Michael Muhammad Knight
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Michael Muhammad Knight (b. 1977) is an American novelist, writer, and journalist, well-known to those familiar with Progressive Islam.
Raised Irish Catholic, Knight's first exposure to Islam came when he was 13, discovering Malcolm X through the lyrics of hip-hop group Public Enemy. Shortly after reading Alex Haley's Autobiography of Malcolm X at 15, Knight's study of Islam intensified and he later converted officially. At 17 he went to Islamabad, Pakistan, to study Islam at Faisal Mosque and nearly left his studies to participate in jihad in Chechnya.[1]
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[edit] Books
[edit] The Taqwacores
After a disillusionment with orthodox Islam, Knight wrote two books, Where Mullahs Fear to Tread and The Furious Cock, which he printed as xeroxed zines. In winter 2002 he wrote The Taqwacores, which told the story of a fictitious group of Muslim punk-rockers living in Buffalo, New York. Characters included a Straight edge Sunni Muslim, drunken mohawk-wearing Sufi punk, burqa-wearing riot grrl and Shi'a skinhead.
Knight originally self-published the novel in a spiral-bound, xeroxed form and gave away copies for free. The book was later picked up for distribution by Alternative Tentacles, the punk record label founded by Jello Biafra. An encounter with Peter Lamborn Wilson led to The Taqwacores being published by Autonomedia in 2004.
The Taqwacores was intended as Knight's farewell to Islam,[2] but encouragement from readers caused Knight to reconsider his relationship to the faith. The novel has since inspired the start of an actual taqwacore scene, including bands such as the Kominas, Vote Hezbollah, and Secret Trial Five. Carl Ernst, specialist in Islamic studies at UNC, called The Taqwacores a "Catcher in the Rye for young Muslims."[3] The novel has been taught in courses at Vassar, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Trinity College, Canisius College, and Indiana University.
The Taqwacores' burqa-wearing riot grrl, Rabeya, and her dialogue from the novel has been adapted in the Rapture Project, an ongoing puppet show regarding religion in American culture and politics. Rabeya, who in one passage of The Taqwacores gives a Friday sermon and leads the mixed gender group in prayer, also influenced author Asra Nomani to organize a mixed gender prayer held March 18, 2005, in New York and led by Qur'an scholar Dr. Amina Wadud in support of women as imams.[4] Knight worked security at the Wadud prayer.[5]
[edit] Blue-Eyed Devil
Knight's MuslimWakeUp travel writing led him to write Blue-Eyed Devil: an American Muslim Road Odyssey, in which he traveled over 20,000 miles by Greyhound bus in 60 days, searching for a true American Islam. Andrei Codrescu hailed the work as "today's On the Road...pertinent and suspenseful, a mystery rendered in brilliant detail and gorgeous depth...a masterpiece."[6] In the book Knight attempts to uncover the true identity of W. D. Fard, the mysterious founder of the Nation of Islam, who was believed by that movement to be Allah in person.
Blue-Eyed Devil also contains narratives of Knight's encounters with various figures of North American Islam, such as Irshad Manji, Asra Nomani, and the Hasan family, founders of Muslims for Bush. Knight describes his experience as an original member of the Progressive Muslim Union's board of directors and his disillusionment with the Progressive Islam movement. In Blue-Eyed Devil, he claims that PMU considered an alliance with Manji, which he witnessed while having dinner with Manji and PMU founder Ahmed Nassef.
Knight left PMU in 2005 [7] While maintaining a blog at ProgressiveIslam.Org, he continued to reject the term "Progressive Muslim." Knight was nonetheless included on a list of "Top 10 Pro-Regressive Idiots of 2005."[8]
[edit] The Five Percenters
Knight's fascination with Fard led him to research the Five Percenters, aka Nation of Gods and Earths, a movement that broke from the Nation of Islam in 1964. After spending time with the movement's white elder, Azreal, Knight was given the name Azreal Wisdom; in the Five Percenters' system of Supreme Mathematics, it means "Azreal 2."
Knight wrote the first ethnography of the movement, The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip-hop and the Gods of New York (Oneworld Publications). An excerpt from the book appears in the 90-page booklet included with The 5% Album[9] by Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian, which also features members of Wu-Tang Clan such as the RZA and GZA.
