the new cultural appropriation target: Islam!

So a little while ago, as you may recall, Urban Outfitters got into that thing where they sold keffiyehs as ‘freedom scarves’ for $20 and people like Michelle Malkin got all in a tizzy because they were selling ‘terror scarves’ and then they stopped selling them real fast? And they had those T-shirts with the rock-and-roll Palestinian kid with an AK-47 which they also stopped selling real fast? Well, they’ve got themselves in about the same situation again with a new product, but the fallout may be slightly more interesting than Michelle Malkin (who incidentally went to my alma mater) yapping about jihad scarves this time, as it just involves religion, without overtones of things getting blown up.

Maybe they’re courting controversy, or maybe it’s just that none of the buyers checked to see what the translation of the character embossed on the $8 “Leather and rope bracelet” was. (Hint: it’s Allah! This means wearing this bracelet into the bathroom is extremely bad, if you’re an equal-opportunity religious believer!)

Keffiyehs, symbols of unknown translation on jewelry, a bunch of burqua-type hoods on the runways at the most recent fashion week… is Islam about to join Ireland, China, Africa, Jamaica and Kabbalah?

Oh MAN! And… maybe, in the long run, it wouldn’t be too bad for this sort of thing to sweep the frat houses of America, wiping out xenophobia? “It means, strength, Brah!” It’s not the most dignified of ambassadors, but really, neither were cheap Bruce Lee and Bob Marley posters.

Or hey, I could be completely wrong, tell me what you think. Is it this a dumb-yet-probably efficient route to more widespread acceptance of Islam as just another religion we happen to have in America, or is it really ignorant and insulting to commodify the name of anybody’s god, especially if most people wouldn’t even recognize it as such?

On an only slightly related note, you know what I wish would come back into fashion? 12th-century Safavid Islamic tile.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, that would be so sweet. I’m completely serious.

for more further reading, see this article in Heeb, “In Sheik’s Clothing” and the interesting and kind of hilarious commentary about the bracelet at KABOBfest.