Listening While Muslim

Written by Asad Ali Jafri

I started DJing back in 2000. It was the last ‘element’ of Hip Hop I explored, mostly because of the expenses associated with acquiring turntables, a mixer and vinyl. Even before starting to DJ, my insatiable thirst to dig for vinyl had begun, inspiring my first DJ alias: Man-O-Wax. Along the way, my style, skills, preferences and story as a DJ evolved as a reflection of my own journey. However, it was in 2018 when I truly started completely deconstructing my process as a DJ in an intentional and specific way. That’s because in June of that year, I collaborated with my good friend  Abdul-Rehman Malik on a program called Listening While Muslim as a part of his residency at the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art Culture & Design in Honolulu, where I was working as Curator of Programs. 

The idea with this particular program was to produce a listening party, at that time subtitled Transglobal Sonic Soul Celebration, that applied a Muslim lens to popular music. An approach and really a practice that explored a vast ecosystem of faith, identity, culture and politics through music. This first two hour session was sold out and received a standing ovation when we were done. What was meant to be a one-off program is now an entire platform and three years later, we’ve produced 10 official listening parties, put out a Malcolm X tribute mix and even taught a summer seminar. 

What it’s done for me personally though, is to think a lot more intentionally about what I’m listening to, what I’m hearing, why I’m listening to it and perhaps most importantly what vinyl I choose to collect as a DJ and what music I share with the world. And though we may call it Listening While Muslim, the platform and practice actually allow me to fully embrace all aspects of my being when I approach music. In that way, it's liberating beyond labels and identities and brings me back to the core and essence of why I decided to start DJing over twenty years ago.

The best way for me to share Listening While Muslim with you is through a video of one of our virtual listening parties from December 2020, themed The Muslim Atlantic with guests Muneera Pilgrim and Rasul Miller. If you’re interested in keeping up with us, you can check out listeningwhilemuslim.com, listen on mixcloud.com/listeningwhilemuslim and go through select playlists on Spotify as well.