“Good afternoon Jakarta!” greeted Abdul Malik, one of the members of Native Deen when they stepped onstage at the @america center.

One of the most well known international Muslim hip-hop groups brightened up the afternoon for hundreds of students, who had been invited to see their performance, in the hope of deepening their understanding of Islam by looking at it from a completely different perspective.
Muslim students enthusiastically watch Native Deen’s performance. JP/Chitra Ananda

The US embassy in Jakarta held the event to reach out to Indonesian youngsters, and arouse their interest during Ramadhan, in a way that would definitely catch their attention — music.

Born and raised in America as Muslims, the group — comprising Abdul-Malik Ahmad, Naeem Muhammad and Joshua Salaam — united as a Nasheed music group 10 years ago when they were teenagers, focusing their talents on inspiring Muslim youth by forming their band, Native Deen.

Society’s lack of Islamic knowledge back home never stopped Native Deen from playing their music and breaking boundaries.

“We were about 15-years-old when Naeem, Abdul Malik and I used to perform for fun at the end of every week during Muslim Youth of America camps. This went on for years until we decided to take things to the next level — make recordings and go international,” said Joshua enthusiastically.

“Unfortunately, Naeem couldn’t make it today because he had to be somewhere, doing something else for the world,” he added, as the audience started questioning why there were only two of them on stage performing (which was part of the group’s Remedy album tour) while the photo slideshow in the background showed the three of them.

At the @america performance, Native Deen performed with full percussion at the back and three additional musicians, all of whom made a spectacular sensation of Middle Eastern rhythms that blended perfectly with the rap.

Deen in Arabic means religious, and these boys have the capability to write lyrics that send out nothing but good messages about Islam.

Their optimistic lyrics helped everyone in the room to lighten up; this was matched during the discussion session, when the audience could ask questions, from how they fast during Ramadhan in America, to questions of how this Nasheed group preserves their values as Muslim musicians.

Everyone seemed to take their friendly and fun personalities pretty well. Students were so energized and active during the whole show.

The only major block Native Deen have faced so far in their musical journey is in education and a shallow understanding of Islam in general.

However, they make sure that they’re optimistic towards using their lyrics to pierce through the acceptance difficulties, with their mission being to teach that: “Violence is not what Islam is actually built upon”.

“One time, we had no place to pray. Usually, we have a room that we turn into a mushola [prayer room] but [on that occasion] we had nowhere. So we prayed in front of a lot of people and everyone just watched us.

“Some looked utterly confused, some found it amusing and others just walked by. There’s nothing to be afraid of, most people understood that it’s just what we had to do. There’s no problem,” Joshua said.

Without pushing it, Native Deen reaches the fresh minds of young people all over the world, approaching them personally through their ear catching songs. The group has performed in more than 60 cities in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Here in Indonesia, they will travel to four cities: Jakarta, West Kalimantan’s Pontianak and the East Java towns of Surabaya and Malang.

Through their songs, they send out positive messages about Islam.

Native Deen uses hip-hop because they credit it as the best kind of music to spread such a message, and it is also easier to digest

Getting feedback from places and countries they’ve been to, as well as watching how their music touches people’s lives, were among the greatest achievements they’ve received.

“We didn’t choose hip-hop, it chose us,” said Abdul-Malik, in the middle of a discussion about tolerance and an understanding of Islam in their lives.

“It’s a good opportunity to be in Indonesia because most of you are Muslim. Our album is named Remedy because it refers to a remedy of society and Islamic values.

“And we always think of hip-hop music as the kind that has to have its own lyrics; and it’s also good that our kind of music isn’t too familiar, so we grab attention,” he added.

The show went on as more songs were performed along with hilarious martial art moves performed by Abdul Malik, which immediately caught the audience’s attention, allowing people to forget their hunger in the middle of a fasting day. As the day grew old, the whole room started to sing along, “I’m not afraid to stand alone!”

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

For more information on Native Deen’s Indonesian tour, please go online at: http://jakarta.usembassy.gov

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