Beat It

Another death, another celebrity, another space and and so many more questions on transitory choices of identities. I am not searching for commonalities, but am wondering aloud about one interesting commonality – choice of conversion to a religion – that believes itself to persecuted – Islam!!

Though Michael Jackson has definitely existed within the realms of my personal cultural psyche enough for me to hum along The way you me feel, or enjoy Weird Al Yankovic, I do not think I was ever a fan – as a consequence – I am pathetic at Michael Jackson trivia and have never really followed up on what he did with his life – his marriages, his physical changes, the allegations of pedophilia so on and so forth. I have always taken it as one of the ramifications of fame and fortune.

But, what did catch my attention was a little speculative obiter in the New Indian Express while reporting his death on his relationship with the “extremist” organisation – The Nation of Islam!! For the uninitiated, the Nation of Islam is a Black Muslim Organisation founded in 1930 in the United States of America covering a good majority of the 1.1 odd million adherents of Islam in the United States and has made serious interventions in race relations and empowerment in the United States, while being discarded by the liberal society as anti-semitic racist and disowned by the mainstream Islamic world as unislamic. It uses a variant of the Islamic theology for its political mobilisation amongst the Blacks in the United States. More famous of its erstwhile members would include Malcolm X, Mohammed Ali etc. both of these men having converted to Sunni Islam later

My curiosity was piqued enough to want to snoop a bit – to have a small part of that great global voyeur orgy!!! I tried and am now am trying to make sense of what I did find – aloud! Jackson was born to devout Jehovah’s Witnesses and raised strictly in adherence to the tenets of that faith – but it is unlikely that he lived within its confines as a celebrity. It turned out that Jackson’s link with the Nation of Islam was the result of speculation by a New York Post report dated December 19, 2003 and both the concerned parties have issued denials since.  His brother Jermaine alias Muhammed Abdul Aziz is said to have converted to Islam in 1989 and wielded considerable influence on Jackson. Insofar as his own conversion to Islam, it seems to have been a subject of speculation for quite some time, the latest being November 2008. Many are eagerly keeping a watch on his funeral to see confirmation or denial of this conversion. In the words of the religious Archbishop Cranmer blogspot

“The speculation over the religion of the former King of Pop (to whom does that title now pass?) is natural, and competing sides are attempting to claim him as their own. For Michael Jackson, of course, the question is now of absolutely no consequence: he is either with God in heaven, in purgatory, in hell, or his atman has surrendered to the karmic samsara and he lives on as a cockroach. Or, of course, he has simply ceased to be.”

Archbishop Cranmer and the angst of his ilk ought to be settled by the 3rd of July when the Jackson funeral is scheduled to take place. These speculations emanate from a range of ideological persuasions from “secular” Daniel Pipes to altruistic Jihad Watchers worried about a “pattern” of “prominent African-American” people converting to Islam (???) in times of crisis admittedly. But maybe also worried about the impact of such high profile soul “sell-outs” on the now successful project of a global mono-culture???? Can anyone trace Islamophobia or Racism? Or is it just my imagination? Maybe Jackson fans can tell me more!!!

I will be untrue to leave this note without mentioning that a number of Muslim blogs are also competing to own Jackson in his death.

For the time being;

They told him dont you ever come around here
Dont wanna see your face, you better disappear
The fires in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it”

[watch at youtube]