A Music Lover’s Struggle to Stay True to Islam

How do we engage Muslims who aren’t as far along the spiritual path as we are? If they are struggling, how do we help them regain their faith?

As someone who was Muslim in name alone (i.e. non-observant) for most of my life, it’s surprisingly easy to forget where I started and how far I’ve actually come.

Imagine how much harder it is for Muslims who know nothing but a proper adherence to Islam.

I want to understand how the “non-practicing” and “not-so-practicing” Muslim think, what their views are of the World, and what keeps them away from achieving their potential as a Muslims.

One of the more contentious issues that act as a barrier to Muslims becoming more religious is music.

I’m not interested in rehashing the fiqhi (legal) debate on music in Islam.

What I want to do, is try to understand how Muslims who are music lovers stay true to their faith.

So I invited my brother Irshad Azeez on for an informal chat.

Not because he’s non-practicing, but because he’s an effective go-between, both in terms of his own level of religiosity (can improve a lot) and the circles he moves in (mostly non-practicing, and non-Muslim.)

Irshad is my younger brother by a year. He’s a rapper/emcee – stage name Jibberish, one-quarter of the Dukkan Show podcast, and my business partner.

We met up a few days before he is due to leave Dubai and move back to Sri Lanka, to spend more time with our parents.

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Time-stamped show notes

Where can you find Irshad online?

• Dukkan Show

• Soundcloud

• Facebook

• Twitter

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