Stringing a Spiritual Harmony

It’s not often you meet a musician whose faith so deeply impacts his musical aspirations or whose love of music acts as a spiritual window. Dawud Wharnsby makes this complex arrangement look almost too simple. His views on music and its place within Islam have allowed him to surpass the work of his peers and explore exciting opportunities. I had the pleasure to talk to Mr. Wharnsby about his life as a musician, the state of Muslim artists and how they have matured.

Saadiq Mohiudin: Lets start off with a pretty basic question. When did you convert to Islam and what led to that?

Dawud Wharnsby:Sure well, that’s a whole can of bean’s itself. Well, I personally renounced organized religion when I was back in my teens and still do till this day. I really don’t have any use for organized religion. I’ve always had a love for the Prophet and for scripture. I never really recognized religion as a something other than people putting themselves into groups and finding strength in numbers. When I was about 17, I left wanting to be a part of community or religion and basically was drawn towards reading and finding out more about the universal aspects of truth and faith. I read many different scriptures and eventually started reading the Quran and found through the Quran that concept of Fitra and that idea that there really is no religion, only life and death, and the choice to surrender to God’s guidance or reject it and follow other people blindly. I made the decision to adopt the Quran when I was about 21. It is always a matter of semantics and wordplay when I talk with Muslims because there is always the question, “when did you join Islam?” Well, I always say that I never joined Islam. I mean Islam is an actual word, and I make the best effort in my life to live, and surrender everything that I do, in terms of what kinds of things I was singing about and the sorts of environments I was willing to put myself in and what types of lines I was willing to draw in terms of how I would share that music with other people.

SM: When you did convert, how did that change your musical aspirations? Did that change any plans you had before that point?

DW: Initially, no. I was fascinated and exited with what I was reading in the Quran. I needed time to reflect on that, learn, and grow. So I had backed off a little bit from writing and performing and even my passion for music had fallen away, and was replaced by a passion for wanting to learn Islam, and the finer details of fasting and that sort of thing. So initially, there was a bit of a lull where I was a little bit more desired to immerse myself in the Quran than to immerse myself in Music. But it was probably about a year or so later, when I became comfortable with my salat that I thought perhaps there is a way that I can combine the two spiritual tools.The Quran is a spiritual tool, the salat is a spiritual tool.

Music can be a spiritual tool; so how can I combine these for the sake of bringing some good to those people around me? Primarily it was the children in Kitchener, Waterloo, who I was learning to make salat along side. So I felt this was an opportunity to use music to maybe help them a little to look at their faith in a way that wasn’t so dogmatic, that was a little bit more Fitra oriented.

SM: You probably get asked this question a lot, but it will be interesting for our listeners to here. Who are some of the musicians who influenced you throughout your life?

DW: Oh man, it’s huge! When I was looking through the questions earlier and I was reflecting, its amazing on my iTunes, I’ve got like some 1300-1400 songs. So many artists musically inspired me growing up. If I tried to pull together a list of some names, Peter Sugar, is one name that comes to mind, James Sabreez is really famous Canadian artist. James Taylor, Cat Stevens - the list is huge. Because I think musically there’s so much, and music is as diverse as fingerprints and there’s so much opportunity that you can find people you are drawn to. One thing that has always been consistent with me in terms of musicians who have inspired me is that if I find out through interviews or through documentaries or whatever, that a specific artist was a real jerk, I often find myself not inclined towards their music. I take music, faith, knowledge and spirituality very seriously. So when I hear music which is very heartfelt and beautiful and find out that the artist is really arrogant and egocentric I find that I can’t believe in the music anymore.

That’s why when I first read the Quran and I came across the verses about the poets and cautions about following poets because they wander distractingly in the valleys and they say what they don’t practice. That really hit a chord with me because I always felt as though that going back to integrity, people who are in the public domain have certain obligations to try and maintain some integrity and if I find out this artist is really disrespectful I find that I’m not as attracted to their music anymore and I can’t take them seriously. A lot of these artists that I named for you are people who either I’ve met personally or I’ve had indirect contact with and have come to learn that they’re really good folks and they really practice what they preach.

