Dirty Kuffar - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

'Dirty Kuffar' is a controversial 2004 Jihad

Jihad

Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

style Islamist extremist rap video produced by Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

British rappers Sheikh Terra and the Soul Salah Crew, or, as the video says: featuring the Soul Salah Crew.

The music video begins with a CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

video clip

Video clip

Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...

showing US troops shooting an Iraqi individual and then rejoicing, the clip is then followed by the logo, "Digihad", playing on the terms Digital

Digital

A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...

and Jihad

Jihad

. The Beat of Dirty Kuffar is also the same of the popular Lumidee song "Never again-uh oh."

The soldier being interviewed at the beginning of the video is allegedly called Riddle and was interviewed by CNN

CNN

.

The 'Digihad' logo has been spoof

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

ingly taken from the racist and White supremacist British Combat 18

Combat 18

Combat 18 is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members...

website logo , only that the Swastika

Swastika

The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

has been removed.

Significance

Unlike any other controversial rap song, or any form of music, 'Dirty Kuffar', as an independent song, has hit the mainstream media headlines from the day it was released in 2004 to present. and even internationally. The Globe and Mail on 17 August 2007 have said that:

"Since its release, Dirty Kuffar has been downloaded onto millions of computers and remixed by many like-minded web jihadists. You can find it on video-sharing sites such as YouTube."

In Australia, newspapers, television reports, Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

hit results for terms such as "jihad rap" return hundreds of references and has been a hot topic on both Music and Right-Wing internet forums.

This may be because of the significance of the impact of Islamic and Western cultures and beliefs being such a popular topic or the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Western countries.

As of 24 June 2007, over 3 years since the videos release, Google return over 27,500 hits for the search 'Dirty Kuffar' and over 818,000 for 'Jihad Rap'. A Google search for 'Digihad' returns 14,700 hits.

The Arabic news station Al-Jazeera reported on the phenomenon.

Steven Emerson

Steven Emerson

Steven Emerson, is an American journalist and author, who writes about national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.Emerson is the author of six books, and co-author of two more. His television documentary Jihad in America won the 1994 George Polk Award for best Television Documentary, and...

, an investigator of jihadist activities of the Investigative Project, via jihadwatch.org comments on the video:

"The video you are about to watch is a rap video designed to inspire people to take up jihad against the West. Posted on a radical Islamic website based out of the United Kingdom, the video is undeniably entertaining, as professionally produced as any video you might see on MTV. Consider the irony: radical fundamentalism, sworn to destroy Western culture and beliefs, uses that culture to market its hate. Paralleling the same deception, the Islamic organization that produced and marketed this video claims to be an Islamic "human rights" group but in reality is a group sworn to support the killing of Jews, Christians and moderate Muslims."

Screen shots from the video depict the singers wearing Palestinian Keffiyeh

Keffiyeh

The keffiyeh/kufiya , also known as a ghutrah , ' , mashadah , shemagh or in Persian chafiye , Kurdish cemedanî and Turkish puşi, is a traditional Arab headdress fashioned from a square, usually cotton, scarf. It is typically worn by Arab men, as well as some Kurds...

's around his head, atop a balaclava.

2004

The song is a rap/dancehall song that is underpinned by the much-used Diwali Riddim

Diwali Riddim

Greensleeves Rhythm Album #27: Diwali, also known as the Diwali Riddim, is an album and popular dancehall riddim that came to prominence in 2002...

. The video has recently been posted on the British website run by the Islamic extremist Mohammad al-Massari

Mohammad al-Massari

Dr. Mohammad Al-Massari is an exiled Saudi physicist and political dissident who gained asylum in the United Kingdom in 1994. He runs the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights and is an adviser to the Islamic Human Rights Commission....

, the UK-based Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

n dissident who has lived in Britain since 1994. Al-Massari claims that the video has been selling in large quantities at mosques to the younger generation and is in heavy demand overseas. In 2004 al-Massari told the Guardian newspaper that he did not know a single young Muslim who has not either seen or got the video.

Al-Massari also stated that "It is selling everywhere. Everyone I meet at the mosque is asking for it." Al-Massari's Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia - a group which came to Britain in 1994 to publicise injustices in the desert kingdom - also distributes the four-minute video on its website.

