As the British-Irish boy band One Direction soared in the pop charts, making teen and tween girls around the world swoon and scream, band member Zayn Malik tweeted a message that would perplex a large segment of his fans, while being immediately recognizable to millions of others.
"La ila ha ill lalla ho muhammed door rasoolalah." The 47-character tweet is a common declaration of faith among Muslims: "There is no god but God and Mohammad is the prophet of God."
It was one signal from Malik that as part of his public persona he would embrace a religion that is often feared and reviled in the West, while otherwise acting the traditional teen idol alongside his four floppy-haired band mates in One Direction.
The phenomenon of Malik as global pop star and Muslim — the religion of his Pakistan-born father — is likely to alienate some conservative Muslims and has already sparked the wrath of at least one well known anti-Muslim conservative in the U.S., where the band is currently touring.
But to Wajahat Ali, a San Francisco-based screen writer who is a practicing Muslim, Malik represents progress.
"It is empowering for Muslims worldwide to see the success of a pop star who also happens to be Muslim. It sends that message that a person can be respected for their talent, and their "Musliminess" will not exclude them from the public arena and culture," said Ali. "It’s also good business. You have a Muslim in a five-person boy band… and you have captured an audience of Muslim girls worldwide."
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