BAGHDAD — Shaaban Abdel Rahim, AKA Shaabola, is brave behind the microphone, using his lyrics as a weapon to speak out against Daesh (the so-called IS) and their evil ways. “Chopping heads is not in Islam, fess up and say who is behind you,” Shaabola once sang.



But when it comes to reality, is he too afraid to face the music? Although the Egyptian folklore singer, who’s had a longstanding war with the terrorist group, laughed off Daesh’s death threats with these lyrics, “They want to kill me, what? Are they trying to scare me? Those who have burnt buildings and stood on the flag are now afraid of songs that are written on paper,” he’s just canceled a scheduled concert in Iraq.



Could that have anything to do with ISIS’s presence in the politically-unstable country? Sort of. According to Albawaba.com, Egyptian authorities prohibited Shaabola from traveling to Iraq for fear for his life, after personally angering Daesh’s leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.



On his part, Shaabola said that he isn’t afraid of traveling to Iraq because Daesh’s threats means nothing, adding that he even took on Israel before and wasn’t bothered by their reaction. “They (Daesh) want to kidnap me and Islam Khalil because we love Egypt and hate Israel,” Shaabola’s song lyrics said, while further referring to Daesh as “agents of Israel.” — Agencies