The rapper fronting the video calls himself Sheikh Terra and the Soul Salah Crew - a take on the rap group So Solid Crew

So Solid Crew

So Solid Crew is an electronic and urban musical collective from South London, England, whose hits include "Oh No " and "21 Seconds", the latter reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 2001. Another hit, "They Don't Know", reached number three in November 2001 and "Haters" got to...

. Salah is Arabic for "prayer". On the video Nazis, Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...

, Tony Blair

Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

, Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

, Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....

and Nick Griffin

Nick Griffin

Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....

are main Dirty Kuffars. Also seen morping into the Count from Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

is Hosni Mubarak

Hosni Mubarak

Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....

. The video also featured Hamza Yusuf

Hamza Yusuf

Hamza Yusuf Hanson is an Islamic scholar of the Sunni tradition, and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, United States. He is an American convert to Islam, and is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders,...

with the caption stating that he was one of the "Scholars for Dollars".

It was stated by the Daily Times of Pakistan that "Al Qaeda’s newest weapon against the West is a violent English-language rap tune..."

The British National Party

British National Party

The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...

has stated that "More than a tiny minority of young British Muslims turned the 'Dirty Kuffar' rap video into a cult."

On 10 November 2004, former Jihadist Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is an American counter-terrorism expert and attorney living in Washington D.C. He is the Director of the Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. He frequently consults on counter-terrorism...

, reviewed the song for Frontpage Magazine.

2005

On the 2 August, 2005 the well-known Bronx artist DJ Damien released an Internet-based tribute single in conjunction with Morcoq, entitled "Dirty Kuffar (Acoustic Tribute)." The lyrics follow the theme of the original, but in this version main Dirty Kuffars include Jacques Chirac

Jacques Chirac

Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...

and Lap Fung Chan.

In 2005 'Dirty Kuffar' featured extensively in a programme called 'Media Jihad: As Sahab Foundation' , A CBC programme based on a documenaty originally produced in Japan by NHK Television and was updated by the Discovery Times Channel.

2006

On 6 December Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

's Dispatches

Dispatches (TV series)

Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...

programme aired 'Jihad TV', a documentary investigating the fact that "Internet footage of beheadings has become a vital weapon in al-Qaeda's jihad against the West. Dispatches investigates this powerful propaganda machine and its impact on young Arabs and Muslims in the UK." In this show the Dirty Kuffar video was extensively reviewed.

On 27 November the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

reported into "Online Jihadism" and exclusively featured the 'Dirty Kuffar' rap video.

The 2006 documentary, Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2005 documentary film about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using extensive Arab television footage it claims to give an 'insider's view' of the hatred preached by radicals to incite global...

, features 'Dirty Kuffar' and discusses online Jihad.

2007

In 2007 The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

newspaper reported that the 21 July bombers appeared in court and it was witnessed that they had watched the video.

In January 2007 the 'Dirty Kuffar' video was featured in the CNN Behind the Scenes series documentary 'The War Within' about radical Islam in Britain.

The video also featured in the Fox News documentaries on radical Islam, 'Radical Islam: Terror In Its Own Words

Radical Islam: Terror in Its Own Words

Radical Islam: Terror in Its Own Words is a controversial 2007 documentary on Radical Islam featuring commentary from counter-terrorism experts Steven Emerson and Walid Phares and footage from the The Investigative Project and the Middle East Media Research Institute.-Content :The program presents...

', and Obsession: The Threat of Radical Islam.

In May 2007 Digihad remixed Dirty Kuffar, version 2.1 and released it through the video sharing website You Tube and, in March 2007 another video, 'Dirty Takfiri, with Azzam the American was released. However, although not promoting 'Dirty Kuffar', 'Dirty Takfiri' was an anti-Jihad video spoofing Dirty Kuffar."

In July, online news websites are featuring stories on Islamic extremism and Jihad on the internet, mentioning 'Dirty Kuffar', and on 18 August the Globe and Mail ran a story entitled 'Terror goes digital. With Canadian help', reporting how popular the song is still.

2008

In May 2008 Investor's Business Daily reported in the article 'Google's TerrorTube' that: "Among the videos remaining on YouTube is a slick piece of pro-terrorist propaganda called 'Dirty Kuffar'"

Whilst Family Security Matters report that "One of the most well-known examples" (of content that supports the goals of violent Islamists.) "is the rap video 'Dirty Kuffar'"