[edit] Osama Van Halen
Knight's forthcoming novel, Osama Van Halen, features The Taqwacores' Amazing Ayyub and Rabeya, who take Matt Damon hostage and demand that Hollywood depict Muslims in a more positive light, while Damon argues that they're "playing into that same terrorist paradigm and furthering a neo-conservative perception of Islam." Also in the novel, Amazing Ayyub embarks on a mission to rid taqwacore of a Muslim pop-punk band, Shah 79. Amazing Ayyub's adventures include encounters with zombies, psychobilly jinns and Knight himself, who appears as a character in the story.[10] At the end of the novel, Knight is decapitated by Rabeya. Laury Silvers of Skidmore College, who read the manuscript, wrote at progressiveislam.org:
Don't miss the self-disgust. I have read the whole novel. It is extraordinary. The best he has done yet. It is no mistake that his only woman character who was ever fully portrayed and whom he never saw because of her burqa cuts his head off in the end. The story, the novel, is about the writer coming to terms...He uncovers some pretty terrible layers of himself, the characters he has created, the character of himself that sometimes does his dirty work. He knows exactly what it is and he is saying it. [11]
[edit] Controversy
Knight is criticized for his participation in woman-led prayer, provocative articles, disrespectful attitude toward leaders of the American Muslim community, open admission of past apostasy, heretical attitudes, embrace of the Nation of Islam and Nation of Gods and Earths and often rebellious treatment of the Prophet Muhammad.
Knight developed a reputation for his Muslim WakeUp! articles, particularly accounts of the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention, in which he wrote of giving a "stink palm" to famous imam Siraj Wahhaj and Cat Stevens and engaging in a romantic encounter with a young Muslim woman. Commenting on woman-led prayer at his ProgressiveIslam.Org blog, Knight wrote, "If the Prophet wouldn’t have liked it, then in 2005 the Prophet is wrong, shit on him. La ilaha illa Allah."[12] The comment caused numerous Muslim scholars and thinkers to withdraw from the site, refuse participation, or demand that Knight be removed.
At the 2005 convention of the Islamic Society of North America, Knight and the Kominas fraudulently obtained media passes and sneaked into the press conference of Karen Hughes, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of State. They were taken outside and questioned by a State Department agent, but allowed back in by ISNA officials. It was later learned that the ISNA staff was concerned over Knight's jacket bearing the Alternative Tentacles logo.[13]
[edit] Legal Issues
[edit] Ibrahim Hooper
In a 2003 Muslim WakeUp! article, Knight claimed to have introduced himself to a member of the United Nation of Islam as "Ibrahim Hooper," the name of the Communications Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Hooper threatened legal action if the act was repeated. In a later article on his trip to Elijah Muhammad's grave, Knight wrote that he had introduced himself as Ibrahim Hooper at the cemetery's office. Hooper again threatened legal recourses. Knight responded by publicly challenging Hooper to a wrestling match.[14]
On June 25, 2006, Knight staged his match against Ibrahim Hooper at a punk show in Lexington, Massachusetts, at the home of the Kominas' singer Basim Usmani. The role of Ibrahim Hooper was played by Grifin Tibbetts, bassist for grindcore band Animal Rampage. Hooper came to the ring waving the flag of Saudi Arabia. Knight wore a white shalwar kameez and curled-toe wrestling boots made famous by pro wrestlers such as the Iron Sheik. The referee was announced as Hamza Yusuf, a reference to Islamic scholar Hamza Yusuf.
During the match, Knight was knocked from the ring onto a Beer pong table, hit with folding chairs, slammed onto thumbtacks and attacked by a woman in a patch-covered burqa wielding a dildo wrapped in barbed wire. At one point Knight himself became tangled in barbed wire. Hooper also stapled the Saudi flag to Knight's arm and used it to choke him. Knight eventually defeated Hooper with a move known in wrestling as the "camel clutch." After the match, Knight wrapped his bloody head in the Saudi flag and embraced his opponent. Knight later reemerged to join Animal Rampage in a performance of its song "Kill Rasputin."
