Meet The Hijab-Wearing Muslim Girl Metal Band That Is Smashing Stereotypes
An Indonesian heavy metal band is making waves and smashing stereotypes recently, as the band is made up of three teenage girls, clad in long sleeved t shirts and headscarves.
The band, Voice of Baceprot, is made up of Firdda Kurnia, Euis Siti Aisyah, and Widi Rahmawati. The band was first established in 2014, after they met each other at school.
According to their 'Frontgirl', Firdda Kurnia, 16, the band intends to use their music to combat the growing stereotype of Muslim women being meek and voiceless.
"I think gender equality should be supported, because I feel I am still exploring my creativity, while at the same time, not diminishing my obligations as a Muslim woman," said Firdda when contaced by Reuters.
Although some might think that the band will be met by strong opposition, but so far they are being received well, as evidenced by their 5,814 followers on Instagram.
"I don't see anything wrong with it," said a fan who attended one of their recent shows, Teti Putriwulandari Sari.
"This also relates to human rights. If a Muslim girl has [the] talent to play the drums or a guitar, should she not be allowed?" she asked rhetorically.
In their hometown of Garut, where the band was first formed, not everyone seems as accepting of them though.
Muhammad Sholeh, a teacher at the town's Cipari Islamic boarding school, said that the band is "unusual".
"It is unusual to see a group of hijab-wearing girls playing metal music or even women shouting," said Muhammad.
Muhammad also added that religious pop music is popular with many young Muslims, but metal is another thing altogether.
"But we're talking about metal here, which is loud." said Muhammad.
The band also has some detractors from their own peers as well, such as Maudya Mulyawati who is also a student at the school.
Maudya says that instead of singing metal songs, the band should focus more on singing the Salawat, which is an invocation to Prophet Muhammad.
But the band also had some supporters among the clerics, as Nur Khamim Djuremi has recently said that he does not believe the girls to be doing anything wrong.
Nur Khamim, who is the secretary general of the Islamic Art and Culture Division of Indonesia's Ulema Council has said that although the music group might face a culture clash in the more conservative areas, he did not feel that it is against Islamic values.
"I see this as part of the creativity of teenagers," Nur Khamim Djuremi added.
Well, let's hope that the band does not feel discouraged by their detractors, because from their performances, I think that it's safe to say that these girls have the talent to go very far in the music industry.
-mD
