The American Islamic Musical Group, Native Deen, Performs at An-Najah
On February 16th, in cooperation with the United States Consulate General in Jerusalem, the American Islamic musical group, Native Deen, performed at the University as part of an American-Palestinian cultural exchange program. In addition to An-Najah, Native Deen also performed in different cities in the West Bank between February 14th and 16th, including Jerusalem where the group performed at Al-Hakawati Theater in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Ramallah.
Native Deen is an Islamic musical group from the Washington, D.C. area; its music combines hip hop style with lyrical themes grounded in Islam. The group was established in 2000 and started to promote music that inspire young people to keep their faith amid the pressures and temptations of daily life.
The group performs at Islamic conferences, fundraisers, and holiday gatherings (often during Ramadan and Eid-ul-Adha); it is relatively well-known among Muslim youth in North America, and has toured internationally.
The group’s singers, Joshua Salaam, Naeem Muhammad, Abdul-Malik Ahmad, as well as percussionists, Todd Tariq Snare, Wesley Jafar Porter and Shaun Thwaits, performed at the Faculty of Fine Arts where many of the Faculty’s teaching staff and students attended the show.
Dr. Hasan N’erat, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, thanked Native Deen for visiting the University and meeting with the staff and students of the Department of Musicology. He also emphasized that the University is deeply concerned with developing relationships with the group in order to benefit the students and expand their experience in the field of music.
Mrs. Cynthia Harvey, Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S Consulate General, said that Native Deen performs in different parts of the world and seek to promote Islamic grounded music. Dr. N’erat on his part thanked Mrs. Harvey for the cooperation and support that the U.S Consulate shows with respect to the many cultural and art activities that take place in Palestine. He also presented a souvenir made by the Faculty’s students in appreciation of her efforts to reinforce cultural cooperation between the University and the U.S Consulate.