SM: Some people contest that using instrumentation in music is haram, given certain interpretations of Islam but you obviously use instruments in your music. Have you received any backlash from the community? If so, how have you dealt with it?

DW: Not really backlash. I mean even when I was producing songs for children in various communities and I would stick to a strict traditional orthodox approach to music and use just voice and percussion and I would get people who would pull me aside and say, “you know brother, this is not the right way.” I don’t find that there is major backlash. Primarily what I have found is overwhelming support and encouragement from Imams and community leaders. Like Idrees Zaid Shakir, Chris Mattson, Tariq Ramadan. I mean the list is huge of people that have not just been supportive but encouraging, saying “Brother, you need to be doing this because what can be put through in song can reach triple the amount of people that can be put through in a lecture.”

I don’t think we’re as reliant as we were in the 70’s and 80’s, like money from Arabia to support our mosques in exchange for implementing the double standard approach to faith propagated by the Saudis. We’re not in the position anymore. We as a community in North America are able to now redefine who we are as individuals and really be able to reexamine what the Quran actually teaches us and how we put this in our lives. Because we don’t need to take that money anymore we’re not really bound to the propaganda that is expected to be put across. We can look at things a lot more spiritually a lot more defined by the cultures in which we live and that’s wonderful and it’s a great opportunity to do it in the proper ways.

SM: Do you think there we be a time when Muslim artists will be able to make a difference socially or be able to contribute to mainstream music in general?

DW: Yes, you know, In fact Muslims have been doing that. And we’ve been doing it for decades but because the manipulation of the faith and the financial backers of the mosques in which we pray who hold on to these agendas, there’s been a major divide. I’ve actually put together a list of actually based on the questions that were sent through one of the top music producers in America, of legendary status, we produced Patty Labelle, the Jackson 5, Kenny Cambel, whose actual name is Lukman and is the most prominent Muslim figures in Philly right now. Richard Thompson is the foremost folk singer songwriter. Rolling Stone did a magazine a few years ago, the top 5 rock albums ever produced in the history of Rock & Roll. Cat Stevens who we all know and love has one album on that list. Richard Thompson has 3 or 4 albums on that list. He’s also Muslim and his name is Yahya. Danny Thompson is the best world renound double bass player. Irshad, AR Rahman, Ahmad Jamal-Jazz. Ark-Blake (1950). The list is huge and these people have been doing it for decades. But unfortunately, the rest of us have not been recognizing the fact that these have shaped what is in North America.

It is powerful to see what the Quran has done for their lives and how they have transferred that into the work. What they’ve done and how they have literally reshaped music in North America is phenomenal. It’s exciting

SM: There are other Muslim pop acts and other genres of music out there. For example, 786 among others. I’m sure you know there’s issues around women being attracted to boy bands, what is your take on that?

DW: We travel together a lot. 786, Native Deen, Sami Yusuf, we’re all friends, we all keep in touch by email, we all keep up with each others work and they to support each other as best we can, but we all realize that it’s a really delicate circumstance that we’re in. You know the list that I gave you who are prominent in the mainstream and who also happen to be devoted to the Quran. The difference between the work that they do and the work that us other artists have been doing in the past few years is the reason why I am no longer involved with that Nasheed community anymore. What we’re seeing happening now is that young artists who think, “you know, I can get on a stage and I can sing a song with the word Allah in it and therefore I’ll be a hit in the Muslim Community.” Its rather cheap actually, its shallow and what it does is that it fosters an environment where people are once again using music as a tool for escapism and as a tool for formalization.

People that go to Nasheed concerts for example will pay money and its not so much about what they’re going to learn through those songs or what they’re going to be empowered by or take away, its ‘they’re Muslims and its halaal so I can listen to it.’

