By IPS Correspondents
KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 21 1998 (IPS)

Move over those Backstreet Boys and Hanson. A new Islamic musical revolution is sweeping Malaysia and is threatening to spread to the rest of Asia. It’s led by a clean- cut singing group of young men called ‘Raihan’, which in Arabic means ‘sweet scent to heaven.’

The five members of Raihan are singing their way into the hearts of fans through traditional Islamic religious hymns called ‘nasyids’. Raihan gives these traditional tunes a modern touch, courtesy of percussion instruments. The result? Music that is at once hip and uplifting.

“When people hear nasyids, they associate it with Arabic religious musical culture,” Raihan frontman Zarie Ahmad told IPS. “But we didn’t like it to be traditional Arab tunes. It must be contemporary.”

“Sometimes we bring ballad songs, sentimental songs, but the music is very poetic,” he added. “We put the love of God, advice of the good deeds. That’s what is called ‘contemporary nasyids’.”

Whatever it is, people are listening and snapping up Raihan’s works. The group’s debut album, ‘Puji-Pujian’, was released only last year, but already has broken records in Malaysia with 650,000 copies sold so far. The previous record holder sold 350,000 copies.

‘Puji-Pujian’ has outsold not only the songs of of other Malaysian pop stars but also Western musical stars. The group’s second album, released three months ago, has sold 150,000 copies and is still going strong. Raihan’s music videos also get regular play on MTV Asia and the group’s recording company, Warner Music Malaysia, is betting it will soon become a byword in Asia as it is now in Malaysia.

Chandra Muzaffar, director of the Institute for Islamic Understanding and president of the International Movement for a Just World, says Raihan’s success in this country is due in no small measure to a desire by many middle-class Malaysians to identify with what they see as another expression of Islam.

“It is a manifestation of a search for an Islamic identity,” argues Muzaffar. “One could argue that it is an attempt to move away from what you see as Western identity — similar to Muslim women giving up Western clothes for Islamic dress.”

But social and cultural critic Amir Muhammad thinks Raihan’s fresh take on traditional music should be credited for the group’s rapid rise to fame.

“People were in the mood for something soothing and new,” he observes. “Rural Malays, too, were relieved to find music that is slickly produced and local without (being) too tacky.”

At the same time, he points to Raihan’s marketing strategy that is aimed at attracting non-Muslims as well. Amir notes that Raihan never puts down other “secular” groups as being “un-Islamic.” He adds that the lyrics of Raihan’s songs emphasise spirituality and compassion, rather than dogma and repression. Of course, it helps that the “their voices and percussion arrangements aren’t bad at all”.

“Most of Raihan’s songs have a sing-along quality to them – the type of tune that you hum when you’re walking,” confirms Nurazlaya Bte Alias, an 18-year-old university student.

Even children are singing along. Says journalist and consumer activist Ismail Hashim: “Previously, children would not memorise (nasyid) songs. They do now. My kids demand it to be played at home and in the car, and they sing along with it.”

Says Abu Bakar, Raihan’s background vocalist: “Entertainment and music are the closest thing to today’s youngsters. If we are going to influence them, it will have to be through music.”

As a result, the group’s message is more accepted by a sector of society that would have otherwise dismissed it as preachy or old- fashioned. “The difference between us and other pop singers is that we sing only about the good things,” says Abu. “We don’t sing about love between boy and girl, but true love to God, His kingdom.”

Still, Raihan has had run-ins with some in the religious community. Manager Farahin Abdul Fattah says that when Raihan signed the promotion deal with Warner, some members of the Muslim community said the group had sold its soul.

“I said, what we are talking about here is God,” relates Farahin. “What we want is to get the message across to the society as efficiently as possible. Warner Music has a strong marketing arm that we don’t have.”

“If you don’t cooperate with non-Muslims because you want to promote Muslim songs, I think it’s not right,” adds Farahin, who has been in the music business since he was 10. “Then you cannot develop a healthy multi-cultural society. It defeats the purpose of being a good Muslim.”

The decision to go ahead has paid off, not only in monetary terms. Leader Zarie recalls an incident when an ethnic Chinese toddler recognised him during a concert in a downtown mall, calling him ‘awa’ (uncle).

The child’s mother approached Zarie and asked if they were the singers she had seen on TV. When he said yes, the woman said, “you know, my kids love your songs” and prompted her son to sing one of them. The boy promptly did so. Says Zarie: “We were very touched (that we) reached such non-Muslims.”

That Raihan sings mostly in Bahasa Malaysia should not be too much of an obstacle to its growing popularity abroad – at least, language did not stop it from gaining a fan in the British royal family. Prince Charles was in the audience when Raihan sang at a cultural festival at Edinburgh last year, and he was reportedly so impressed that he sent the group a letter of appreciation bearing his signature.

Former British pop star Cat Stevens was also so bowled over by Raihan’s performance that he joined it in a cut in the ‘Syukur’ album. Stevens, better known these days as Yusuf Islam, Muslim preacher, recorded ‘God is the Light’ in English with Raihan at a London studio.

Farahin says while the group’s critics may frown on its use of Western methods in promoting and popularising its music, Raihan is the one doing much of the “influencing”.

Says Farahin: “Western pop music culture has a lot of negatives attached to it, such as sex and drugs. We are introducing the positives to it such as love of God, ideas of sharing, compassion, respecting elders and the family.”

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