The Taqwacores: Difference between revisions

[[File:the-taqwacores-cover_6974.jpg|frame|Punk. Muslim. American.]]

 

 

First a book by Michael Muhammad Knight, then a [[Defictionalization|subculture]], and recently a [[The Film of the Book|movie]]. In short: punk Islam - oxymoron, or two great tastes that taste great together?

 

The author of the original book had written it as a way of saying of goodbye to Islam, believing that the Islam he wanted to practice didn't exist. However, Muslims all over the country read his book, thought, "Hey, punk Islam. That sounds like a good idea." They learned to sing and play musical instruments (or not ... it is punk, after all), [[Defictionalization|and voila,]] a [[Real Life]] taqwacore scene was formed. Many of the scene's most prominent bands, most or all of whom were inspired to start a band by the book, play in the movie. It's also a massively influential cult classic among young American Muslims in general.

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* [[All There in the Manual]]: Helps if you are Muslim or know a Muslim guy so you can ask them why Yusef is washing his feet in the sink.

* {{spoiler|[[Did Not Get the Girl]]: Yusef Ali and Lynn. He's frightened by her sexuality and when she comes on to him, he freaks out and breaks everything off.}}

* [[Ear Worm]]: I wanna handjoooob, whoa-oh.

* [[Ho Yay]]: Jehangir and ... everyone.

* [[The Faceless]]: Rabeya, who wears a full burqa. (Also in the book [[Ambiguously Brown]], there's some discussion in the book about whether she's black or Iraqi or what). Stoner Fasiq is incessantly fascinated with why she does so, especially since she's a feminist.

* [[Fan Service]]: Amazing Ayyub is just too [[Crazy Awesome]] for clothes.

* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: The movie cuts down on a lot of the philosophical discussion of Islam that would either kinda be boring considering the pace of the film, or would just confuse a wider audience - for instance, Rabeya gives a khutbah about the Virgin Mary being a Prophet instead of a story about the intelligent and strong-willed Aisha (RAA).

** Averted in that the characters talk just like real life Muslims do, throwing out an inshAllah or such and such here and there without any explanation. (inshAllah: if God wills it, typically said whenever there's an intention to do something, such as "I'm gonna go take a leak, inshAllah.")

* [[Speed Dating]]: Islamic-style, in form of a [[Terrible Interviewees Montage]], astaghfirullah.

* [[Token White]]: Lynn, Yusef's love interest. After reading Rumi she decided to convert to Islam, but was scared off by the people telling her to wear hejab, break up with her boyfriend, take an Arabic name, give dawah to her family, stop listening to music, and get rid of her dog two seconds after taking shahadah. Now she's just sort of generally spiritual.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Films of the 2010s]]

[[Category:The Taqwacores]]