HAhmed.com

Great podcast interview with Kareem Salama regarding his life growing up Muslim in the south; southern culture and its compatibility with Muslim life, among other topics. The short podcast ends with Kareem Salama’s own recitation of Surah Al-Fatiha.

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Source: The Herald Tribune

Kareem Salama was country before country was cool.

Kareem Salama loves the rodeo, corn dogs, country music and the Quran. Meet the world’s leading Muslim country singer.

“If the Grand Ole Opry would like me to come sing, I’d be happy to,” Kareem Salama says.

Salama grew up an Oklahoma Muslim. Chicken-fried steak, trips to the rodeo every year. If he enjoyed writing songs, why wouldn’t they be country? He made his debut in front of about 5,000 people at a national Muslim convention, and their response helped him decide to record his first album. He finished in September. Now he’s working on his second while playing at college campuses (MIT, Swarthmore and elsewhere.)

It’s hard to tell if he’s the world’s only Muslim country singer. The Country Music Association says it doesn’t ask artists about religious preferences.

“A lot of the reason why I’m able to do things that may not seem very conventional is because I don’t make that assumption that people are gonna reject me or think, ‘Hey, you don’t belong,’” he says.

But on paper, this story lacks his twang. In this asap podcast, Salama shows how much Islam and country music can have in common.