By Sharaf Mowjood
Rock Center
Jihad, homegrown-terrorism, Sharia law, and mosques. Mention any of these terms and most people in America will associate it with Islam and Muslims. Say the word "Muslim Comedian" and most will think it is an oxy-moron. Can Muslims really be funny? Dean Obeidallah, and Negin Farsad are not only professional comics, they are also Muslim and are quite funny.
"It could be more challenging for us, they could give us hurricane names," says Dean Obeidallah. "Turn on the news, ‘Hurricane Mahmoud is coming! Run for your life, Mahmoud’s a killer’".
Born in New Jersey and living in New York City, Obeidallah, a former attorney, has found his calling as comedian. Addressing controversial issues and stereotypes through the lens of comedy, he has created a niche as an Arab-American comedian, working both the west and east coasts.
Not everything has been funny though. According to Obeidallah, and fellow comedian Negin Farsad have both felt a rise of Islamophobia.
According to recent polling, nearly half of all Americans admit to feeling some prejudice towards Muslims. Both comics felt inspired to do something about it. They figured that the best way to deal with intolerance is to make fun of it.
"We realized that most people who are against Muslims had probably never met a Muslim before," says Farsad. "So we thought we go to them and introduce ourselves."
Instead of performing at the cosmopolitan comedy club circuits like most comics, Obeidallah and Farsad along with fellow comedians Maysoon Zayid and Omar Elba organized a comedy tour called, "The Muslims Are Coming!" They took their act to southern Bible-Belt states, where some of the strongest feelings, actions and responses of Islamophobia have occurred.
"We really wanted to put our comedy where our mouth is," says Obeidallah. "Go to the areas where no comedians every venture to, no non-profit, or progressive cause would ever organize or engage in."
The inspiration for the comedians to embark on a tour like this came from the 1960’s Civil Rights movement. "Brave people like ‘The Freedom Riders’ and other civil rights groups went down to places like Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia to engage with people they did not understand, or have stereotypes with," says Farsad.
Armed with punch-lines and jokes, they drove from small town, to small town, throughout Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee performing free shows at local venues.
"It’s challenging now to have a Muslim last name, but there is one benefit- we are probably immune to identity theft," quips Obeidallah in an Alabama show. "Criminals want to take easy names that don’t get attention, not Abdul Musa Rahman Abdallah. I have an Arab-American friend born in the US whose first name is Osama. He can leave his driver’s license and credit cards in a crack house, no one wants to be him."
The Muslims found southern hospitality and provocative conversation with the people they encountered. They set up booths in town squares with banners and fliers passed around saying, ‘Ask a Muslim,’ inviting residents to ask them anything, even about their own identity as Americans.
"You know there’s only one kind of American, and that’s American," says a local resident to Farsad, to which she responded that she is an American Iranian. The resident replied, "If you want to be mainstream then you are no longer an Iranian American. You are an American."
After touring the south, the comedians took their act to Arizona, Utah, Idaho and various parts of the Midwest, with free shows and booths.
"We want to answer the tough questions, we encourage people to ask the tough questions, talk about the stereotypes that are lingering in your mind," says Obeidallah. "I think comedy is a fun way to try and do just that."
Editor's Note: Harry Smith's full report, "Laughing Matter," airs Monday, Dec. 19, on Rock Center at 10pm/9c.
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Well, duh! Of course they can! Can Christians really be funny? Can Jews really be funny? Good Grief!
It's like asking "Is Stryper rock-and-roll?"
A funny thing happened on my way to the stoning.
Take my three wives, please.
A guy walks into a mosque with a parrot on his shoulder.
A rabbi, a priest, and an imam are playing golf.
Hey, anyone can be a Muslim comic.
What a wonderful idea!
how is it wonderful?, that they get in our faces and laugh at it?, just like the gays do!
they should respect our feelings and stay in their churches or whatever they call the places where they lefrn to hate and to kill Americans.
1) If we laugh at ourselves this doesn't give others to make fun of us 2) It's called a masjid. Take the time and look it up 3) Don't be ignorant. Its people like you who are actually our country worse. You really think you're patriotic?
Will you please lighten up!!!
OK, so what if we've been lied to by our leaders on this subject?
