Mosh vs. Mullah

More than war is rocking the Arab and Muslim worlds right now. Junoon is trying to find a comfortable place as Pakistan's biggest rock band, Arabs of many nations have just voted in their version of American Idol, and five kids from Baghdad are hoping their boy band will conquer Iraq.

The mental soundtrack most Westerners place on their images of the Islamic world usually doesn't include power pop or electric guitars, but especially among some quarters of Muslim youth, music is a passion.

And that doesn't sit well with some of their religious leaders, many of whom see music as a stalking horse for Western corruption of their societies, and some of whom believe that the Koran forbids music altogether.

And within this complex, tense environment, music happens.

A recent PBS television show, "Junoon: The Rock Star and the Mullahs," highlighted the difficulties faced by Pakistan's most popular rock group and other musicians there. This episode of the "Wide Angle" series first aired on July 17, 2003, and it contained many telling scenes of cultural conflict: police raiding a wedding gig, the closing of a centuries-old bazaar known for song sharing, a rock guitarist unable to connect with students at strict Islamic schools, pop concerts with separate male and female seating sections, etc. One government official practically defines music as "the mixing of boys and girls and making obscene movements."

Further West, in Iraq, the up-and-coming boy band "Unknown to No One" is hoping that the fall of Saddam Hussein will allow them to attain the pop stardom that was denied them under his reign. In a recent edition of the New York Times Magazine, the quintet described the struggle of dreaming of Western-style fame in a land where the electricity doesn't even work. Under Hussein they had little chance, of course -- the only pop station was run by his sadistic son, Uday, and singing love songs in English was "dangerous" to begin with. (They agreed to record a birthday song for Saddam, in order to get airplay for their love song; their birthday song was played hourly, for weeks, the love song only once, ever.) Unknown to No One hopes to go to Britain soon to record in a reliable, working studio, and return to a nation ready for new musical heroes.

Finally, people from across all Arab nations recently got to select their favorite pop star. A Lebanese broadcasting company staged "Superstar," an Arab-language version of American Idol and similar pop performance contests. An August 19 feature on NPR's "Morning Edition" radio show covered the excitement and turmoil surrounding the finale, in which a Syrian and Egyptian went head to head for the grand prize. Throughout the rounds of competition, Arabs used phone, text messaging and the Internet to cast their ballots. One man was heard saying, "This is the first time Arabs get to vote on something... Are you going to quote me? Don’t use my name." Despite the occasional feeling of pan-Arab brotherhood, some nationalistic tendencies appeared during the competition; for example, when a popular Lebanese singer was ousted during the semi-finals, the crowd rioted and threw chairs, halting the live broadcast.

Visit Pakistani rock idols Junoon

Learn more about the PBS show (including video excerpts, discussion forums, and extensive additional resources), "The Rock Star and the Mullahs" and read the New York Times review of the show

Read the New York Times Magazine article about the Iraqi boy band, Unknown to No One [fee required]

Learn more about Unknown to No One on a fan site and on Sky News

Listen to the NPR story about the Superstar contest

Read about the Superstar contest in Western media, or directly from the Lebanese broadcaster