![]() Our exploration wasn’t guided by anything even remotely approaching the vastness of the Qur’ān, Prophetic heritage, and Islamic scholarly tradition. If history is being dictated from without our community and we’re simply trying to align ourselves with its presumed trajectory, are we benefitting anyone? Returning to my initial example, as youth we were able to engage in a polyvalent, multifaceted conversation about abortion. “You are the best nation produced for the benefit of humanity you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in God And if the People of the Scripture had believed it would have been better for them…” The point of this post isn’t to treat these issues as unimportant but rather to encourage more productive discourse. ![]() And others articulated the moral principle du jour of bodily autonomy vis-ắ-vis the State. On the one hand, some shockingly claimed it was an irrefutable point of consensus that abortion was ḥarām (unlawful). We have assumed the same acridity, intolerance, and overdone points of emphasis. Omit our Arabic names and occasional use of Islamic nomenclature and our conversations could have just as easily taken place between garden-variety American progressives and conservatives. Wade many Muslim commentators expressed opinions but with no such independence. ![]() In sharp contrast, when the Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. ![]() Our conversations admitted perspectives and priorities one wouldn’t encounter on Meet the Press, 60 minutes, or Nightline. In fact, I don’t even remember my own position! However, reflecting on that time, I am deeply impressed with our ability, as young Black people, to sustain a conversation about an issue of global significance but in a distinct, personal language. Quite the reverse, there were intelligent and impassioned arguments on both sides of the issue. I don’t intend to convey that everyone at the time agreed with the sentiments expressed by the artist. This was nearly two decades ago but I recall some of the robust conversation induced by “Retrospect for Life.” Young men and women in my neighborhood actively discussed this song: in classrooms, restaurants, campus buildings, CTA buses, etc. I’ma use self-control instead of birth control Concluding the first verse, Common even raps: Astonishingly, within my context, the song was never labeled conservative, pro-life, right-wing, or any such epithets. This song appealed to the conscience of the hip hop community and addressed topics such as: the value of unborn life, sexual irresponsibility, and even high out-of-wedlock birthrates in Black communities. The start of something, I’m not ready to bring into the world… Subconsciously/ knowing the act I was a part of Knowing you the best part of life /do I have the right to takes yours?
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