[edit] Asma Gull Hasan
In October 2007, Republican author and commentator Asma Gull Hasan filed a defamation suit against Knight and the Kominas, claiming that Blue-Eyed Devil falsely portrayed her as "wealthy, self-absorbed, insensitive and acutely uninformed" and that Knight had influenced the Kominas to write a song depicting her performance of a sex act. "You can't defeat writers by censoring or punishing them, you only defeat writers by outwriting them," Knight stated in a response to The Denver Post. "And she can't do that, so she has to resort to this."[15]
[edit] Articles
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Sept. 13, 2005) Invasion of the Taqwa-Punks: The 2005 ISNA Convention MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Mar. 19, 2005) Huggable Islam. MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Mar. 1, 2005) Our Wittenberg: A Historic Call for Compassion Posted on a Mosque’s Door MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Feb. 20, 2005) Nazi Fathers and Muslim Sons MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Jan. 1, 2005) Remembering the Hijra. MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Sept. 9, 2004) The Voice of God is Hamza Yusuf: The 2004 ISNA Convention MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (June 24, 2004) A Weekend with the Five-Percenters MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (June 8, 2004) Count Me with the Daughters MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (May 9, 2004) The Ending to a Failed Novel MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Mar 5, 2004) Bleeding for the Imam: Heartbreak and Catharsis in Muharram MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Feb. 13, 2004) Journal of a Dumpster-Diving Sufi MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Jan. 17, 2004) Green Tea With Imam of the Age MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Jan. 14, 2004) The Sedition: An Interview With Omar X of Rogue Nation MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Jan. 6, 2004) Peace Offering MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Dec. 4, 2003) Finding Elijah: A Journey through American Muslim Mythology MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Oct. 27, 2003) Imam for a Day: My Trip to ISNA Headquarters MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Oct. 3, 2003) Sweet Home Lackawanna MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Sept. 24, 2003) Your Salvation May Be as Close as Your Laundromat: An Encounter with the United Nation of Islam MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Sept. 3, 2003) Wrestling with Muzammil: The 2003 ISNA Convention MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (Sept. 2, 2003) Between Laughter and Tears: Remembering Wesley Willis MWU.
- Knight, Michael Muhammad (June 19, 2003) Jum'a with the Punks: An Excerpt from The Taqwacores MWU.
[edit] References
- ^ Brian Whitaker (2007-03-19). Punk Muslims. Guardian Unlimited. Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
- ^ Omar Sacirbey. The Challenges and Growth of Progressive Muslims. APF Reporter Vol.22 #2. Alicia Patterson Fellowship. Archived from the original on 2006-02-06. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ Carl Ernst. Novels from Muslim Countries. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ Omar Sacirbey (2005). The Challenges and Growth of Progressive Muslims. APF Reporter Vol. 22 #2. Alicia Patterson Foundation. Archived from the original on 2006-01-05. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
- ^ Michael Muhammad Knight (2005-03-19). Huggable Islam. Muslim Wakeup!. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
- ^ Michael Muhammad Knight (2007-01-01). The Brawl for it All. Muslim Wakeup!. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
- ^ Michael Knight leaves the PMUNA. Living Tradition (2005-08-14). Archived from the original on 2006-03-16. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.
- ^ Top ten pro-regressive Moslim idiots of 2005. islamawareness.net (2005-12-31). Archived from the original on 2006-05-04. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.
- ^ Lord Jamar "The 5% Album" feat. Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, GZA, Raekwon. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
- ^ Osama Van Halen - Blackwell Online.
- ^ Progressive Islam and... Celibacy?.
- ^ Michael Muhammad Knight (2005-08-10). don’t call me progressive. progressiveislam.org. Archived from the original on 2006-02-03. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
I can endorse woman-led prayer without the need of a scholar telling me that it’s okay and has precedents from the Prophet’s life. If the Prophet wouldn’t have liked it, then in 2005 the Prophet is wrong, shit on him. La ilaha illa Allah.
- ^ Michael Muhammad Knight (2005-09-13). Invasion of the Taqwa-Punks: The 2005 ISNA Convention. Muslim Wakeup!. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
- ^ Michael Muhammad Knight (2004-01-16). Peace Offering. Muslim Wakeup!. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
- ^ Arthur Kane (2007-10-24). Local author says Muslim writer, band defamed her. The Denver Post. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
