# How do Muslims feel about the Beatles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294 "2008-09-26T05:28:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/1 "2008-09-26T05:28:52Z")
This is obviously inspired by Paul McCartney’s concert in Israel. I’ve often thought that he might be some kind of ambassador for peace in that region, but that’s only if the residual spirit of Beatlemania has some presence in the Muslim side as it does in he West. It’s easy to see that most Islamic elders have consistently condemned the Beatles as the embodiment of Western cultural decadence, but there’s bound to have been a pop-culture underground among young people in the Muslim world who by now are not so young. Because of this legacy, one would think that if any Westerner were remotely popular in the Muslim, it would be Sir Paul. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/2 "2008-09-26T06:31:45Z")
30+ year old Muslim here. Don’t hate the Beatles but never liked them enough to be considered a fan either. Have no opinions on Sir Paul except that I thought he was a fool to marry that woman with the one leg, whatshername. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/3 "2008-09-26T08:18:54Z")
In ancient Egypt scarabs were revered as sacred - but then they weren’t Arabs, and those aren’t Be **a** tles. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/4 "2008-09-26T10:05:04Z")
sqweels writes: \> It’s easy to see that most Islamic elders have consistently condemned the \> Beatles as the embodiment of Western cultural decadence . . . Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/5 "2008-09-26T16:34:49Z")
> [@DataZak](#): > > 30+ year old Muslim here. Don’t hate the Beatles but never liked them enough to be considered a fan either. Have no opinions on Sir Paul except that I thought he was a fool to marry that woman with the one leg, whatshername. Heather Mills. I think he was mourning after Linda’s death, and Mills was young and attractive, and things just happened. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/6 "2008-09-26T17:30:22Z")
OTOH, Heather Mills could be described as an embodiment of Western cultural decadence. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/7 "2008-09-26T17:41:52Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > sqweels writes: > > \> It’s easy to see that most Islamic elders have consistently condemned the > \> Beatles as the embodiment of Western cultural decadence . . . > > Cite? You’re doubting that? I should have phrased that statement to be more speculative and with the caveat, “…to the extent that they reacted to them at all”. But given that the Beatles were such a global phenomenon, it seems doubful that Islamic elders in the Middle East: [ul] [li]Ignored them altogether[/li][li]Had a positive view toward them[/li][/ul] The Beatles represented both a generation gap and a coming together of young people all over the world. They were, after all, instrumental in ending the Cold War and bringing down the Berlin Wall. Cite: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAO-zSomKxQ&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAO-zSomKxQ&feature=related) (skip ahead to about 5:45) It’s a pity to think that these same positive feelings are unable to bridge the cultural divide that confronts us nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/8 "2008-09-26T17:44:24Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > It’s easy to see that most Islamic elders have consistently condemned the Beatles as the embodiment of Western cultural decadence, but there’s bound to have been a pop-culture underground among young people in the Muslim world who by now are not so young. > > Because of this legacy, one would think that if any Westerner were remotely popular in the Muslim, it would be Sir Paul. I can’t comment on the pop-culture underground in general but, regrettably you may think, McCartney and The Beatles don’t appear to have penetrated the musical consciousness of the terrorist sector of this movement. > [@](#): > > Aaron Klein, WorldNetDaily’s Jerusalem bureau chief and author of the book “Schmoozing with Terrorists,” said in response to the threat he called senior leaders from every major Palestinian terror organization, and not one had heard of McCartney or the Beatles. > > Klein said he proceeded to sing to the terrorists top Beatles songs, including “Yesterday,” “Let It Be” and “She Loves You,” but the tunes didn’t ring a bell for a single one. > > “I don’t know any of this,” said Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesman and senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror group. > > Abu Ahmed, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in Gaza, told Klein, “We don’t know these Beatles.” Personally I would have tried _We Can Work It Out_. If, as reported [within](http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=75354), Sir Paul has little to fear in Tel Aviv, there are at least two singers who might want to think twice about visiting. > [@](#): > > While the terrorists may not have heard of McCartney, Klein wrote in one chapter of his book Palestinian terrorists he interviewed all had recognized Madonna and Britney Spears. One terrorist threatened to “cut the heads” of Madonna and Spears for spreading Satanic culture. “If I meet these whores I will have the honor – I repeat, I will have the honor – to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam,” said the Committees’ spokesman Abdel-Al. Thus speaks a man who bought _The Immaculate Collection_ and didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/9 "2008-09-26T17:45:14Z")
> [@DataZak](#): > > 30+ year old Muslim here. Don’t hate the Beatles but never liked them enough to be considered a fan either. Have no opinions on Sir Paul except that I thought he was a fool to marry that woman with the one leg, whatshername. That’s something anyway. Do you know any fellow Muslims in their 50s and 60s that have fond memories of that era? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/10 "2008-09-26T18:31:18Z")
Well, **Chez Guevara** , that did help answer my question. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/11 "2008-09-26T18:57:34Z")
