Movies, Music, and Muslims Part One: An Interview with Imam Zaid Shakir

As the presence and reach of media increases by leaps and bounds, we as a Muslim community here in America are still a silent minority. We have not made the inroads that other communities have. There is a small but growing film making community that is budding, but little to guide it. The subject of Muslim Cinema and film-making is hardly covered. I am in the process of finishing a whitepaper on the subject. Most of this is new ground and so we as both consumers and producers of film have little to no guidance. Through this interview I would like to help start a dialogue on this critical subject.

Imam Zaid Shakir

Imam Zaid Shakir is well known in the Muslim community. Just incase for those who do not know, here is a brief bio on him. Imam Zaid Shakir is a prominent and respected American Islamic Scholar, and Writer, who serves as a Professor and Lecturer at Zaytuna Institute in California, where he now teaches regular courses on Arabic, Law, History, and Islamic Spirituality. He is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic Scholars to Christian Leaders, calling for peace and understanding. His bio is long but to cut to the chase I am interviewing him because he is a mentor to many of us who are intiating or making inroads to the media from Illume magazine to MeccaOne Radio.

JM It is a reality that our community including our youth watch movies. The ratings of a film by the MPAA are useful but not always on the mark in terms of what we may deem to be acceptable to watch. Although we are still a ways off of having the H for Halal rating, films contain scenes that are graphic. What guidelines would you give to both parents and youth, about discerning about what to watch or not and how to watch?

ZS Guidelines for parents and youth are important. I would encourage them to minimize watching movies and TV. I’m not saying avoid it but you don’t want them to become an addict. There are more productive things to do with your time and mind. Parents should preview any film they are going to expose their children to. Eg Kite Runner was supposed to be a good film, yet it has a rape scene which has been traumatic for both children and youth to watch. You child has to process all that. Do not just count on some one else’s word that a film is good. You should watch it from beginning to end before you decide you are going to expose your child to it.

JM Of course once you have seen and you deem a film worth of watching you can skip those scenes also. What about adults. Films like Syriana or lets take Babel where the story has a Muslim theme of how a remote event in a desert can be blown out of proportion and start a chain reaction that triggers an international crisis. But the film has a couple of graphic scenes?

ZS My Question would be, did those two scenes add anything substantial to the film?

JM Looks like the interview got reversed. No, I wish they hadn’t put it in there.

ZS Did anybody recommend that film because of those two scenes? Probably not a single person who watched it said you have to watch this film because of these two scenes. But by avoiding them, it helps to keep to our Muslim standards and integrity and it forces the viewer to really value the film for its message, and not for the token nude scene or token love scene or whatever.

JM What are your thoughts on using entertainment to educate and whether you thinks it’s worth it? How do you think people should navigate their consumption of entertainment given that sometimes it may not have bad scenes but may have women wearing midriffs (as people wear in public) or the like.

ZS There is no substitute for education. We need to encourage our community to be readers. But film does have a teaching impact. You can give the message without it being an in your face endeavor. Try to avoid the other stuff.

JM There is no definition of Islamic Film and Muslim film. I came up with these as working definitions. . “Islamic Cinema is film that conforms to Islamic laws, customs and values.” It is a high ideal, and due to the vagaries of film a sensitive and difficult subject to address. Any art-form by its nature is subjective. “Muslim Cinema is a film movement by or about Muslims.” Are these acceptable and if not what would be a better definition?

ZS It is an acceptable definition.

JM From the Muslim majority countries, Iran is the most respected of all in terms of the films that it produces on the global stage. It seems like an interesting dichotomy whereas on one side politically they are considered the bad boys, in cinema they are highly respected. Any thoughts as to why that may be?

ZS Iran is portrayed as this reactionary bastion, a lot of that is part of a campaign to demonize Iran. In reality there are a lot of positive things going on in Iran. There are things that need improvement. The election may have been a sham. The opposition was Islamic and that is why so many people rallied around Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri?

Ayatollah Montazeri

He became a symbol. People are not out in the street, to get rid of the Islamic republic and asking instead, give us American style hypocrisy, I meant democracy. They are saying live up to the Islamic principles that the republic was founded on. Give us real elections. Iran is a very nuanced, sophisticated place, politically, culturally, socially and I think that sophistication spreads into the realm of film.

JM It is interesting to see that the Chinese before and now the Indians have made huge inroads into the media and have a strong presence in Television and film. Although we talk about the large number of Muslims in the US, we still appear to be an invisible minority. Is this just because of 9/11 and or discrimination, or is there something more to it?

ZS (My recorder jammed here so the following is a summary of the answer.) As the community matures and we move to the second and third generations who are not just concerned about survival you are seeing the youth moving over to the liberal arts and film making. Now some Muslims think that being involved in film is Haram. Again this is a healthy tension and it is good to see that they are taking the religion seriously.

JM Spike Lee’s Malcolm X and the award winning documentary “When we were Kings” about Muhammad Ali are two films that stand out, where the protagonist is a Muslim. Both the subjects have been a profound part of American history and are African-American. Going forward who or what are the subjects that you think film makers should consider shedding light on?

(Imam Zaid described the first story in detail. I couldn’t capture it verbatim so again this is just a summary).

ZS The following are people that it would be good to see films made on.

• Ayuba Suleiman Diallo also known as Job ben Solomon, in 1731 was a famous Muslim from Timbuktu who was  sold into slavery. When he made it to the US because of his education and status he was able to be freed in America.
  

  Ayuba Suleiman Diallo

• The narrative is a long one but suffice it to say it is a powerful one.

• Wali Akram in the early 1900s was founder of the First Cleveland Mosque, the first official home to Muslims in Cleveland. . He was its imam for 52 years. Amongst other things he was an inventor and invented the railroad track changing mechanism

• Sufi Abdul Hamid was a labor organizer in the 1920s first in Chicago and then New York.

• Ida B Wells was an early leader in the civil rights movement, she documented the extent of lynching in the United States, and single handedly helped to stop it.
• She was also active in the women’s rights movement and the women’s suffrage movement.

• Mamie Till was the mother of Emmett Till, a 14 year old boy who was murdered for supposedly whistling at a white woman, mobilized the civil rights movement. His killing was so brutal Mamie Till decided to hold an open funeral to show what racism had produced. When asked about why she was not angry, she replied she had no time to be angry or hate. She spent her life pursuing justice.

These are a few of many examples that would make a great narrative for film.

Part two of this blog is a Q&A which should be of interest to Muslim film makers.