Posted on 08/14/2010 10:55:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The Egyptian entrepreneur Ahmed Abu Haiba isn’t having a good day. A Saudi columnist has accused him of corrupting the country’s youth. A music video he has been working on for months is behind schedule. He hasn’t had time to prepare for his weekly talk show, an Islamo-Egyptian version of “Dr. Phil.” Worse, one of the program’s financiers has become upset because there was to be a woman on the show — unchaste behavior, to some. We’re driving along Sheik Zayed Road in the desert outside Cairo on a bright day as the radio plays Sami Yusuf, a saccharine-sweet Muslim pop star based in London. Abu Haiba theatrically throws his arms in the air to perform his frustration. At the age of 42 he is tubby and, as a sign of his deep faith, has a large zabiba — a dark smudge on his forehead born of rubbing his head repeatedly on a prayer mat. And yet he is not a conventional man and certainly not a conventional Muslim. Today he looks more like a hip-hop mogul, with a black knit golf cap on backward and a suit of all black. And a pink tie.
As the brains behind 4Shbab, the world’s first Islamic version of MTV, Abu Haiba is the consummate man in the middle — situated between the dictates of Islam and those of the pop-music business. Introduced in the spring of last year, 4Shbab, which means “for youth” in Arabic, broadcasts music videos, variety shows (including Abu Haiba’s own), news and even a reality program called “Your Voice Is Heard” — which might as well be called “Who Wants to be an Islamic Pop Star?” Imagine MTV without the gratuitous gyration and skin, and with videos about family, public service, Palestine and, above all, salvation. In trying
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What’s the next one, “99 Red KaBooms?”
snooki...24/7
” has accused him of corrupting the country’s youth”
I’m certain he’s no Socrates.
With a catchy name like 4Shbab, how can it go wrong?
“and that was another block of Cat Stevens and Peter Murphy”
I can only imagine the VeeJays they hire - Martyr Quinn, Downtown Mogadishu Brown...
For those of us that experienced the Charismatic Renewal of the 70’s, then the marketing of Comtempory Christian music and videos, this is upsetting. Christians, when sharing Christ’s plan of salvation, need to have a firm understanding of the foundations of the faith.
Burqa music videos; beheading tunes; dancing and reloading... the mind reels at the possibilities here.
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