And as artists it’s something we get offended by because we are put upon stage by well intending relief agencies or companies who want to put a nasheed concert to raise money and we’re paraded around like circus clowns. In some cases we’re censored on what we can sing about, we’re told, “don’t sing anything too political.” Some are so talented as composers but they’re restricted by how they express. I’ve been told sometimes, don’t use the word art when you talk to the audience. It’s ridiculous. I think its dangerous territory when we begin to just create a market for Muslim music just because we can. Where we don’t say anything of value, we’re just doing it because we can and because people will pay to see it. I feel as though that that’s really cheating the audience, ourselves and our faith. And its important for us to be very careful about how we conduct ourselves on the stage. I have no problem with 786 and Native Deen - I love their music; I love what they’re doing. What I have a problem with is these venue organizers who put on these concerts and they stir the audience up, “are you ready for the next Nasheed?!” The girls scream and then the artists are held accountable. Everybody says, “what are these artists doing?” A lot of cases the people who organize these events are not using the proper decorum and are not fostering and encouraging a modest environment. Allah knows best. I think we’re growing through it. It’s a struggle.

SM: So what I’ve noticed in the last few years is that Muslim artists are maturing. For example Cat Stevens recently went back to doing his old style of music. I have a here from the Globe and Mail. “The issue of music in Islam is not as cut and dry as I was led to believe. I relied more on hearsay.” It seems like there are misconceptions about music and artists are singing about Islam to be considered Muslim artists but recently I’ve notice that Muslim artists simply want to be considered as artists.

DW: Definitely it is a conscious effort. I always found it frustrating when I wrote some songs for Muslim children which were overtly religious and I would get people inviting me to these community events and there would be an audience of adults and they would say, “brother, sing animals love Quran.” I was sort of offended because, one, we’re adults here and we should be dealing with adult subject matter. And two, don’t insult my intelligence as an artist. I mean, I’m not an iPod where you push and I sing for you. I put a lot of time and effort into what I want to put across for music and I feel that that’s important. Its not just for kicks and giggles. So a lot of people use Islam,  and I cant speak for him. Sami Yusuf, I know that the work he was doing initially was aimed at children. Its kind of humiliating. The songs were meant for children to learn with, they weren’t meant to become part of the pop market. A lot of the artists that I speak to friends of mine, Sami yusuf, Native Deen, we do write a lot of other music, for different age ranges and different audiences and we are trying to share those songs and there is definitely a need for it. We can start singing about Islam when we start Islam and dealing with the issues that affect all of us as a community. Whether its sexual perpetuity, drug abuse, or whatever. These are things that we love putting into music. We collectively as a community regardless of our scripture need to grow and mature. For myself, I have pulled myself out of those bedlams of Nasheed concerts.

I still sing Nasheeds but only in schools for educational programs now if I’m going to make a living as a musician I want to be able to express which feels honest to me and will appeal to the audience. So if I have a group of 25 year olds I’m not going to sing “boom, boom ain’t it great to be Muslim.” I mean we’ve got more to talk about than that.

SM: Do you feel that Muslims in the West are afraid to embrace more creative means of exploring their faith?

DW: They were for a while. Back in the early 90’s when I embraced the Quran in connection with the mosque in Canada the immigration process was still under way. There were a lot of new comers from Bosnia, Somalia and there was a lot going on in the Middle East. We were still in that frame of mind where we needed to preserve ourselves. We were really afraid that someone would take advantage of us. And it was probably worse in America than it was in Canada, because Canada was already multicultural. But we were really exited by the approach of Afidullah. We’re talking at the time which was very confrontational debate oriented. May allah bless people like Afidulluah. For their strength and the way they embraced their communities in the 70’s and the 80’s. But things have changed a lot since then.

When I first came out with my simple children’s nasheed’s album I had to walk on egg shells, I had to be very careful in terms of kind of drum I used, I had to be careful there were no images on the the cover or the cassette. I had to be careful that if there was a little girls voice I put that she was less than 12. All those types of safe guards we had to take. I had a song about pigs and dogs and I got emails from people like, “brother, why are you singing about piggies and doggies.” That was a very different community in those days. Now it’s almost gone to the other extreme where there are huge concerts where girls are standing on their seats screaming and there are limos for the artists. And its ridiculous. It’s gone to the other extreme. Slowly the pendulum is starting to settle in the middle. And as a community we find that people love the Quran, love Allah and the Prophet are more comfortably in our skin. And when we see the work of people such as Zarqa Nawas for Little Mosque on the Prairie, the work that myself and Yusuf Islam are trying to do who make music, people are becoming a lot more comfortable with their identity of Islam and being a Muslim within this frame of Canadian society.

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