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The Girl with the Muslim Name
By Ali Asadullah 30/08/2001
Some Muslims might say that her life didn't amount to much. After all, she spent the better part of her 22 short years either singing on a stage, appearing in music videos or acting on the silver screen - not quite the activities upon which most Muslims would smile. By Muslim standards, her provocative style of dress and often sexually suggestive musical lyrics did not make her the best role model in the world. However, when she died this past Saturday night in a plane crash in the Bahamas, it seemed that all of America, many young Muslims included, ached and wept a collective tear for her - this girl with a Muslim name.
She was born Aaliyah Dana Haughton in Brooklyn, New York in 1979 and from a very early age she showed an aptitude for the performing arts. Her family moved to Detroit when she was still young, and by the time she entered high school, Aaliyah had already made strides towards the super-stardom she would one day enjoy.
At the tender age of 11, she sang back-up vocals for Gladys Knight and the Pips, a famous R&B group whose namesake was married to her uncle, a record producer. That same uncle would introduce Aaliyah to R. Kelly in the early 1990s, shortly after Kelly made his own popular music breakthrough. Together, the two created a unique sound that blended soulful R&B with the more edgy beats and attitude of the emergent Hip-Hop culture. The collaboration resulted in two things: The groundbreaking album
Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, and Aaliyah's marriage to R. Kelly. She was just 15; Kelly was 27.
As rumors of this surprise marriage began to spread, so too did rumors concerning Aaliyah's faith begin to circulate. Because of Aaliyah's age at the time, the marriage became a source of great controversy. The popular gossip was that Aaliyah's father, being Muslim, was not happy that his daughter had married without his permission. This turned out to be misinformation.
While there is some truth to the claim that a marriage did indeed take place, there is no veracity to the assertion that either Aaliyah was Muslim or that any of her family are Muslim. According to her personal publicist Jill Fritzo, Aaliyah was Roman Catholic, as are her parents and brother. However, for many years, the name she walked around with kept Muslims guessing, for it seemed that at every opportunity she was telling interviewers that her name was Swahili/Arabic for "The Most High" or "Exalted". The fact that her brother is named Rashad helped perpetuate the popular belief that Aaliyah was Muslim.
Over the years, Muslims would continually question Aaliyah's chosen career path. As the argument would go, "If she's Muslim, then why is she so scantily clad, and why is she gyrating in front of the camera?" However in hindsight, the more appropriate question might be - Why didn't Aaliyah ever become Muslim? Or if people thought she was Muslim, why wasn't there more community outreach to her?
If there is one fundamental right every human being has, it is to hear the message of Islam with clarity. With reference to this, many scholars of Islam are of the opinion that it is impermissible to live in non-Muslims lands unless one is making the effort to inform people about the religion. In striving to spread Islam, it only makes sense then to take it to people who have an affinity for the religion.
Aaliyah was an intelligent, erudite, articulate young woman. She didn't simply walk around with stars in her eyes and materialism on her mind. This was a young woman who knew exactly what her name meant, and that it had an origin beyond the traditions of her American, African-American and Roman Catholic upbringing.
Moreover, Aaliyah was a genuine person who was wise beyond her years. In the many interviews she gave over the course of her short career, it was so abundantly clear that she had a depth of character, maturity and overall positive perspective on life that often escapes popular performers because of the distractions provided by fame and fortune.
Fans across the nation recognize just what sort of person Aaliyah was, and that is why from coast to coast, there have been non-stop tributes and memorials to this young woman's life. From super-producer Quincy Jones, to
The Matrix producer Joel Silver [Aaliyah was to have a role in the film's sequel], to public figures from all walks of life, outpourings of grief and respect have issued forth since the fateful accident on Saturday. That doesn't just happen out of the blue. These sorts of spontaneous responses are indicative of the quality of the life lost.
So it again begs the question: Why didn't Aaliyah die a Muslim?
For her it is now too late. Allah (swt) will judge her as we all will be judged. All we can do is give her respect in the manner the Prophet Muhammad did when he noted at the passing of a Jewish funeral procession: "Is this not a soul going to meet its lord?"
However, for the rest of humanity, it is not too late. And that means for Muslims, the work ahead is clear. Hopefully in the future more people will die Muslim, instead of passing as Aaliyah did - the girl with the Muslim name.
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