Scarface: The face of the Muslim youth?

By Prof.Abdul Rehman Al Attass

"They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun-washed avenues of Miami… wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana. The world would remember him by another name… Scarface".

This is the blurb for the infamous feature film 'Scarface'. The 'they' refers to the Cuban immigrants in America in the 70's. The film evolves around one particular immigrant Tony Montana who works his way up the criminal hierarchy to become 'Scarface', one of the most vicious and ruthless gangsters in cinematic history.

From cocaine to beautiful women, Scarface fulfils his every desire. In the process he amasses incredible wealth and then loses it all in a foolhardy blaze of glory. But his blasé attitude is not vilified rather it is the subject of adulation: he steals, murders and tortures his enemies and anyone who dares to oppose him.

Scarface sums it up perfectly himself. "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women".

His complete contempt for life is glorified in the film, and many of the modern rappers and gangster wannabes hail Tony Montana as their prime influence.

Unfortunately, this admiration of the Scarface type gangster is not limited to the rap stars. The Muslim youth in inner city areas have begun to adopt the Scarface mentality. From the 'Lisson Green posse' in Edgware Road to the 'Shadwell Massive' in East London, a worrying number of Muslim youth are being gripped by gangster culture. Youth associate themselves with gangs for respect and find solace and security in their fellow gangsters. The gang mentality extends to protecting their patch from rival gangs. Turf wars are conducted on estates and woe betide anyone who attempts to infringe on another gangs territory. Knives and bicycle chains are the weapons of choice yet more sophisticated gangs conduct their reign of terror with handguns.

When one of the gangs is shown 'disrespect' the others rally around and make an example of the poor fool who dared to cross them. This is done to reinforce their credibility and ensure word does not get out that they have become soft.

The gangs are formed along nationalistic lines, for example in Edgware Road the Moroccan youth have long lasting 'beef' with the Bengali youth. More often than not, the fighting revolves around girls and drugs. Violent crime is commonplace as they rival each other to be the ultimate 'hustler', 'player' and 'pimp'. Muslim parents are helpless spectators as the youth begin to formulate a lifestyle alien to the Islamic values that they attempted to instil within them. Instead, respect is granted to the likes of Jay-Z and Tupac Shakur, after all they live the 'thug life'.

But the problem does not purely revolve around gangs of Muslim youth who just beat each other up. These gangs need a source of income to support their lifestyle. And hence they will turn to whatever is easy and also compatible with the 'thug life', namely drugs. Tower Hamlets is an area of London reported to have the highest concentration of Muslims in the UK. The local MP Oona King has dubbed Tower Hamlets as the 'heroin capital' of the country.

Up North the problem of Muslim youth in gangs is self-evident. Furious turf wars between rival drug gangs in Keighley on the outskirts of Bradford have left many dead in the space of a few months. Keighley is an area where the majority of the Asian community are Muslim of Pakistani origin. One of the victims was 24-year-old Qadir Ahmed, who was beaten and stabbed to death in the street after his killers' shunted his car off the road.

The effect of the gangster mentality is all too evident in these youth. As one Muslim youth in Bradford interviewed by the Guardian stated with respect to a rival gang member who had a gleaming new Mercedes. 'He does the same thing as me. That's what I want. But you need to spend time out here in these streets. That man's taken it to the next level'. These words worryingly seem to echo those uttered by Tony Montana about power and money and betray a certain mentality.

Then of course there is the curious phenomenon of the 'wannabe' amongst Muslim youth. The 'wannabe' is by no means a gangster in the true sense of the word. The 'wannabe' has probably never stepped foot outside the leafy suburbs of Surrey and has more in common with Ali G than Tony Montana. However he spends time and money attempting to convince his contemporaries that he is 'street'. This will involve having the latest Ja Rule CD, spitting the 'illest lyrics' and talking about who he 'sparked up'.

The 'wannabe' sees the designer clothes and flash souped up Ford Fiestas as something to admire and emulate. Of course very few of these youth will ever possess wealth and power to the same extent as Tony Montana, however the desire is there. Violent computer games like 'Grand Theft Auto' is probably the closest the 'wannabe' will ever get to being like a gangster.

The youth will tell you 'it's all about respect', but in reality they are repeating the rhetoric heard in the rap music and seen on the screens. There is no respect in the life of a gangster. There is only selfishness and contempt for society. Forget the myth of the 'ethical gangster' such as Don Corleone from the Godfather. Dismiss from your mind the notion that these youth are like a modern day Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Instead to achieve true gangster status you have to be willing to 'smoke anybody, anytime'. There is no place for morals or ethics. So if you're a gangster and your Muslim brother 'disrespects' you then there is no consideration paid to anything except the law of the street. And this law dictates that he should be made an example of, made to weep in front of others. It should become known that he is weak and you are strong. You should break his dignity and spread the word that you are not to be messed with.

These gangsters are blessed with the bodies of men but behave like schoolchildren. The gangster will bully those weaker than him and where he cannot win a fight himself, he will recruit his mates.

Why this mess?

