All-American Muslim - Episode 1

The TLC show All-American Muslim is a reality show about the lives of several Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the country.  This episode focused mostly on the marriage between a Muslim woman and a Catholic man.  In order for the father of the bride to approve, the groom had to convert to Islam.  At first his Catholic family was not happy about this, but after being welcomed openly at the wedding reception, they changed their opinions.  I think it's interesting to see how the opinions varied within the group of featured Muslims; even non-Muslim Americans who do not automatically hate Muslims are sort of programmed to view them all in one stereotypical way.  We can contrast Nawal, the more conservative but still outgoing pregnant wife, with Nina, the stripperesque strong-willed woman who wants to run her own club.  These women are both Muslims and both claim to honor the faith in their hearts, but their outward practices are definitely very different.  I think it is useful, and I dare say essential, for non-Muslim Americans to see this type of show, canned as it may be, so they can just begin to get a real view inside Islam and see that life for Muslims is not drastically different from life for Christians, Jews, or atheists.  Yes, the hijab is like a neon sign on the forehead that reads MUSLIM, but if people look beyond that, they see "regular" people with a different way of dressing.  Americans suck at accepting people different from themselves, but I think this is a good place to start.  I am intrigued to watch more of this show.  The impression I got was of wholesome families who strive to do their best in life, albeit in very different ways.  I am wondering what sort of day-to-day benefits being a Muslim has.

Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think

I just watched the movie Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think, which provided the results of a Gallup Poll surveying Muslim and American opinions of the Muslim world.  Many of the elements were political, but there were quite a few statistics relating to religion.  Not surprisingly, over half of Americans reported knowing little to nothing about the beliefs of Islam.  The documentary also talked about violence, saying that terrorism was a political issue, not a religious one.  The radicals (defined as those who believed the 9/11 attacks were completely justified and had negative views of the US) were found to be no more religious than the mainstream.  Also, the movie stated that "jihad" is not actually a negative term.  It means a struggle for God, but this can be a struggle to improve oneself as a person, to work to change government, or to fight to throw off oppression.  It does not refer to deliberate mass killing, and according to the movie, it is supposed to have a positive connotation.  In fact, one of the experts' name was Jihad, and he was really proud of his name.  The movie said that people "use" religion, clinging to their own interpretation of Islam to justify actions. This is obviously also true for other religions.

The documentary also addressed the issue of women's rights.  In most countries surveyed, almost as many men as women believed that women should have equal access to jobs for which they are qualified.  The hijab was discussed, and the main female speaker said most women view the head covering not only as a religious mandate, but also a garment that shifts the public focus from their physical appearance to their intellect.  The movie also showed women who were using the Qur'an to combat practices such as honor killings, saying that for true Islam, these practices are unacceptable.

Another thing that I just have to bring up even though it is not about religion is the results of one particular question.  Muslims were asked if they had unfavorable opinions of certain countries.  Kuwaitis' opinions of the US and Canada were used as an example, and the results were striking: 67% had unfavorable views of the US, while only 3% had unfavorable views of Canada.  The narrator said that the US and Canada are very similar except in foreign policy, which is what determined this huge discrepancy.