob Marley. I wanted to get into that field as I thought yeah, that was for me and what it was about - its politics, its spirituality."

Islamic Spiritual influences are noticeable and influential within the
music Abdullah composes.

'All the music I write', he reflects, 'is based on some kind of theme from political to spiritual subjects that I have witnessed or experienced and subjects that fascinate me'.
For example one of the song titles is "Al Khider [the green man)."
Al Khider is the name given in Islamic traditions and in particular Sufism and the name given to the one mentioned as "the servant" in Surah Al Kahf(1

: 60-82 of the Qur'an and is equated with the Green man of European traditions. Other compositions attempt to express sonically subjects such as the 'Subatomic World in the Qur'an' written by Aisha Brewley, a book Abdullah refers to as a great source of inspiration, 'explaining the many mysteries of the subatomic realm from the holy' and 'a delight for people who know a little about atoms and the making of the universe.'

Abdullah is also directly influenced by the music of the Muslim world and includes the music of ancient Andalusia and the Mevlevi dervishes from
Turkey as some of his favourite Islamic musical Styles.

Abdullah became a musician after embracing Islam and he states music has alwaysbeen a main source of inspiration. 'Since I was a child,' he says, 'I have been into music and always dreamt of making music for people like myself who don't like industry standard capitalist, brain-dead garbage music that's just about making money? ISLAM is and always will be a main influence to me, the history of music has Islam all over it from blues to classical contemporary music.'
Islamic Andalusia is an important inspiration on both Abdullah himself and his music he creates and he has spent some time living in Granada,
Andalusia.
He lived close to the Mirador Alhambra in Albaycin with all its old Arabic architecture and studied with the Great Sufi teacher Shaykh AbdalQadir as Sufi.

Abdullah explains, 'there Muslim Community there is amazing Mashallah, they all meet for nights of dhikr and there Eid is just the best' and commenting on the Alhambra he comments,' its artwork inside there is a complete fusion of culture.'

For Abdullah Islamic Spain also touches the reality of what if means to be a Celtic Muslim. He explains, 'What I'm trying to say to people is that
you can be European and you can be Muslim,' he uses as example the indigenous inhabitants of Al-Andalus who Abdullah explains were the original Celt Islam.

'In the middle ages Granada was in particular a multi cultural city all over the world people living in harmony and they fused each others cultures art and music and religion and you can see that reflected very much in it's architecture where you will see the Celtic Knot work and the Arabic inscriptions and the Persian Floral work and the Iraqi stalactite carvings of the domes, the Chinese porcelain and tile work and stuff. These people bought in people from all over the world and they tried to reflect that as mankind is one we can celebrate all our differences and we can fuse it in a nice way as well and I think that there is a lot of lessons to be learned from that.'

Abdullah continues to explain that Al Andalus society existed in perfect harmony and was destroyed by greedy people jealous of its beauty who ended up looting the place and destroying some of the buildings.Fortune prevails however as Abdullah explains, 'some of the Moorish buildings have remained in good condition because they felt so inferior of the art and architecture that they built over it and covered it for hundreds of years so that nobody could actually see it. It wasn't it until they pulled the walls down that it was discovered.That was a big influence for me, as well as listening to all the music in Spain –The Flamenco and the Moroccan Andalusia orchestras coming into Spain and collaborating. I can say that Spain has been a big influence on my music and on the name "Celt Islam" because they were Celts and there is a myth about Spanish Muslims which is oh they are Moors or they try and portray them as this alien Invasion from another country or the different coloured skin all the racist rhetoric that they come out with its absolute nonsense.
Yes there were African Kings in Spain but that is because it was multi- cultural. Everybody had their own rights and was judged according to their laws and because of the borders you had Africans coming in'.

Abdullah explains that the leadership in Islam not based in terms of hereditary successions but rather whether a person was noble or honest
and it was not uncommon to have emirs of different origins whether European, African or Arab. 'They intermarried with each other and everybody respected each other.'

Yet Abdullah musical influences are not just from the Muslim world and his tastes include all manner of styles including punk and progressive rock.

He explains, 'as a modern western Muslim, I have been influenced by many musical and political forms, be it skinhead, punk, b.boy and breakdance . Punk has been a great influence and I admire people like Jello Biafra and John Lydon who are to me real punk and fully comprehend what punk
stands for, as we see today punk has become a mainstream fashion and to be frank bands like Greenday and Busted are the epitome of a capitalist fashion based fake punk that says nothing of the real issues that face us as human beings.'

Abdullah is not alone in being a Muslim interested in the reactionary outlook of Punk. There are a number of bands and artists in the States
such as Sean Muttaqi the owner of Uprising Records in Los Angeles who are coming out of the Punk movement and embracing Islam.
There is even a highly controversial author and writer Michael Muhammed Knight who has written a much-criticised novel about Muslim Punks called Taqwacore. Abdullah explains he has been asked by Knight to be involved in a Muslim Punk compilation he is putting together later in the year.

Commenting on Knight Abdullah comments, 'his articles are good although I do find him a bit of a lose cannon and he tends to offend people with his views which I must confess that I do not like people insulting Sufi saints and I try to keep away from all kinds of slander against great people of the Islamic world.'

However he continues in a diplomatic approach, 'Although I disagree with some of what Mr Knight says I do respect his opinions and I support his right to view his opinions.' Though it is really the energy of punk that is represented in Abdullah's music and not necessarily guitar based rock. He comments, 'Punk is dead
and will never comeback in its original form but the punk attitude still lives on, punk was a phenomenon that happened in the 70s as a reaction to the appalling state of the western civilisation as it stood back then. There are many interpretations of punk according to where one comes from!
Abdullah lived inHuddersfield which was the Mecca of punk from the 70s right through to the late 90s, but what I have seen over the years living here is that the old school punks are fed up with guitar based bands and are loving the new generation of punks like myself who are producing alternative music with a punk based energy.'

Discussing the relations between punk and Islam Abdullah explains,
'There are many figures in Islamic history that could in one sense be deemed to have almost a punk attitude to society!
Punk, like is said was a reactionary movement to the norm of capitalism, which bares many similarity to the early Muslim community and many Muslim saints like Mansur Al Hallaj [ ra]' However what of the views and the criticism some Muslims have towards
music and musicians.

Abdullah is unperturbed, 'I have had attacks from Muslims for my music but that doesn't bother me at all as they are lost in a
world which lies in the middle ages and has no place in the modern world.'

For Abdullah there is no conflict between Islam and Music and states, 'Islam teaches us is that our intentions are what our music is judged by.
When people tell me music is haraam, I instantly see that they are lost in a world of opinions and their arguments are dumb and have no real weight
against what our dear beloved prophet Muhammad (SAWS) taught us.' He sums up this subject by explaining that the arguments against music are based
solely on opinions and are not taken from Qur'an and Hadith. Further that the word music is not even mentioned in the Qur'an and Hadith.
'There are some very weak Hadith against music but there are many Hadith that prove music was a part of the Muslim Community even at the time of the Prophet (SAWS).' What about the future, Abdullah plans, 'I really want to fuse more styles. I want to travel and record musicians from all around the world and fuse it with modern sounds and technology. As the first person invented the guitar he would have created chaos as it was modern technology then and today people still have that stigma of its either digital modern and its not real music but people were saying that about the guitar or the piano... but no music is just audible sound and in fact I think that music can be completely invisible.

" I hear music within myself that only I hear and that's the
beauty of music in that it has more than one aspect.' [ Celt Islam ]

Comments | Total: 0

del.icio.us

Technorati

YahooMyWeb