Heck, if these people are willing to bring their show to the heartland, then at least give them the benefit of the doubt.
If they still say they want to make war, THEN kick their collective heinies out.
On the subject of Israel...best check out YouTube, there's a lot of disturbing info out there that goes against what we've been told for the last 40 years.
QUESTION AUTHORITY. THINK FOR YOURSELF.
I would ask the comics how they feel about Israel. Do they recognize that the Jews have a right to the land they now have?
Why does Israel matter in a story about Americans?!
Im not PC so I have to be honest - why does Americans have to pledge loyalty to Israel?! Only thing that matters is US - if u r so concerned with Israel, than u are free to move there!
Thank you for the offer to move to the Middle East, but I love it here in the USA. I ask the question about Israel because that is a test of the true heart of many Muslims. They will claim peace and love, but want to kill all Jews. It is a litmus test that cuts through to the true intentions of many. Just as if they may ask us about race relations here in the South.
We don't need Israel. They have never done anything for us and we should not be wasting tax payer money supporting them. What many Muslims are against is not Jews, but the injustice that was done to Palestinians in the creation of Israel. Millions were forced off of land that their families lived on for hundreds of years. That would probably upset anyone it happens to.
what a terrible story, they can't force us to like them! especially when even when they are born in America they hate us...liberal reporting is so biased that it suycks. I dislike them even more now!!, thanks NBC
Muslims are part of American whether you like it or not. Why not just get along? To me, one of the nice things about America is that people can come from anywhere to live here and get along as one country. I was born in America and have had travel experiences that were very nice, but always made me grateful that I can come back home to America.
These comedians are an inspiring group of people. It's great that they are trying, through humor, light heartedness, and dedication to let Ameican know that the majority of Muslim people aren't "terroists". Also, Harry Smith is a great addtion to the NBC news team. I look forward to his human interest stories every Monday night on Rock Center!
I have never heard such a bigoted remark as harry smith made tonight that
the only people that understood the comics was the moderates and the
progressives as if a conservative could not understand what they are trying to
do. but when you are a elites I guess that what you think.
Why is NBC proselytizing for islam? That's all this is. muslims have equal rights before the law in the U.S. and the freedom of worship and to build their places of worship as do any American (and so they should).
If these people REALLY cared about civil rights they would be fighting for the civil rights of non-muslims and muslims in majority muslim countries. They would be fighting for the non-muslims and muslims in majority muslim countries to be equal before the law regardless of faith, the right to choose your own religion which includes leaving islam, the right to build place of worship and worship as freely as muslims are allowed to in majority muslim countries. However, they are not fighting for these things. They don't care about such things.
This is islamic proselytizing under the banner of "civil rights" and NBC is dumb enough to shill for them.
P.S. Brian Williams mentioned a case about a couple of muslims thrown off a plane because of the way they dressed. If you look more closely at this case I have no doubt that the muslims were intentionally acting in a way top arouse suspicion and worry passengers and flight crew so that they would be thrown off with the purpose of suing the airline. This is just like the "flying imams" case which also turned out to be a scam.
When will people look past our differences and embrace our human commonality? For all of those who commented here with negative thoughts, I question your humility. Our country was founded by learned people who understood that we could only be strong if we allowed every voice to be heard. Sure, we've been attacked and we fought "enemies" abroad and those enemies fought other enemies and so on. When will it stop? When we keep looking for reasons to hate? No. It will stop when we see things like this report and are moved by how poignant the effort was by these young people to show the world that they, too, are Americans, that they love this country as much as many other citizens and that their culture defines them, not the radical sects that haven't learned the greatest lesson either. I commend their courage to try. The greatest lesson we could all learn is that we share that beautiful little light that burns within us, that energy that sprang from the Creator, the light that shows the way to Love. Thank-you Brian Williams and Harry Smith for shining the light.
The "comics" are proselytizing. That's all this is. muslims have equal rights before the law in the U.S. and the freedom of worship and to build their places of worship as do any American (and so they should).
If these people REALLY cared about civil rights they would be fighting for the civil rights of non-muslims and muslims in majority muslim countries. They would be fighting for the non-muslims and muslims in majority muslim countries to be equal before the law regardless of faith, the right to choose your own religion which includes leaving islam, the right to build place of worship and worship as freely as muslims are allowed to in majority muslim countries. However, they are not fighting for these things. They don't care about such things.
