Fedayeen | |
---|---|
Origin | Portland, Oregon, United States |
Genres | Taqwacore Punk rock |
Years active | 2009–2011 |
Labels | iamharam ! |
Members | Abu Taha · Raheem Vukas · Hajirah D. Taha Husayn |
Past members | Randal Harris aka "Sagg al-Sistani" |
Fedayeen is an American punk band, composed of Abu Taha al-Amriki, Raheem Vukas, Hajirah D. and Taha Husayn. They identify themselves with the Taqwacore Movement, a Muslim punk based sub-culture known for challenging extremism, homophobia, sexism, and violence.
Fedayeen formed in 2009. The band's first single, "I Love Osama bin Laden", garnered attention in 23 countries (based on mp3 requests) in the first three weeks after release.[ citation needed ] A new EP, "The Fedayeen Experience", was released in June 2010, followed by the two song CD single "List the Dead", a tribute to Palestinian children killed by the IDF. They planned on releasing their first LP, 'Peace, Love, and Kalashnikovs', on September 11, 2010. Their first radio feature was planned for May 1, 2010 with Cultural Syndicate, who canceled after a closer review of the band's lyrical content, allegedly due to fear that it might cause offense among listeners. The band has been mentioned in publications such as Bitchface Magazine, [1] Stamp Media, [2] Apen voor Antwerpen as well as countless blogs and posts from around the world. The band claims to take great pleasure in deeply offending both "Flag sucking patriots" and Muslim conservatives alike. [1] and claimed to have already received three death threats in the short time they've been working together, and "hope for many more". [1] Lead vocalist Abu Taha clarifies this statement by explaining that "If you really listen to our lyrics, and don't feel sick to your stomach and pissed off as hell then you either weren't really listening, or are just another WASP who only cares about things like child rape and sexual slavery when it happens to white kids whos' names you can easily pronounce" (a reference to their song Bacha Bazi (Urdu trans. "Boy Play")), a disturbing piece penned by ex-band member Sagg al-Sistani about the well documented trade of young boys in Northern Afghanistan as sex slaves.)
While Fedayeen officially disbanded in late 2011, Raheem and Abu Taha, who were the creative core of the group, continue to make music together and have ventured into hip hop with the 2015 formation of a new group, "ATARI CREED". [3] Abu Taha, who now goes by Akh-Word Poet (Akh being urban slang for a Muslim brother, from the Arabic "Akhi") continues to maintain a strong socio-political focus in his lyrics, but has also expanded their scope to include biographical and other personal content, drawing heavily on his 25 years involvement in the criminal justice system, which began at age twelve, and ended in 2013. [4]
Al-Qaeda, officially known as Qaedat al-Jihad, is a multinational militant Sunni Islamic extremist network composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but may also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries, including the 1998 United States embassy bombings, the September 11 attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombings; it has been designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, India, and various other countries.
bin Laden is an Arabic language surname synonymous with Osama bin Laden (1957–2011); it may also pertain to the Saudi Binladin Group, a holding company for the assets of the bin Laden family, and other notable members of Osama's family.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, also transliterated as Usama bin Ladin, was a Saudi Arabian-born founder of the Pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda. The group is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries. Under bin Laden, al-Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks in the United States and many other mass-casualty attacks worldwide. On 2 May 2011, he was killed by U.S. special operations forces at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
There were several video and audio recordings released by Osama bin Laden between 2001 and 2011.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is a Kuwaiti regarded as one of al-Qaeda's spokesmen. He is married to one of Osama bin Laden's daughters. In 2013, Gaith was arrested in Jordan and extradited to the United States. In 2014, he was convicted in a U.S. federal court in New York for "conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists" and sentenced to life imprisonment He is serving his sentence at the federal ADX Florence prison in Colorado.
Wafah Dufour is an American singer-songwriter, socialite, and model.
Osama bin Laden authored two fatāwā in the late 1990s. The first was published in August 1996 and the second in February 1998. At the time, bin Laden was not a wanted man in any country except his native Saudi Arabia, and was not yet known as the leader of the international terrorist organization al-Qaeda. Therefore, these fatāwā received relatively little attention until after the August 1998 United States embassy bombings, for which bin Laden was indicted. The indictment mentions the first fatwā, and claims that Khalid al-Fawwaz, of bin Laden's Advice and Reformation Committee in London, participated in its communication to the press.
