HAhmed.com

The following an exclusive interview by HAhmed.com senior blog correspondent, Saad Omar, with with one of the founders of muslimtees.com. Enjoy!

Saad Omar-What is all this “Muslim Tease”.com business, is this some type of Naseeb.com on halal steroids?

Taqi [Muslimtees.com]- First of all, let me just point out that MuslimTees.com in no way supports the use of synthetic, physiology-enhancing, biochemical compounds (unless for medical purposes). Additionally, we believe, as the foundations of Islamic jurisprudence confirm, that ‘certainty is not removed by doubt.’ Be it known, therefore, that until baseball icon Barry Bonds is demonstrably shown to be using performance-enhancing drugs, we will celebrate his home run record if or when it arrives. But I digress.

To answer your question, MuslimTees.com is definitely not outfitted for spousal acquisition. While we can provide the unique style you may seek to make the statement you want, only you, my friend, can provide the moxie that will interest your prospective life partner. I suppose if one’s impression about our goods and services was otherwise, it would, as you put it, be quite the “Muslim Tease,” but fashion is our arena, not social networking.

In short, though, we hope, insha`Allah , to become one of the major innovators (small-case bid’a, not capital) in the Muslim American casual fashion landscape.

Saad-What does your site seek to contribute to the larger Muslim community through your online merchandise?

Taqi [Muslimtees.com]- It’s a fact that a massive segment of the Muslim American community (and around the world) consists of young people. It’s our contention that there has yet to be a uniquely expressive force that juxtaposes individual values and identity with the everyday fashion options, all the while remaining authentically Western. Dr. ‘Umar Faruq ‘Abd`Allah has mentioned on several occasions that the Islamic “river” takes on the color of its underlying “stones.” We’re trying to keep the water clear above the American bedrock, I’d say.

Superficially, one might think that we’re just selling t-shirts online, but you’d be surprised what it means to an individual to be able to find a product that lets them create or express an element of their identity without feeling like that statement is being made in a way that has trouble merging with mainstream tastes.

Saad-Who designs your shirts? What inspires them to come up with a particular design/look?

Taqi [Muslimtees.com]- Our primary designer is ‘Abdul’Aziz al-Salim (pronounced ’sulaym’) and Rommy Ahmed has produced some of the shirt designs as well. Both are founding members of the organization.

The guidelines we use for coming up with a design revolve primarily around originality and perceived need. MuslimTees.com is not just about producing a one-liner or a pretty image, but it’s about creating a multifaceted image that sometimes speaks to you simply, but at other times does so profoundly. Fusing these elements is a guiding principle. With each design, we try to ask ourselves who, exactly, is searching for expression…and of what concept/idea…then we try to create a way for them to do just that. We spend a lot of time critiquing each prospective shirt, asking what message it projects and whether it’s really a message that ought to be projected.

The above comments notwithstanding, some of our shirts are bound to be more shallow than others!

While we welcome guest designers, credit their work, and compensate them when we use their design, to date, we’ve used just one outside submission. That’s not because we don’t want submissions, but that it’s often difficult to transform suggestions into shirt designs immediately. The better the submitted the design, the easier it is for us to do something with it.

Saad-There are so many Muslim t-shirt companies out there, what makes you unique?

Taqi [Muslimtees.com]- Masha`Allah there are most definitely a ton of shirt and clothing vendors out there. Honestly, we didn’t really think about all that when we got started. I think what we simply wanted to do was put out a product that was completely different. We wanted to have a solid website, strong graphics, unique messages, and an “ihsanic” level of professionalism. That last one has been the hardest thing to do, I’d say, but we try to hold our feet to the fire before anyone else does, so to speak.

I think when you look at our designs, there really is an immediate feeling that we have almost a separate style altogether. Our colors are unique, our graphics are crisp and sharp, we don’t recycle ideas, insha`Allah .

It’s something we ask ourselves before every shirt, actually: Is this the way we want MuslimTees.com to look? Is this who we are?

Another important point is that MuslimTees.com doesn’t make the individual conform to the shirt. What I mean by that is the following: there are a lot of kinds of muslim out there. Some are comfortable with who they are. Others are finding who they are. Others need help finding who they are. You get what I mean. MuslimTees.com will let you be whichever one you’re at - and I think that’s important, because, personally, we’d rather that you identify in some form, rather than not at all.

Are you ever gonna rock the Ramadan Battery design? Maybe not. But perhaps you’ll buy the Skyscrape design because it’s more subtle and because that’s just you. We’re a shirt company that lets you tell people who you are on your terms.

Saad-Anything else you want people to know about your site, getting involved, etc?

Taqi [ Muslimtees.com]- Honestly, we love feedback. Keep the ideas coming and keep the criticism coming. People tell us we rock and people tell us we are haram. As an fyi, we are definitely aware of the opinions of the ‘ulema` on the issues of drawings and pictures and err on the side of caution when it comes to our messages and designs; but we also push the envelope according to our informed judgment, and Allah knows best.

If you like our stuff, tell people about it. Muslim online traffic is perhaps one of the more difficult beasts to harness and viral marketing, at the end of the day, is the only way this can become something.

Also, read Dr. ‘Umar’s paper when you get a chance. You can find it on www.nawawi.org under the research section.

Please keep us and muslim business in your du’a.