> [@](#): > > While the terrorists may not have heard of McCartney, Klein wrote in one chapter of his book Palestinian terrorists he interviewed all had recognized Madonna and Britney Spears. One terrorist threatened to “cut the heads” of Madonna and Spears for spreading Satanic culture. “If I meet these whores I will have the honor – I repeat, I will have the honor – to be **the first one** to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam,” said the Committees’ spokesman Abdel-Al. Bolding mine. Exactly how many times can you cut the heads off of Madonna and Britney Spears? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/12 "2008-09-26T18:58:56Z")
> [@](#): > > “If I meet these whores I will have the honor – I repeat, I will have the honor – to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam,” said the Committees’ spokesman Abdel-Al. So who gets to be the second one to cut their heads off? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/13 "2008-09-26T19:42:54Z")
Do their heads need to be cut off by force? I imagine they probably give a significant amount of head freely. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/14 "2008-09-26T21:52:31Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Well, **Chez Guevara** , that did help answer my question. > > ☹ I guess this is one of those questions that interests people who don’t really know the answer. In such cases they will dance around the subject matter, sometimes offering a response that is peripheral to it. This keeps the thread alive, on the off chance someone will come along and make a more telling contribution. For example, I can tell you, again off topic but now anecdotally, that Pink Floyd are very popular among some students in Iran. Some of them apparently know the complete lyrics to _Dark Side of the Moon_. They are not ashamed to publicise their homage, either. So a liking for western rock or pop is (a) not unknown in Iran and (b) not a hanging offence if the authorities get to know about it. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine an Iranian youth who were fans of the Beatles, especially since the height of their popularity coincided with Iranian rule by the pro-western Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi. I’d even guess the culture didn’t need to go underground. Maybe someone will come along to confirm or deny whether this was the case. Maybe that someone will be none other than myself. I have an Iranian family as close neighbours and I intend to put this question to them at the earliest opportunity. This will be in a couple of weeks. The head of the family is about 70 so his input, or lack of it, will be revealing. Naturally, your response above provides a distinct disincentive to report anything they tell me which **I** consider **you** may argue is not pertinent to your OP, however interesting such comments might be, and however informative they might be on a tangential basis. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/15 "2008-09-26T23:09:08Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > I have an Iranian family as close neighbours and I intend to put this question to them at the earliest opportunity. This will be in a couple of weeks. The head of the family is about 70 so his input, or lack of it, will be revealing. That would be way cool. > [@](#): > > Naturally, your response above provides a distinct disincentive to report anything they tell me which **I** consider **you** may argue is not pertinent to your OP, however interesting such comments might be, and however informative they might be on a tangential basis. Wadaya mean? Your earlier post was very illuminating. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/16 "2008-09-27T00:09:22Z")
sqweels writes: \> I should have phrased that statement to be more speculative and with the \> caveat, “…to the extent that they reacted to them at all”. But given that the \> Beatles were such a global phenomenon, it seems doubful that Islamic elders in \> the Middle East: \> \> Ignored them altogether \> Had a positive view toward them \> \> The Beatles represented both a generation gap and a coming together of \> young people all over the world. They were, after all, instrumental in ending the \> Cold War and bringing down the Berlin Wall. That doesn’t remotely answer my question. All you’ve even suggested is that people in the “West” (i.e. most of Europe and North American and perhaps some of the Pacific Rim) were shook up by the Beatles. I already knew that. I was there at the time the Beatles first became popular. What does that have to do with the reception of the Beatles in the Islamic world? Do they even take any notice of them? ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/17 "2008-09-27T00:14:53Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Wadaya mean? Your earlier post was very illuminating. A thousand pardons. I thought I detected a _soupçon_ of disapproval. I’ll get back to you as promised. If my neighbour is a Rolling Stones fanatic, or better still a Deadhead, I’ll feel free to report this with unbridled enthusiasm. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/18 "2008-11-22T16:43:52Z")
Well he tells me, via email from Tehran, that the Beatles had an enormous impact on ‘a few Islamic countries’. I’m guessing these were the less hardline nations of that ilk at that time. Specifically regarding Iran, the youth of the 1960s played and enjoyed the Beatles, and no ban was issued by the authorities on any kind of western music during this period. As I mentioned earlier, Iran was very much pro-western during the reign of the last Shāh so I’m not greatly surprised by his comments. It would be interesting to hear from someone with knowledge of, say, Saudi Arabian youth culture 40-50 years ago to give us a handle on the impact of the Beatles in that type of political and religious environment. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/19 "2008-11-22T21:03:33Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > It’s easy to see that most Islamic elders have consistently condemned the Beatles as the embodiment of Western cultural decadence Hell, when they first appeared in America, _Christian_ leaders consistently condemned the Beatles for pretty much the same reason. Them and Elvis 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294/20 "2008-11-22T23:15:20Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Hell, when they first appeared in America, _Christian_ leaders consistently condemned the Beatles for pretty much the same reason. Them and Elvis 😃 Well, it looks as though they are back in favour with the Catholics:- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7744282.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7744282.stm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-muslims-feel-about-the-beatles/465294.md?page=2)