It’s been a decade since the 9/11 attacks and many Americans still don’t know quite what to make of their 2.75 million Muslim compatriots. Could a reality TV series help?
“All-American Muslim,” which premieres on the TLC cable channel today with a total of eight episodes, lifts the veil on five Arab American families in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan and finds their lives are, in many ways, not so un-American at all.
There’s the Amen family, whose outspoken tattooed daughter Shadia is engaged to an Irish American from Chicago who accepts her family’s request to convert to Islam on the eve of their wedding — and upsets his Catholic mother.
Newlywed 20-somethings Nader and Nawal Aoude embrace teamwork like a new-age couple as they prepare for the birth of their first child, even as they adhere to a devout Islamic lifestyle.
Nina Bazzy is a glamorous blond party planner on a collision course with both her traditional-minded parents and the wider community over her bold plan to open her own trendy nightclub.
Mike Jaafar upholds the law as Dearborn’s deputy chief sheriff, while his wife Angela tries to keep their four high-strung children in line in one of those big suburban houses that signifies the American dream.
And the patriarch of the Zaban family, Fouad “Haj Walker” Zaban, is as passionate about his religious obligations as he is about leading the high school football team he coaches to the Michigan state championship.
“It seemed like a really, really good opportunity to dispel some of these misconceptions that we’ve been dealing with all our lives,” Shadia Amen revealed, explaining why she agreed to do the show.
“We’re not here to represent Islam. We’re just five American families who happen to be Muslim,” she added.
All five families live in Dearborn, an industrial city of 100,000 that may be better known for North America’s biggest mosque than for being the home of the Ford Motor Company. Three-quarters of Dearborn’s residents are of Arab heritage. Many trace their roots to Lebanon — the Amens hail from the Bekaa Valley — and all felt the chill of suspicion after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
That chill lingers. Earlier this year, a Public Religion Research Institute survey indicated that nearly one in two Americans felt uncomfortable at the sight of women in burqas or a group of men praying to Allah in an airport. Sixty-eight per cent said they seldom or never interacted with Muslims, and 47 per cent thought Islamic values don’t jibe with American ones.
On the other hand, a concurrent Pew Research Center poll revealed that 48 per cent of Muslim Americans think other Americans are generally friendly to them. Additionally, many Muslims were also more satisfied with the way the United States is progressing.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2011.
COMMENTS (12)
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@Hareem: Behaving like a muslim in acts is more important than looking muslim and behaving inhumane
@let there be peace: Why judge others as foolish, when you yourself dont seem to understand the basic concept of tolerance to others shortcomings!
My cousin's cousin left Islam to marry a non-muslim guy. Nobody said/did anything. As they say, 'Islam mei zabardasti nahe.' But if you choose to be a Muslim, you should look like one! You can't walk with tattooed arms in a mini skirt and call yourself a Muslim. Just like you need to BE nice to be called nice!
in Quran our holy book god says o muslim ladies cover your head with a peice of cloth so that all of you could be distinguished from non muslims. Had any one in westeren world talked about Jews covering there occiput with a small cap.
What if he and his bride to be decide to get married in the Roman Catholic Church, or leave Islam at some later date? In that case people may find her Muslim relatives somewhat less tolerant.
Do in Rome as the Romans do.
I saw the previews for the show a few times over the past couple weeks. It's just going to be a reality series like all the rest with the only aspect making it stand out is that they're Muslim. Just like other ones have their special aspect of being rich brats, dysfunctional family, a virtual condom advertisement, horrible careers mostly ignored, odd living conditions such as having 20 children and so on.
and... The only thing that crosses my mind when I see a burqa is "that looks more bothersome than comfortable and if I had the choice I wouldn't wear it randomly let alone every single day" and that same line of thought applies to just about everything people wear. But, if someone says something negative about what I wear or prejudge me on it and I'm aware of it, I'll usually have a reply for them critical enough to make them think they were better off just staying quiet, too.
"...an Irish American from Chicago who accepts her family’s request to convert to Islam on the eve of their wedding.."
This might explain why non-muslims are wary of Islam and consider Islam to be a cult and not a religion..
What do you expect of children born and brought up in western society???? They are no different to any kids from any immigrant communities who have settled in these societies. !! If the parents wanted them to be traditional than why settle in these societies in first place???
lol at ur ignorance @let there be peace:
one in two Americans felt uncomfortable at the sight of women in burqas or a group of men praying to Allah in an airport
Rest half are fools ignorant of danger
What’s so surprising? The live in US hence act US.