Gabriel Benn, better known as Asheru, is an American rapper, educator, and youth activist. He performed the opening and closing themes for the popular TV series, The Boondocks.
Taqwacore is a subgenre of punk music dealing with Islam, its culture, and interpretation. Originally conceived in Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 novel, The Taqwacores, the name is a portmanteau of "hardcore" and the Arabic word "taqwa" (تقوى), which is usually translated as "piety" or the quality of being "God-fearing", and thus roughly denotes reverence and love of the divine. The scene is composed mainly of young Muslim artists living in the US and other Western countries, many of whom openly reject traditionalist interpretations of Islam, and thus live their own lifestyle within the religion or without.
Vincenzo Luvineri, better known as Vinnie Paz, is a Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the frontman of the hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs.
Khalid Abdulrahman al-Fawwaz is a Saudi who was under indictment in the United States from 1998, accused of helping to prepare the 1998 United States embassy bombings. He was extradited to the United States and arraigned in October 2012.
Hamida al-Attas, born A'alia Ghanem, is the mother of the deceased al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot and killed at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group. The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a CIA-led operation with Joint Special Operations Command, commonly known as JSOC, coordinating the Special Mission Units involved in the raid. In addition to SEAL Team Six, participating units under JSOC included the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)—also known as "Night Stalkers"—and operators from the CIA's Special Activities Division, which recruits heavily from former JSOC Special Mission Units. The operation's success ended a nearly decade-long manhunt for bin Laden, who was wanted for masterminding the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Refa'i Ahmed Taha or Refa'i Ahmed Taha Musa or Ahmed Refa'i Taha, alias Abu Yasser al-Masri was an Egyptian leader of a terrorist component of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, having succeeded "The Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel-Rahman in that role after the latter's arrest in 1993 and imprisonment for life in 1995. He was one of 14 people subjected to extraordinary rendition by the CIA prior to the 2001 declaration of a War on Terror.
Hamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin 'Awad bin Laden, better known as Hamza bin Laden, was a Saudi Arabian-born member of Al-Qaeda. He was a son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and, following his father's death in 2011, he was described as an emerging leader within the group.
Osama bin Laden, a militant Islamist and reported founder of al-Qaeda, in conjunction with several other Islamic militant leaders, issued two fatawa – in 1996 and then again in 1998—that military personnel from the United States and allied countries until they withdraw support for Israel and withdraw military forces from Islamic countries. He was indicted in United States federal court for his alleged involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, and was on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list until his death.
Osama bin Laden took ideological guidance from prominent militant Islamist scholars and ideologues from the classical to contemporary eras, such as Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Sayyid Qutb and Abdullah Azzam. During his middle and high school years, Bin Laden was educated in Al-Thagr model school, a public school in Jeddah run by Islamist exiles of the Muslim Brotherhood; during which he was immensely influenced by pan-Islamist ideals and displayed strict religious commitment. As a teenager, Bin Laden attended and led Muslim Brotherhood-run "Awakening" camps held on desert outskirts; that intended to raise the youth in religious values, instil martial spirit and sought spiritual seclusion from "the corruptions" of modernity and rapidly urbanising society of 1970s Saudi Arabia.
Osama bin Laden has been depicted or parodied in a variety of media. Notable examples include:
A polarizing figure, Mumia Abu-Jamal has attracted widespread attention in popular culture. Since at least 1995, there are examples of references to him in notable popular music recordings and musical performances. He and his case have been the subject of three documentary films and a shorter 20/20 television special which aired shortly after the 27th anniversary of his apprehension.
While many Islamist jihadists view hip-hop negatively due to its Western origins, there have also been examples of hip-hop songs with pro-jihadist lyrics, and of jihadists embracing hip-hop and gangsta culture as a way of attracting Westerners to join their organizations. The phenomenon is sometimes known as "Jihad Cool" and includes music, clothing, magazine, videos and other media.