It's no coincidence that the gangster mentality is endemic in inner city areas of the Western world. Many point to the 'violent' lyrics in rap music, especially in the light of the recent gang killings in Birmingham. However if we scratch beneath the surface it is evident that the gangster image emanates from Western Capitalism’s incorrect view about the way man should behave.

The reality is that the idea of individualism and the 'me, myself and I' mentality is responsible for the behaviour of these Muslim youth. And it is undoubted that this concept stems from the Capitalist creed, which places sensual pleasure above all other values. But there are certain key ideas stemming from this concept of individualism that need to be understood in order to understand the mentality of the 'gangster'.

Firstly there is the value of pride and the ego, which accompany the lifestyle of a gangster. No one should be able to put you down if you are a gangster. After all, you're the 'baddest' and the most ruthless. These values do not breed stability in society rather they create an atmosphere of fear.

Islam, painting a different picture for the youth.

Islam is undoubtedly a deen regulating all aspects of man’s life, including man’s relationship with others. Islam defines what makes a true man and the correct way to live life. And Islam has attracted people from all sorts of backgrounds instead of limiting itself to an area or a council estate like these petty gangs.

If we look to how some of the Sahabah embraced Islam, one particular story catches the eye, that of Abu Dhar al-Ghifaary. One morning he went and found the Prophet(saw)sitting alone. He approached him and said,

نَعِمْتَ صباحاً يا أخا العرب. فأجابَ الرسولُ : وعليكَ السلامُ يا أخاه. قال أبو ذرٍّ: أَنْشِدني مما تقولُ. فأجاب الرسول : ما هو بشعرٍ فأنشُدك، ولكنه قرآنٌ كريمٌ. قال أبو ذرًّ: إقرأ عليَّ.

"O my Arab brother, good morning". Thereupon the Prophet(saw)replied, "And may peace be upon you, my brother". Abu Dhar then said, "Sing to me some of what you are saying". The Prophet (saw) answered, "It isn't a poem to be sung, but a Holy Qur'an" Abu Dhar said, "Then recite for me".

The Prophet (saw) recited to him while he listened. It was not long until Abu Dhar shouted,

فقرأ عليه رسول الله ، و أبو ذر يصغي. ولم يمض من الوقت غير القليل حتى هتف أبو ذر: أشهد ألا إله إلا الله و أشهد أن محمداً رسول الله. وسأله النبي : ممن أنت يا أخا العرب؟ فأجابه: من غفار. وتألقت ابتسامة واسعة على فم الرسول ، واكتسى وجهه بالدهشة والعجب.

"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger". The Prophet (saw) asked him, "Where are you from, my Arab brother?" Abu Dhar answered, "From Ghifaar". A broad smile appeared on the Prophet's lips (saw) and his face was filled with wonder and astonishment.

Abu Dhar was also smiling, for he knew well that the reason behind the Prophet's astonishment was because the man who had just embraced Islam in front of him was from Ghifaar. Ghifaar was a tribe with a notorious reputation for highway robbery. Its people were famous for theft and were known as allies of darkness and night. Narrating this account himself, Abu Dhar said:

جعل النبي يرفع بصره ويصوبه تعجباً، لما كان من غفار، ثم قال: إن الله يهدي من يشاء. أجل ، إن الله يهدي من يشاء

"The Prophet (saw) lifted his eyes out of astonishment, due to Ghifaar's reputation". Then he said, "Allah guides whom He wills, Indeed, Allah guides whom He wills".

Hence Ghifaar were a tribe of 'gangsters' the equivalent of the modern day hustlers. Abu Dhar went back and convinced his entire tribe of Islam yet before he did this he displayed the courage to go and declare his Islam openly in front of the Quraish. It was the first public pronouncement declaring Islam and challenging the arrogance of the Quraish. What was even more amazing is that Abu Dhar was a man with no relative, reputation or protection in Makkah.

As a result he was beaten severely by the polytheists. However not to be intimidated, Abu Dhar returned the next day and encountered two women circling around two idols (Usaaf and Naaliah) and calling upon them. He stood in front of them rudely disgracing their idols. The women shouted loudly, and men hastened to beat Abu Dhar senseless.

Abu Dhar was a gangster, from a particular tribe of hoodlums. Yet Islam transformed his personality and he exhibited bravery that the modern day gangster cannot even begin to fathom. Imagine going into an area where you have no protection and challenging the local gang, with your ideas and thoughts to the extent that you are beaten senseless, yet you return the next day for more. This is the meaning of being a true man in Islam, the one who enjoins the good and forbids the evil and in the process fears the rebuke of no one.

The Prophet (saw) said of Abu Dhar.

ما أقلت الغبراء، ولا أظلت الخضراء أصدق لهجةً من أبي ذز

'The earth never carried above it, nor did the sky ever shade under it a more truthful tongue than Abu Dhar's'.

Muslim youth should aspire to be like these great men who went before us. The men who demonstrated for Allah's sake what bravery and courage really is. They were men who did not fear anyone except Allah (swt) and men who had the most outstanding personality, such that the Ummah will remember them long after the memory of Scarface and his emulators fades.