STATIONS OF THE CROSS

The term straight edge were brought to the outer limits in every thinkable direction. Different schools of the edge emerged;"self edge", "vegetarian edge","vegan edge","Communist edge","Krisha edge", "Christian edge","Buddhist edge","hard edge,"hard line". The last reference, "hard line", finally brought us the last station of the crass: "Muslim edge". From 1988 and further definitions and implications of the term straight edge were brought to the outer limits in every thinkable direction. Different schools of the edge emerged;"self edge", "vegetarian edge","vegan edge","Communist edge","Krisha edge", "Christian edge","Buddhist edge","hard edge,"hard line". The last reference, "hard line", finally brought us the last station of the crass: "Muslim edge" .

"Hard Line" was a hot topic in the early 90s hardcore punk scene. The Hard Line movement was an extreme fraction of the sub division that crawled out of the straight edge culture. More or less formulated by Sean Muttaqi outta VEGAN REICH, who also ran the label "Hard line Records" as well as serving the function as chief editor of the official hardline mouthpiece,"Vanguard".

Muttaqi, who came from punk and sXe,already familiar with the concepts of vegetarianism/ veganism and soberness, had the ambitions of a revolutionary, a subcultural pioneer bringing along great reforms to the movement and the pseudo-religion, launching the new flavour of the year in contemporary hardcore punk culture. Just like Iggy Pop,Richard Hell,Darby Crash,HR and Ian Mckaye did in respective ways for the expansion of the term and genre

VEGAN REICH was formed in 1987 and the first time I heard them was on the "The A.L.F Is Watching And There s No Place To Hide" compilation in 1988.Together with STATEMENT, NATURECORE,BEEFEATER and the crust gone mainstream curse CHUMBAWAMBA. Muttaqis association with the UK punks crowd probably set him in contact with Rat outta STATEMENT an later UNBORN, a bloke who probably read CLASS WAR and DIRECT ACTION, was an animal liberation activist who also had a huge passion for CRASS, DISCHARGE,CONFLICT and MINOR THREAT. He coined the term/concept "vegan straight edge", although didn t feel for a crusade. But, as MORRISSEY puts it in "What Difference Does It Make?:

"...the devil will find work for idle hands to do..."

 and if not work than at least a couple of x´d up hands.

Steve Muttaqi adopted the term and concept, the 2 headed moral monster,and incorporated it in his broader sociocultural task of reshaping the harbour of his native hardcore punk scene, and founded another bastion of extreme thought. He wrote down a manifesto, fused the "vegan edge" with some deep ecology, militant activism, biocentricism, pro-choice and Abrahamic religion, put out a label as well as "Vanguard" . The latter was the official "hardline" press organ or mouthpiece, which Muttaqi served as a chief editor for. A new "subculture within the subculture", sort of.

All official bulletins had the same, well versed and super sharp in the rhetoric, language of a manifesto,claiming no authority or moral superior voice."Above The Law", to use RAID once again. declared in If people refused to change their cruel way of life, exploitation the soil, the animals and other humans, action had to be taken by someone. Why not an animal activist, looking like a crew cut college boy, hooded and with a gun in his hands, as you can spot on the Above The Law  album cover. 

The bulletins give me much the same impression of a temper and a radical will to put action into words as the official RAF press bulletins which followed every official event of terror and death in the heyday of the extreme leftist group. They spent page after page justifying their violent schedule of bombs going off in supermarkets, killing cops or "pigs", politicians, union bosses, finance elites etc with political arguments grounded on socialist ideology, claiming to be some sort of a western chapter of the Chinese red army or the urban guerrilla of the forthcoming "international communist revolution".

Of course the package, like in "communist edge" and "krishna edge", was a commitment far too big and serious for the punk crowd in the long run.Nevertheless, Muttaqi and some other guys continued moving on, until officially submitting a full conversion to Islam."Vanguard" changed name to "Ahl-i Allah"("People Of Allah").
 

The tee under is however not linked to VR or hardline in any traceable form. But they share the same willingness to use violence and direct action in their holy war, remembering us of the fact that....