Can you laugh about suicide bombers?

26/08/2009 / UK

Can you laugh about suicide bombers?

An online comedy about a group of Bradford-based Muslim extremists planning a suicide bombing has been released on YouTube. Hilarious or disrespectful? One of our British Muslim Observers gives his reaction.

"Living with the Infidels" is the creation of London-based film-maker Aasaf Ainapore, who says he was born into a Muslim family but is not a believer himself. The blurb goes as follow:

"The series centres around a bumbling, Bradford-based terror cell. Initially set on a path to martyrdom, Yorkshire's jihadi warriors discover the West isn't as bad as it seems. Tempted by the likes of Man U, cable TV and ample Abi upstairs, what's a man to do? Will they find Paradise in the arms of seventy-two virgins, or is Shangri-La [utopia] closer to home, propped up at the bar in The Dog and Duck?"

The series, which launched on 5 August, has come under fire from relatives of suicide bombing victims (particularly 7/7), who consider the subject too sensitive to be laughed over. It has also faced criticism from a Muslim association in Bradford, which claims that it's misrepresentative of Muslim youth. However, not everybody is disappointed. The series has already got a following on Facebook.

Contributors

Rizwaan Sabir

Episode One - Ample Abi

“By mocking ‘Jihadism’, it just highlights how bizarre the concept is”

Rizwaan Sabir, from Nottingham (central England), is currently doing a PhD on British counter-terrorism at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland.

I find it pretty funny to be honest. By mocking what people refer to as ‘Jihadism' it just highlights how bizarre the concept is. They might be taking the piss, but they're getting Muslims into the mainstream in doing it, airing a lot of very taboo topics, and touching on a subject which we find very hard to talk about.

I can see how people could be offended - of course it's misrepresentative of young Muslims. I certainly don't have any friends that do what those guys are doing. But by showing the difficulties they get into - the friendly blonde and Asian girls [see episode two]- the producers are applauding the Western, open values that we have here in Britain.

Goodness Gracious Me did the same thing in the 90s. As a kid, I was like, ‘wow, Asians on the TV! And they're laughing at themselves!' But it wasn't only funny, it really did help to air a few things."

Rizwaan Sabir

United Kingdom
Student

Episode Two - Voracious Virgins

Français

Comments

Living with the Infidels

Submitted by Zaheer on Mon, 31/08/2009 - 10:00.

The number of people in Pakistan on FB and Twitter who found these hilarious should not come as a surprise. Most of them have a social background that is very different from the bulk of the population. On the other hand it will take just one Urdu or local language newspaper to class this as an act of near-blasphemy and vehement arguments will begin.

I thought they were funny … or meant to be … but at the same mundane level as most sitcoms.

Zakintosh
http://www.kidvai.com/windmills

Zaheer

Pakistan
Lecturer

Living With The Infidels

Submitted by Richard Thornhill (not verified) on Wed, 26/08/2009 - 21:02.

Rizwaan Sabir's comments are exactly right. Too often Muslims are withheld from the mainstream - usually by the misconception that they take themselves too seriously, and that the subject of Islam is too taboo to be discussed or reviewed or dissected at all, by anyone else. Strangely, Sebastian Faulks has also tackled this subject in his latest novel 'A Week in December' and he too is trying to make the same point – that only by portraying Muslims as humans, with all the usual foibles and follies, can we escape from the idea that they're all the monsters our press would have us believe.

Everyone else laughs at themselves from time to time (or at least they should do; it's the only healthy way to survive), so why shouldn't the Muslims join in? I hope this new sitcom shakes up a few prejudices and helps to tear down some of the barriers to tolerance and sympathy that exist on both sides of this unfortunate divide. Well done to Rizwaan for giving this concept the thumbs up!

Unregistered user