KCUR ARTS
The buzz about Sami's trendy new brand of religious pop has been building across the across the Arab and Muslim world since 2003. That's when he burst onto the scene with this hit, Al Muallim, a song praising the Prophet Muhammad.
Sami was born in Iran to an Azeri family, but he was raised mostly in Britain. He grew up studying Middle Eastern and Classical music and listening to rock.
SAMI YUSUF: "My whole family are musical and I love music. I love Bach, I love Chopin ... I love, I love U2!"
Yusuf says he draws on this diverse cultural and musical background when writing his songs, many of which blend Eastern musical traditions with Western beats and harmonies.
But if his music draws on a broad array of sources, Sami's lyrics have a fairly narrow focus: his Islamic faith, and the struggles of Muslims in the 21st century. Yusuf says that at this point in history, Muslims can't afford to make art only for art's sake.
SAMI YUSUF: "I think in the Muslim world, we're going through this very difficult period. Muslims feel victimized, attacked an attack on their faith and identity, and they want someone to represent them."
Yusuf's faith infuses everything he sings. But his music isn't just spiritual. It is also political, and addresses a broad array of issues confronting Muslims around the world. One song defends the right of women to wear the veil in France, where public schools have banned headscarves. Another mourns the plight of Palestinian children in the Israeli-occupied territories. But Sami isn't just a champion of popular Arab-Muslim causes. Songs like this one, called "Muhammad," take fellow Muslims to task for acts of extremist violence.
Sami's songs are filled with calls for tolerance and peace. He says moderates like himself must do a better job of fighting extremism.
SAMI YUSUF: "The extremists are, they're in front of our eyes. And there are moderates out there too, and the vast majority are moderates. And this also goes for the West as well, because we have extremists in the West and Crusader-like thinking and cowboy kind of understandi
ng, which doesn't go down very well with the vast majority of ... intelligent people living in the West and the world, for that matter." Sami's message of faith and moderation has clearly hit its mark. His first two albums sold more than a million and a half copies worldwide, topping the charts in the Middle East and Turkey. And his concerts across the Muslim world and Europe are sell-out affairs. They draw everyone from bearded young businessmen to adoring women in veils. What I like about Sami Yusuf is that he gave us an alternative in music. And you feel there's this connection between you and the religion in this beautiful way of music.
He represents a very good example of what it is to be a good Muslim. I hope all the youth become like him.
...And he's really hot! (giggling)
Sami manages to pull off a trick that few others have even tried: his popular music videos depict him as a model Muslim citizen. He's shown visiting the mosque, tending to his parents, interacting comfortably with his British colleagues at work, and still manages to come across as cool.
And his commercial success has put him at the heart of today's debate over what it means to be a good Muslim. Marwan Kraidy, a professor at American University in Washington, DC, is writing a book about popular culture in the Arab and Muslim world. He says Sami has tapped into a growing identity crisis among young Muslims who feel caught between choosing either assimilation in the western mainstream or violent fundamentalism.
Marwan Kraidy: "He does an excellent job of rejecting both of those alternatives and saying, "Look, you can be a Muslim, wherever you live, be young, be proud of it, listen to music, without kind of relinquishing your identity and becoming either completely absorbed in Western culture or joining these radical groups."
Not everyone is a fan, however. Sami has been the subject of sometime vehement criticism from conservative Muslims who argue that any form of music is forbidden because it distracts one's thoughts from God and could lead to morally unacceptable behavior like co-ed dancing or even sex. Others say that his position as a pop heartthrob is unseemly for a devout Muslim.
Sami responds that he believes that Islam does value art and music, as long as the subject matter is in accord with core Muslim values. As for his pop star status, Sami is ambivalent.
SAMI YUSUF: "I'm still uncomfortable with the screaming... its not something I want but, it's there and if its going to make them proud of their identity and their religion and if I can be part of that global effort that transcends religion, transcends any one religion, promoting good values and ethics and things that all people can relate to, then I'm proud of that."
At the concert in Jordan, no one in the audience seems too troubled by the finer points of the debate over Islam and music. Teenage boys and elderly sheikhs raise their voices alongside veiled women and toddlers, clapping and singing along to every word.
Sami says such a passionate response to his music is testament to the moderate beliefs held by a majority of Muslims. Many -- like Sami himself -- struggle to keep the voice of tolerance heard above the mounting tide of hopelessness, conflict and anger.
For the World, I'm Lindsay Wise, Amman.
Listen to previous Global Hits
The World is a co-production of the BBC World Service, Public Radio International, and WGBH Radio Boston.
© Copyright 2012, BBC/PRI/WGBH. All rights reserved.
The World is a co-production of the BBC World Service, Public Radio International, and WGBH Radio Boston.
© Copyright 2012, BBC/PRI/WGBH. All rights reserved.
