Muslims like us

[Lucydogz]

I really thought they'd be a thread on this! Here goes- I thought it was good, and am sorry that they're only one more. SO many interesting issues.

[MeadowHay]

I agree that Abdul Haqq is dangerous, but I also think he's very vulnerable and clearly been brainwashed. I agree with pp I am confident he was radicalised whilst serving time in prison, his attitudes/behaviour strongly reflect that. Maybe his experience with the others will have some positive impact on him though.

As to PP saying if they were in the house they would be talking about how they all practice Islam differently etc all the time, I find that strange because as a Muslim, you know lots of other Muslims, so you already know about loads of different ways people practice Islam etc. It's not really an interesting topic for me as a Muslim at all because I've seen basically every shade of it already! I imagine it would be similar for people of a different faith if they know lots of people of that faith who will all practice differently. So I think if the programme wanted to focus more on religious stuff it needed to be directed by the producers with specific activities to prompt the group to talk about those things and I don't find people naturally just talk about religion all the time. I certainly don't talk about religion all the time with the other Muslims I know or my Muslim family lol.

[ReallyTired]

I was shocked by the Abdul lack of tolerance toward Shia Muslims. I got the impression that a lot of the men had no idea how to hold a conversation. They tended to talk over people especially the women.

It was interesting that the elderly white British woman had never experienced islamophobia. I suppose the fact that she is a convert means she understand the unwritten rules of British society. Maybe what the others are experiencing as "islamophobia" is racism or perhaps a consequence of not understanding cultural norms.

I thought the Muslims who picked a fight with the non Muslim over what it means to British were petty. Green fields outside York are part of the uk landscape. The Muslims who would not go to the war memorial were pathetic. I have to admit would have been more interesting if they had been taken to Clifford's tower and asked to remember the 150 Jews who were murdered there in the 12th century. I am sure that Abdul would have come up with some shitty excuse why those poor Jews deserved to die.

[cushioncovers]

Was disappointed with it tbh lots of squabbling and stroppy behaviour with no real insight to anything.

[TeaAddict235]

Nabil was really warm and very easy to get along with for the Syrian chap?. But I thought that the Scottish guy overreacted when it was commented that he wasn't brought up well, that slander is so old school and he behaved like a drama queen. I disliked the way that the "blond" lady threw herself into every argument and had the audacity to call Nabil aggressive! And she knew the racial undertones that she was using against Nabil: an angry assertive large black man! Bingo! I really disliked her when I saw her goading him and then discussing with the Scottish guy about there being a divide in the house. She saw herself as some "rebellious " Islamic character with her dyed hair and revealing clothes distinctly attempting to challenge Islam with her lifestyle, 'oh I'm really laid back'. But in actual fact she clearly had a problem with Nabil and also Abdul huq when he no longer voiced his radical views.

Arrg, so many things to say, but kids nipping at my ankles!!

[TeaAddict235]

Mead way "how many Christians talk about Christianity".

Loads I say !! It's always a topic of discussion.

^^ yes to this! I know so many Christians who only talk about Christianity when they meet. Every topic comes back to Christianity and the bible, it can be draining sometimes.

[woodhill]

Nabil was fine until someone else had a different perspective.

[TeaAddict235]

woodhill I don't think that the English covert lady could relate to him and his experiences of being an African Muslim male. I wouldn't call that a difference of perspective but a difference of experience.

[woodhill]

I get that but he was unpleasant to the Syrian man as well. I know it was to do with the EDL but the Syrian felt he had been building bridges.

[SoupDragon]

He wouldn't let "white convert lady" finish what she was saying though. It was rude and aggressive to keep interrupting her and preventing her from finishing what she was saying.

I don't think she, being white, should be arguing about his experiences of racism but we won't ever know what she was trying to say as he just shut her down.

[TeaAddict235]

I agree soupdragon, Nabil shouldn't have shut the English convert lady down, that was unfair. But I kind of understand why he wasn't pleased or impressed with the pacifying of the EDL guy: the Syrian guy was mistaken for being Caucasian and treated lightly almost kindly, which I imagine Nabil can never experience from such a bigot. He mentioned later that being black and a Muslim is a double whammy of hatred for people, and someone from the EDL would feast off such a revelation. The Syrian guy however, as one of my White American uni peers once remarked, could technically come from anywhere in the world and will be immediately liked because of his white male privilege (which I definitely experienced the rough hand of when in Morocco).

Also, I felt sympathetic to Nabil when he said that there is extreme racism in Islam, and that his wife has been called a Nigger Lover. I thought that that alone said a lot about what he and his family have to endure; they have to fight on all sides, race, religion, probably gender for his wife, and I felt that the others in the house ganged up on him because of that and because of his size; like 'he can take it, he's a big black man' attitude.

[Lucydogz]

I didn't see that at all. In the 1st episode I thought he was great, but he really couldn't listen to anyone else, especially women, just like Abdul. he just shouted them down.