This is islamic proselytizing under the banner of "civil rights" and NBC is dumb enough to shill for them.
This was a very shallow piece, but that is to be expected
from journalism today. If you go to any
comedy show I think you will find, not progressives, but perhaps pop culture, anything goes types. I would have liked to see the comedy show though
I am much too busy with family demands for much frivolity. I do feel simpathetic towards their plight, and I am a conservative. I am against
bigotry, racism and discrimination based on race or religion , even reverse
discrimination.
I think conservatives can be described as not only being responsible
citizens through tried and proven societal institutions and consequently also
not failing to learn lessons from the past. Progressives thought there was no problem with Hitler, even after his armies occupied foreign countries. Progressives still tend to dismiss the sins of modern Hitlers = Ahmadinejad, Castro, Che, Quadaffi (they hated Reagan when he opposed him but suddenly have nothing to say when a fellow “progressive” starts bombing him even though we were not attacked), Chavez, etc., not to mention Stalin and Mao. I know how progressive hate the Hitler comparisons (Godwin principle) but it wasn’t only the holocaust that is Hitlers
legacy.
So, it is a matter of trust. These people seemed nice and believable and I think I could trust them to not blow me up. I wonder how nice and believable Major Nidal Hassan was?
It would have been interesting to see how they would have
answered the question about Muslims doing more to denounce terrorists (unlike
CARE or MSA) but also how they feel about various passages in the Quran the
leave many of us worried.
Why so defensive? If a person supports a cause, does that mean they have to support all related causes? Because NBC tried to show a perspective that we or I would not otherwise have known why does that make NBC a "shill"? I seemed to miss that this story was about "civil rights under the law". I took it to mean: "I am your neighbor, I, too am an American, I love this country too and by the way, let's get to know eachother. I want to show you I can laugh at myself and I abhor the radical thinking that leads to terrorism." What these people have taken on is something they think they can do. This does not mean they have to first qualify by fighting every other "human rights" cause in the middle east. Why can't something be so simple as: Let's start HERE and move forward. No one here personally made political decisions of the past whether they are conservative or liberal. Why can't we all work together to build a future like the one our founding fathers envisioned? And, by the way, most of their beliefs were based on Natural Order. Books of great religions always hold the potential for misinterpretation by those whose hearts are not filled with LOVE.
Sorry Jenniger - If journalists could just leave out their biases and/or get it right. This bias tends to be a holier than thou attitude. I think it would be interesting to see how Mulims respond to questions such as what are they doing about the extremist(s) part of the religion and how do they and their religious leaders explain those passages and declarations from other Muslim leaders?
You offer some very good points and I thank you. I think we could all learn lessons of humility, journalists included. For the most part, I feel they have a tough and very competitive job. It's a shame because I think it creates so much pressure to make statements and ask questions that fan the fires. Sometimes I feel their "in your face" push for information from people they are interviewing is downright repulsive and the usual explanation is, "People want to know." I, for one, do not and I do not condone the prodding and agressive manners. However, we still have to be thankful for the illegal activities they do uncover for us. I think Harry Smith did a good job. But I have to admit, I winced when I heard his remark. Still, I hope he does a lot more human interest stories. Yes, you are right. It would be probably pretty patriotic and unifying if Muslims would make a great effort to denounce radicalism and explain some of the passages in the Quran that led to such incredibly hateful thinking. But I also think that for many years, as a nation, we were not really mindful of other religions including Muslim because the Christian and Jewish faiths were so much more prominent. I think it just might be that Muslims don't know where to begin and wonder if people care to listen...maybe that's why these young people thought that trying humor would be an innovative way to make an attempt...just a thought. Blessings to all on this holiday season. Peace...it's such a great idea.
This is a country formed on the right to freedom of religion. So what is the problem we have Batptist, Catholic, methadist ect. even non-belivers have the right to not belive. We all should be able to belive how ever we want in peace as long as no one tries to hurt any other human. Let us all live in our oun peace and leave our fellow man or woman alone to live in there oun peace.