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The Kominas (Urdu: کمینہ) (In Urdu, Hindi, and Punjabi, Kamina means scoundrel) are a Desi taqwacore punk band from Boston, MA. Current members are Basim Usmani, Imran Malik, Arjun Ray, Shahjehan Khan, Elester Rechard. The first Kominas’ song ever released was “Rumi was a Homo (But Wahhaj Is a Fag)”, by the website Muslim Wake Up! in response to then recent homophobic comments made by the Imam Siraj Wahaaj. The music and imagery typically draws from anti-colonial and Mughul art, American movements related to Islam, such as Moorish Science, five percenters (“9,000 Miles” is based on a line from the English Lesson C-1 in W.D. Fard’s Supreme Wisdom Lessons, the studied text of the Nation of Islam), and Desi culture, such as Bhangra, punjabi folklore, Sufi saints from Punjab (Bulleh Shah), Islam, Hinduism and Bollywood (“Dishoom, Baby!” was a tribute to the film Sholay). The Kominas’ debut album, Wild Nights in Guantanamo Bay was released in March of 2008, and was cited among the top ten CD’s of 2008 by Boston Globe reviewer Siddhartha Mitter. The Kominas appear on the soundtrack for indie-films The Taqwacores and Slackistan. They also appear in a documentary Taqwacore, the Birth of Punk Islam directed by Omar Majeed. Check out their official website!
