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SMART PEOPLE
who made
SMART DECISIONS
<<The case of Loon>>

BY SALIM BOSS

[An Excerpt from the book “They are either Extremely Smart or Extremely Ignorant”
by Salim Boss. For more articles from this author, please visit his blog;

[www.extremelysmart.wordpress.com]
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Loon, the former Bad Boy artist

“I need a girl”
~ Loon’s song before his conversion to Islam

His stage name is Loon, his birth name

Chauncey Lamont Hawkins, and his Islamic
name is Amir Junaid Muhadith. Loon was
born on 20 June 1975 in Harlem, ‘The Home of
hustlas and money makers’ and attended the
prestigious “Beverly Hills High School” where
his classmates included Angelina Jolie, Monica
Lewinsky, the Menendez brothers (Lyle and
Erik who murdered both of their parents with
a shotgun and were later sentenced to life in
prison without parole). And of course, Loon was
raised a Baptist.

Loon evolved from the ghettos of Harlem, to

street-hustling and to the rap world where he
became part of P. Diddy’s Bad Boy Records. In
addition, he has performed songs with notable artists such as 50 Cent, Jermaine Dupri, Usher,
Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Jamie Foxx, Ginuwine, Busta Rhymes, Faith Evans, Toni Braxton,
Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz among others. Loon enjoyed global audiences and there was no country
he could go without people recognizing who he was. Loon has also involved himself in acting and
has appeared in films like “Happy Hour,” “State Property 2” and “Death of a Dynasty.” This is a guy
whose materialistic ambition is captured in his statement: “I’m gonna get money. I’m from Harlem.
Ours is a 24/7 hustle. Gimme an inch, I’m taking a yard. Gimme a rope, I’m a cowboy. . . .” Some
of his records are: “I Need A Girl (Part One)” P. Diddy featuring Usher & Loon); I Need A Girl (Part
Two)” , P. Diddy & Ginuwine featuring Loon, Mario Winans & Tammy Ruggeri; “I Do Wanna Get
Close To You”, 3LW featuring P. Diddy & Loon; “Hit The Freeway”, Toni Braxton featuring Loon.
Indeed, bad boy is not for life, and as a matter of fact, all religious scriptures tell us that all bad
boys will not enter the kingdom of heaven. In 2004, Loon ended his relationship with Bad Boy and
founded his own label, Boss Up Entertainment. With all the fame and the bling bling, there was
one thing that was abundantly elusive: Loon could not purchase peace.

Loon left all those lifestyles and embraced
Islam in December 2008 whilst on tour in
Dubai, UAE. How did he come to Islam? The
thing that drove him to Islam was just the
adhan (Islamic call to prayer) he heard while
touring in Dubai. He says that the adhan was
more beautiful than any song he has ever
written in his life. The call for prayer which
“[I’m] happy to be accepting Islam and finding
the peace of mind I was always searching for in
the music business . . . Thanks to Islam I was
able to complete my search and now I’m very
much at peace. Bad Boy days are over, I’m now
what you call a good boy.”
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was recited in the most beautiful, melodious and captivating way from Mosques’ loudspeakers
made him study its background, meaning and significance. Studying about Islam, he would
sometimes go to bookstores to buy books on Islam; sometimes he would ask questions to people
of authority of Islam and at the end of it, Loon thought that it is the smartest decision to embrace
Islam. Oh yes, the other thing that attracted Loon to Islam is the way Islamic acts of worship are
consistently done in a unswerving formula. “Everyplace I went (in the Muslim world)” Loon says, “I
could see one consistent practice and worship of one true God . . . this is something that I want to
be part of, because (in the non-Muslim world) there are a lot of inconsistencies in the way people
practice and worship but what I saw in the Muslim (world) was very consistent.”

Loon (Left) with P.Diddy (Centre) and Busta Rhymes (Right).Busta is also a convert to Islam.

Since his reversion to Islam, Loon has appeared in various TV and Radio interviews such as on Al
Jazeera TV, Al-Shahed T.V, Kuwaiti T.V, The Deenshow and on Talk Radio Show. “Islam brought
peace that I couldn’t find in my life,” Loon vibrantly exclaimed in an interview with Eddie of the
Deenshow. Fellow Muslims may tell this brother who needed a girl that if, he strictly adheres to
Islam, God will not only give him numerous virgins in Heaven, but he can now have four wives on
this transitory planet called Earth. In Islam, you are not restricted to just one marital partner, the
‘I-need-a-gal’ mentality is automatically supplanted with ‘I-need-wives’ mindset. Just before the
end of an interview, Eddie of Deenshow submitted the following question to Loon: “What advice
do you have for those who are trying to mimic the hip-hop phenomenons and the people in your
positions?” Since Loon has been in that field, I think it is respectful for the music-lovers to heed
the advice he gave:
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If you trying to incorporate a love for music just be mindful that there is a lifestyle that comes with
the music that kind like destroy the whole positive effort of trying to exercise the love for music …
you can’t have one without the other, you do the music you are going to indulge in the lifestyle that
come with the Music. And the lifestyle itself is definitely something you don’t want to get involved
with. It draws the guts out of you, it draws everything that is pure inside of you, it removes the
peace of mind that you might been having before coming into the business….Take my advice.

