The New York Times has a story about Muslim punk rockers, the amazing life-imitates-art phenomenon of “The Taqwacores,” a novel by Michael Muhammad Knight.  They didn’t exist until Knight’s novel started circulating in the Muslim teen community. “This book helped me create my identity,” one Muslim teen told the Times.

The punks object equally to how Muslims are portrayed in American media and to the hardline Islam that has spawned violence around the world. This stance means they wield irony and anger in equal measure.  In fact, an early Muslim punk anthem, according to the Times, is: “Suicide Bomb the Gap.”