The Story of DiscoMaulvi

AlyB (aka DiscoMaulvi) was born in a Memon business family. After completion of his A-Levels in 1997, AlyB followed in the footsteps of his father and uncles and headed off to the US of A for a Bachelor’s degree.

At the age of 17, AlyB found himself in the dilemma that most Muslims that go to the US face. After all, the lure of parties, booze, and babes is enticing for any hot blooded teenager. His semi-conservative upbringing made him steer clear of the booze but the parties and babes were perhaps not so taboo and he could often be spotted on a weekend nite partying with his friends (and usually being the only one sober).

Parallel to this partying however, AlyB also discovered the local masjid and the Friday sermons (given in Arabic and English) made him realize that he didn’t know jack about his religion. This sparked a thirst for knowledge, which was easy to cater to by the freely available Islamic knowledge through his friends’ book collections (obviously not the same friends he spent weekends with), the masjid’s library, and the wonderful Internet.

Over the course of 1998, a new AlyB evolved, one who accepted Islam as his religion and endeavored to do more than just lip sync his faith. This lead to the beginnings of a beard on his 19th Birthday and a spot on the executive Shura of the Muslim Students’ Association. He eventually became President of the MSA in November 1999.

On his trip to Pakistan in December 1998, AlyB found himself now being referred to as a Maulvi. Unfortunately, the vision that popped up in his head upon hearing that word was that of a backward closed minded individual, more interested in self than religion, usually only educated by rote. Thus, to express a rebellion against the norms of Maulvidom, the term DiscoMaulvi was coined.

While in college, AlyB spent 3 years as an opinion columnist for the college newspaper, generally writing about International issues or campus issues. Upon graduation, AlyB returned to Pakistan and became an IDB (In Daddy’s Business). He also sadly laid his pen to rest, partly because the media in those day was not free enough for his in-your-face writing.

Yeh BaDa Aib Mujh Mein Hai ‘Akbar’
Dil Mein Jo Aaye Keh Guzarta HooN
[Akbar Allahbadi]

Times have changed, media is relatively more free, and blogs make it easier to write without worrying about censure. It is now time for DiscoMaulvi to start speaking From The Pulpit……