michael jackson practises islam...

i would like to see michael state this before i find this to be true... there have been rumors for years about this. if he has come to practise islam, that would actually be amazing... michael is indeed, an extremely spiritual person; if this brings him happiness and inner peace, this is wonderful. if this is the case, it will be he and his brother, muhammad abdul aziz (best known as jermaine) in the family to practise islam. i know that rebbie and katherine jackson are still practising jehovah's witnesses. here is a set of clips of muhammad abdul aziz:



and this is beautiful...


i remember living in brooklyn, walking downtown in the mornings and hearing the prayers off atlantic avenue... it was one of my favourite things in the world about living in brooklyn. i would be close to tears as well.

however, there have been unfounded statements that michael (who, according to reports is now called Mikaeel, a name for one of Allah's angels- he has chosen not to be named Mustafa, which is translated to 'the chosen one') has become a member of the Nation of Islam in 2003, amongst many other statements. so, i will hold on to my suspicion until he makes a public statement.

under islamic law, one is not supposed to be involved in the music industry- it is haraam: that which is forbidden under islamic law. one is to only perform the nasheed (that is, song without instrumentation). song with instruments in islam is of course, controversial; however, it is growing. of course, secular music in islam is even more controversial. where would michael fit in with this? i've actually been curious as to where he and his family fit in, in terms of being jehovah's witnesses, where you're not supposed to perform secular music either.

here is a converstion with (ex)napoleon, who was in the group the outlawz...


and some views on the merging of islam and hip hop...




here is miss undastood...


here is adisa banjoko speaking on it...


there are, of course, a number of jazz musicians, such as abdullah ibn buhaina (aka art blakey, my favourite drummer in the whole world); idris muhammad, ahmad jamal, yusef lateef, sulaimon saud (mc coy tyner), sahib shihab, liaquat ali salaam (kenny clarke),
damu dustafa abdul musawwir (james 'blood' ulmer), omar ahmed abdul kariem (jackie mc lean), jamil bashir (jaki byard), rashied ali, who have turned to islam and/or have taken islamic names. also, of course, many folks in the music industry have turned to islam, and do drink alcohol, smoke and many other things. no one is perfect, and i do not judge. but i am curious as to how all of this plays out. particularly with the MJ.

it is said that he has participated in a shahada, which is the muslim declaration of belief; the profession of faith as a muslim. it is part of the five pillars of faith; which consist of the shahada, the salat (prayer), the zakat (giving a portion of your income to those who are in need), siyam/sawm (fasting), and hajj (pilgrimage). michael has indeed taken part in these activities in various parts of his life, except for, i would say the shahada and hajj.

much peace to michael (or mikaeel...), in whatever journey he takes...

the black house, figuratively...

YO! THE BLACK PRESIDENT!!! I WAS SERIOUSLY ROLLING ON THE FLOOR IN DISBELIEF... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT... I MEAN, I KNEW IT WAS GONNA HAPPEN BUT TO SEE IT, IT'S REALLY CRAZY!!! to see the words 'president elect' with the words 'barack obama', i have to keep doing double takes...

i proudly voted for a mc kinney/clemente ticket, but come ON, people... i will admit that i am looking at this from a historical perspective right now, and even though i had a hunch he was gonna get it since a week ago (look at the polls, and what the pundits are saying) it is still unbelievable- i never expected to see someone not (fully) european get accepted like this. and... he won by a landslide in the electoral votes. i am not a fan of the electoral vote either (i find them to be majorly un-democratic), but both the electoral votes and the popular vote had obama in the lead... this is crazy... i am scratching my head...

and just to think about this too, obama is married to a strong, extremely smart black woman, with some strong black daughters. their notion of a family is more functional than most we have seen habitating the oval office since... the johnsons? the roosevelts? i don't even know. to look at black love as successful in america. i have to say, that makes me proud.

and yes, i do not agree with obama's voting records and policies. we MUST, MUST, MUST hold his administration accountable for whatever they do. let us not get lazy. but i am still scratching my head in disbelief. this is amazing.

the black president. wow.

let's take this next couple of months to reflect, then when the 20th of january comes around, act. let's remain pro-active, and seriously look at policy.

george clinton is probably smiling now. and james brown is dancing, wherever he is.

now do we get together and buy some land...?