From fashion design to the Danish Mohammad cartoons, the appropriation of Islamic symbols can spark vehement and even violent protests.  But there is one story from not too long ago that gives us hope for a more ecumenical future.  It is the story of

Queen in Iran!

Long-time readers will remember that in an earlier post, I noted that when Freddy Mercury sings "Bismillah" in the Queen anthem Bohemian Rhapsody, he is singing a phrase from the Quran--"In the name of Allah."  This phrase is ubiquitous in Islamic jewelry, art and, of course, religious rhetoric. 

Islamic fundamentalists, of course, have an extensive history of persecuting gays, non-Islamic religions and those who blaspheme the name of Allah.  Since Queen is a gay icon whose lead singer was a Zoroastrian, you'd expect that Queen's Greatest Hits would be the last thing allowed to become a hit in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Oh ye of little faith!

As this article recounts, Queen bootlegs were popular for years in Iran, and the government eventually relented and allowed a cassette of Queen's Greatest Hits to go legit.  And how could religious leaders justify this?  By providing an explicitly Islamic message to Bohemian Rhapsody.  The Iranian cassette includes a pamphlet with liner notes that  

tells Queen fans that Bohemian Rhapsody is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil.

On the night before his execution he calls God in Arabic, "Bismillah", and so regains his soul from Satan.

So you see, it's a hymn!

But even though the blend of commerce and religious narrative can lead to newfound tolerance, I'm still not sure I want to know the ayatollahs' explanation for Another One Bites the Dust.