**
BareNakedIslam posted: "OMG! Muslims mocking themselves on TV. Is that
halal? Well, at least one Muslim, author of this article, appreciates the
self-deprecating humor of 'Citizen Khan' and doesn't find it 'racist' or
'Islamophobic.' UK DAILY MAIL (H/T Rob E) On Monday nigh"
New post on *BARE NAKED ISLAM*
<http://www.endtimestoday.com/?author=1> Guess who’s outraged over
hilarious sitcom about
Muslims?<http://www.barenakedislam.com/2012/08/30/guess-whos-outraged-over-hilarious-sitcom-about-muslims/>by
BareNakedIslam <http://www.endtimestoday.com/?author=1>
OMG! Muslims mocking themselves on TV. Is that halal? Well, at least one
Muslim, author of this article, appreciates the self-deprecating humor of
'Citizen Khan' and doesn't find it 'racist' or 'Islamophobic.'
<http://www.barenakedislam.com/2012/08/30/guess-whos-outraged-over-hilarious-sitcom-about-muslims/citizen-khan-complaints-29082012-jpg_110831/>
UK DAILY
MAIL<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2195459/Citizen-Khan-Offensive-Racist-No-just-funny--oh-true.html#ixzz250kZx1bK>
(H/T Rob E) On Monday night, I laughed out loud as I watched the first
episode of BBC1’s new comedy series Citizen Khan, about a Muslim community
leader and his family. As someone with the surname Khan — and as a British
Muslim who grew up in Nottingham’s Asian community in the Seventies — if
anyone was going to be offended by the mickey-taking, surely it would
be me. But
no, I loved the sitcom and tweeted my congratulations to its creator and
star, Adil Ray, as soon as it finished. *At last, I thought, a home-grown
sitcom that allowed British Muslims to laugh at themselves.* Good on the
BBC for finally realising the comic potential in one of the biggest
communities that make up modern Britain. Of course, it’s a shame it took
the Beeb 40 years, but it got there eventually.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meenVyNo2Uw
*However, the next day I discovered that my views ran counter to many, who
criticised the programme for ridiculing Islam and for containing
‘stereotypes about Asians’. The Twittersphere positively boiled with
righteous, religious indignation. * Yesterday the BBC received more
complaints from viewers and religious leaders about the first episode. It
is believed the number has risen to 600. The comedy is billed as a humorous
take on the lives of an ordinary Muslim family living in today’s
Britain. *However,
critics claim it stereotypes Muslims and is ‘disrespectful to the
Koran’. * Syed
Arshadeem, of the Union of Muslim Organisations of UK and Ireland, said it
was important to strike a balance between good comedy and the feelings of
the community, but that ‘a large proportion of Muslims will be unamused by
the negative stereotypes because it leads to misrepresentation’. *One
viewer said the programme had ‘ridiculed’ and ‘insulted’ Islam, adding it
had been a ‘mocking show’.*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN6QI-2S0IM
Oh, please! Never mind that the programme attracted an audience of almost
3.5 million in a late-night slot — the only thing that some people want to
talk about are the clichés, the stereotypes and the insults. This is most
odd, I thought, because I don’t remember the Irish getting so hot and
bothered by the TV sitcom Father Ted, which is full of Irish stereotypes. A
certain scene in Citizen Khan seems to have caused particular offence. It
was when Mr Khan — the sort of splendidly self-important community leader I
recognised instantly — came home, and his glamorous daughter pulled on her
headscarf to hide her fully made-up face and started to read the Koran. *Among
those who complained, many accused the show’s British Muslim creator of
insulting the Koran and demeaning the hijab (the headscarf) and what it
stands for. *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imTroiDQIog
But that’s nonsense. Muslim girls like this can be found in any big city in
Britain. I see them every time I go shopping — gorgeous-looking girls
peering out from under their casually draped headscarves. I grew up with
many such girls, too. And ironically, these girls were the clever ones. When
I was younger and crashing around — causing no end of family upset by
saying I couldn’t see the point in wearing a headscarf and declaring that
I wanted to be more British than Muslim — these girls were the smart
cookies who realised that life would be easier if they just combined a
little Muslim modesty with their otherwise fairly Western lifestyles. Such
girls realised that as long as their father saw them going through the
dutiful motions, he would be happy that they had remained loyal to their
family traditions. It was this understanding that made the scene so funny.
It was so true to real life. Adil Ray should get full marks for using his
childhood and life experiences to such tremendous comic effect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uQ8tZN-DsQ
And there’s so much else that rings true here about the daily life of
British Muslims — from Khan’s obsession with saving money to the point that
he buys toilet roll in bulk (it’s this sort of trait that makes British
Muslims such good businessmen) to Mrs Khan’s preoccupation with what her
friends and neighbours will think. This is British Muslim family life
through and through. It’s also interesting — and, more to the point,
accurate to much of real life — that Mrs Khan does not always wear the
hijab while her daughters are under pressure to do so. That’s because when
the Khan parents came to Britain in the Sixties or Seventies, as mine did,
they wanted to embrace the culture of their new home, and so they cast off
cultural symbols, such as the hijab, that would obviously single them out
as different. But 40 years on, things have turned full circle — and one of
the Khan daughters feels confident enough to want to show her commitment
to their Muslim religion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdQxDO1lBJc
When a new show is getting even these small details right, it’s clear its
makers know exactly what they are talking about. That why the clever team
behind Citizen Khan deserve the praise of the British Muslim community —
not unsmiling criticism. Defending the show, the BBC said it had made ‘a
very positive start’ and that new comedy always provoked ‘differing
reactions’. The characters were comedy creations not meant to represent the
community as a whole. For my part, I’m a fairly secular Muslim these days,
but I know my feelings will be shared by many of my friends who embrace our
religion more enthusiastically. Even a former Secretary General of the
Muslim Council of Britain, Yousuf Bhailok, said it was ‘the best thing the
BBC has done recently’. He added: ‘There is great humour among Muslims. I
am glad it has been made.’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EaayNt4xzs
The truth is that collectively we’re sick and tired of the fact that every
time something news- worthy connected to the Muslim faith happens, some
bearded senior man is wheeled out to comment upon it — in normally slightly
ominous and always doom-laden tones. Such an image suggests humour is not
something that you associate with British Muslims. But in truth it should
be. Heck, the Irish can laugh at themselves, and so can the Scots, the
Welsh and even — thanks to the likes of stand-up comic Michael McIntyre —
the English. The Jewish community, of course, are brilliant at laughing at
themselves. What is it, though, about the British Muslims — particularly
those of Pakistani origin? Are they simply too po-faced to join in?
*BareNakedIslam <http://www.endtimestoday.com/?author=1>* | August 30,
2012 at 4:15 am | Categories: Laughing at
Islam<http://www.endtimestoday.com/?cat=7480548>| URL:
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