Research Reel #1: Saalik

This is a short research reel for the currently untitled project I am working on about Muslims in the US prison system. I chose to upload this interesting conversation I had with Saalik Mustafa after Friday prayer held on the Southside of Chicago.

Indie Film Project: David

"David" trailer from Joel Fendelman on Vimeo.

“David” tells the story of Daud, an eleven year old Muslim boy growing up in Brooklyn. As the son of the Imam of the local mosque, he has to juggle his father’s high expectations, the dynamics of a conservative family, and being different – even from his peers in the Muslim community.

Through an innocent act of good faith, Daud inadvertently befriends a group of Jewish boys who mistake him for being Jewish and accept him as one of their own. While working together on a summer project, a genuine friendship is formed between Daud and Yoav, one of the Jewish boys. Unable to resist the joy of a camaraderie that he has never felt before, David, as he is known to the Jewish boys, gets drawn into a complicated situation that is based upon both the best of intentions, and youthful deceit.

When the Jewish boys discover that Daud has lied to them, his world is shattered, and he is left alone, struggling to come to terms with his place in the world.

via Indie GOGO page

Hashim Ali Alauddeen- Islam in America

Hashim Ali Alauddeen briefly discusses the history of American Muslim movements in the context of the greater concept of Muslim American identity at a mini conference in Miami, Florida 7/2/2010.

IMAN's Taking It To The Streets

(Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst, Mashouf -photo by: Leena Saleh)

I was blessed this last June to be a part of Takin' It To The Streets in Chicago.

Without saying more of what others have said about the event, it was a pleasure to be in the company with so many other Muslim artists. The festival was an amazing meeting of the minds as much as it was an arts festival. During the IMAN sponsored Friday prayer, Imam Talib reminded artists not to waver in their creativity because of allegations from some that what they do is considered illegitimate in Islam.

Imam Talib (photo by RidzDesign)

Imam Talib went on to say when the verse of the Quran "The Poets" was revealed, the Muslim poets of the time, what Imam Talib calls "The Salaf Rappers," approached the Prophet asking why God had sent revelation reprimanding them. The Prophet assured them that those "poets" who the verse is referring to are those who speak against truth and incite people to evil. The Prophet reminds his poets that the reprimand of the verse excludes "... those who believe, work righteousness, engage much in the remembrance of Allah, and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked."

Poet Amir Sulaiman (photo by RidzDesign)

I'm encouraged and inspired by the message of preachers like Imam Talib who realize that hip hop is a legitimate form of expression and that the work of Muslim artists is something to be celebrated and supported rather than ostracized.

Iowa Visit

I recently returned home from Iowa where I was visiting Elijah, a friend I acquired through correspondence while he was serving time in a federal prison camp in South Dakota. We initially were introduced to each other by a Christian prison chaplain looking for answers to religious questions. The chaplain happened to find my email through the website of a Muslim student organization I was a part of in college. I started writing directly to Elijah for the next year and a half until he was released in July of 2008. I finally got to meet Elijah last week in his home state of Iowa. He currently works bending steel in a factory in Ames and visits his 3 young children in Des Moines on the weekends. Elijah is the first subject of research for my new project about Muslims in the prison system.

Stay tuned for more on this project.

FBI For Muslim Kids!

There is a difference between community engagement and wholesale absurdity as displayed in the video below.

Making children "Junior Special Agents" with an official badge and all may seem like a good idea until they start calling in for backup when they hear their parents whispering to each other in Arabic or threaten to ground them for spying. Some may see this program as harmless education of an American intelligence agency but the FBI has a fairly tainted reputation with the American Muslim community. (See link 1, link 2, link 3)

Engaging the Muslim community should be done at the organizational level first with groups like CAIR and MPAC before any type of trust or working relationship can exist.

There's No Going Back

The controversy surrounding the Iranian presidential election has not only done damage to Iran but has also polarized the Shia community abroad on the issue. Iranian nationals within the Muslim community have either recognized the election results as legitimate, sided with the Supreme Leader's decision to end any probing into election fraud, or have voiced discontent with the regime's unwillingness to investigate the election results.

As demonstrations in Los Angeles have attracted majorly those who would not identify with the values of the Islamic Republic (most protesters don't even use the current flag of Iran when demonstrating), those identifying with those values have debated the outcome of the election fiercely.

Those defending the legitimacy of the election have sited the disconnection of the liberal "elite" from the masses of Iranians outside of Tehran as the cause of mass protests and an overall attitude of being sore losers in the election. In addition, Iranian voices of opposition have been dismissed by this group as supporting foreign enemies (Mossad, MKO, CIA, etc) bent on the collapse of the Islamic Republic. For some this may be a class conflict but when it comes down to it, is a question of transparency.

Iranians voicing their criticism of the elections have been harshly criticized by even non-Iranians who admire the institution of the IRI and intend on doing their part in what they feel is upholding the Islamic Republic and/or their loyalty to a Marja Taqlid.

Iranians who have aligned themselves with their government in the past and are now questioning its methods have seen this election as the breaking point for their trust in their leaders. The widespread media censorship, communication lockdown, police/ Basij/ military brutality against civilians has eroded the trust of Iranian nationals for their government.

At this point, I believe that some Mousavi supporters would have preferred Ahmadinejad to have won the election fairly and transparently rather than the current situation which has spiraled out of control on both sides. However, we find ourselves at the point of no return and there is no easy solution to all of this, so let's stop acting like the answer is going to come from out of the sky.

FBI Shoots Itself in the Foot with Muslim Americans

My experience with the feds isn't the brightest of paintings but don't take it from me... This article sheds a lot on the current landscape of the relationship of the Muslim American community and American intelligence agencies.

In 2007, Niazi reported suspicious behavior by a new Muslim convert in his mosque, who he said was talking about jihad and suggested planning a terrorist attack in conversations with others at the Islamic Center of Irvine. He and a mosque official filed a report with the Los Angeles field office of the FBI. The FBI then told mosque officials that they were investigating the matter, and the mosque successfully got a three-year restraining order against the individual.

Niazi reported that FBI officials later contacted him to ask him to be a paid informant. When he refused, he said they threatened to make his life "a living hell." Niazi was arrested last week on charges related to lying on his immigration documents and was released yesterday on $500,000 bail.

[Read more]

Removing the Silence on Domestic Violence

I saw this today after I heard Sheikh Hamza Yusuf on NPR speaking about the recent beheading of the wife of the founder of Muslim TV station Bridges TV. The sermon itself is nothing new to be heard in Islam however, domestic violence in Muslim societies are plagued by cultural baggage and backward traditions that sometimes masks themselves as "Islam."

Sheikh Hamza's talk on NPR breaks it down fairly well in terms of cultures that will avoid "shame" by any means necessary, which is a dangerous and destructive behavior.

The dialogue is ongoing and needs to keep rolling.

Moharram in Downtown Los Angeles

The Moharram procession in downtown LA are an interesting cultural phenomenon. The mostly South Asian attended and organized event happens every year near Broadway and 6th and attracts Shias from around Southern California. In the two years I have attended there has been a large turnout of people from over a wide range of ethnicities including Indian, Pakistani, Iranian, Afghani, Iraqi, and Lebanese all reciting "noha" or lamentations in their own languages and traditions.

In comparison, the Los Angeles procession is much smaller to the New York City version, which has been going for over 20 years. This year in New York, a friend of mine let me know that there was the largest English component to the procession to date. This development of a unique movement of English "azadari" mourning traditions is a transition to an organic religious culture of the English speaking West. The shift is a much needed advance for second and third generation Shias who are shying away from the languages of their immigrant parents.