Currently, Loon grasps any opportunity to learn more about Islam, on one interview with Sheikh
Nabil Al-awadh in Kuwait, Loon could recite, from memory, the first chapter of the Qur’an. Being
an experienced singer, Muslims anticipate that he may one day be one of the world’s Qur’an top
reciters. One of his messages on Twitter was: “My quest for knowledge has just gone into overdrive.
May Allah guide us all to seeking the knowledge of Islam!” His seriousness into Islam is manifested
in his adoption of Prophet Muhammad’s model of life by keeping a full beard. In addition, he has
already performed an important Islamic ritual known as Umrah (lesser Hajj) which is a visitation
to Makkah to perform certain rituals of worship. But what’s amazing is that he has become ‘better
in speech’ by taking an initiative of calling upon music addicts to abandon such a distressing life,
by calling upon non-Muslims to read about Islam, by calling upon Muslims to strictly adhere
to their religion, by calling people to the religion of Allah. And of course we may wonder if, by
becoming a God’s spokesman, he is not better in speech then “who is better in speech than one
who invites to Allah, and does righteousness and says, “I am one of the Muslims.”?”[Q 41:33] Or
should he go back to the hip-hop world and glorify killing, violence and (pre-marital) sex? To those
who are enslaved with music and its lifestyle, they got to hear Loon’s message which was aired by
AlShahid TV:

The Music lifestyle was overbearing and overwhelming for me. To be removed from that lifestyle, I
would be a fool to return back to the place which I was guided from. In that case, anyone who is
involved in Music. . . to the Muslims knowing that the Qur’an teaches us that Music is Haram (i.e.
Prohibited by God), I was saying to those who are struggling with this matter (i.e. Music) to try to
refrain and invest more time and energy reading and extracting emotions from the speech of Allah
which is in the Qur’an.

However much you are loved or revered, the moment you decide to change for the good, you will be
sure of becoming a public enemy just in an overnight. Some of Loon’s fans were not an exception.
But one big-picture thinker posted the following message on worldstarhiphop.com in order to
silence the detractors and boast up Loon’s motivation “As-Salaamu Alaikum brother Amir (i.e.
Loon)!” the comment read, “and Salaams to all the other brothers and sisters out there! There are
alot of ignorant people on here bashing what they have no knowledge of! If you know nothing of
Islam please don’t speak on it!” Junaid Muhadith (formerly Loon) is now writing a book whereby
he would document his life and his transition to Islam. “[I’m] happy to be accepting Islam,” said
Loon, “and finding the peace of mind I was always searching for in the music business . . . Thanks
to Islam I was able to complete my search and now I’m very much at peace. Bad Boy days are over,
I’m now what you call a good boy.”
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From Loon to Amir

From the rap-artist Loon, to the a humble, devout Muslim

Loon (left), to the right of the picture is the American rapper Freeway. Freeway is also a convert to
Islam. He is best known for his tenure on Roc-A-Fella Records and his affiliation with Jay-Z and
Beanie Sigel.
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“Change We Can Believe In”

Websites:
www.loon2amir.com
www.dawahinthewest.com/loonamir/?p=29
www.bossupentertainment.com

[References: “Interview with rap artist turned Muslim.” 5 July 2009. YouTube.com. Online video clip.
Accessed on 17 Dec. 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZFueqQnops>; “Interview Former Rap
Artist Loon accepts Islam –TheDeenshow.” 13 Aug. 2009. YouTube.com. Online video clip. Accessed
on 17 Dec. 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhLWOXKlHys >; “Loon Converted to Islam.” 9
Dec. 2009. YouTube.com. Online video clip. Accessed on 17 Dec. 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=6SZ6RTD1jXw>; “Muhammad Awadh meets American Rap Artist who converted to Islam.” 13 Sept.
2009. YouTube.com. Online video clip. Accessed on 17 Dec. 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t
rv5XeE8C6s&feature=related>; AbduSalaam, Ismael. “Rapper Loon Converts to Islam, Changes Lifestyle.”
6 July 2009. allhiphop.com <http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2009/07/06/21748711.aspx>;
<http://www.bossupentertainment.com/article/buy-the-album-now-loon-no-friends> retrieved 5 July 2009;
Hall, Rashaun. “Loon Leaves Bad Boy ‘Amicably,’ Forms Own Label.” mtv.com. 14 Dec. 2004. <http://
www.mtv.com/news/articles/1494820/20041214/loon.jhtml> ;<http://bossupentertainment.com/>;“Amir
Junaid Muhadith, formerly ‘Loon’ of Bad Boy Entertainment.” islaam.ca 6 May 2009. http://www.islaam.
ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=265:amir-junaid-muhadith-formerly-loon-of-bad-boy-
entertainment-new-york-usa&catid=63:n-america&Itemid=181>]
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[This article may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted and used on the conditions that absolutely no change,
addition, or omission is introduced and that it should always include the title, author’s name, author’s website/blog, and this
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Excerpted from Salim Boss’ book “They are either Extremely Smart or Extremely Ig-
norant” For more articles from this author, please visit his blog;
[www.extremelysmart.wordpress.com]. Get your free eBook of “They are either Ex-
tremely Smart or Extremely Ignorant” from the author’s website.