All-American Muslim S1 Ep3 - A Muslim Goes to Washington

You know, so they're showing what happened last week and I can't get over how dismissive and unhelpful Shadia is of Jeff having trouble with his first Ramadan. I know that we don't get to see everything that happens, but her *hand wave* dismissal of him when he's trying not to be a jerk so he gets up from the dinner table is so rude...

Here's my impression of Shadia - she doesn't take her religion seriously so she doesn't expect anyone else to. However, because she also grew up doing certain things, like fasting during Ramadan, she doesn't have any thought to the difficulty of it for people who aren't used to it. She just strikes me as very thoughtless. I hope that's just the impression that the editing has given us and that she's really not that way.

Football...blah...blah...don't care...

I do like them having the flipped schedule, I think it's great that they thought enough about it to do that - I can imagine that they'd have kids collapsing if they had to do all their practicing without food or water.

Another thought: I don't know how many people have considered that the women are having to wear their hijab when they wouldn't normally have to. As in, in their homes. When their home, when no one but their family is there then they can (and I think usually do) take them off. So there's that added annoyance to the filming.

Nawal and Nader! I enjoyed seeing parts of the birthing class. Nader's face when the teacher says 'orgasmic birth' is priceless!

White House vs. training. I don't know enough about football but can't assistant coaches handle the training for one night?

Have we noticed that the show isn't focusing just on the women? Unlike some people who decided to judge the show after the first episode had commented? Yeah. *I've* noticed.

Okay, now they're talking about Nina's club: dancing and alcohol. Nina very clearly feels like an outside. She has this little squinty look she gets and I think she gets it when she thinks the others are judging her. I don't know that they're judging her. I'm trying not to jump to conclusions again.

Oh god, her skirt is so short....too short! Yes, you're pretty and you've got great legs. But your skirt ends about an inch below your butt. This is not necessary. *is horrified by her Jersey Shore vibes*

Right. If I was going to be forced to say of any person on the show, 'I don't like x' it would be Nina. It has *nothing* to do with her being Muslim - I don't like the impression that she gives off and I don't think I'd want to spend time with her.

Really? Did Sahida really just ask if Obama was a Muslim? Please tell me she was being funny...Cripes. Bilal. 'Barak. Husein. Obama. I'm saying yes.' Everyone: 'It's just a name!' *eye twitch*

I have to say, I do appreciate Fouad's dedication to his job. How many people would really hesitate to accept an invitation to the White House because of practice? That being said, I think he should go. Sort of a once in a lifetime thing, you know?

Oh...and the preview makes it look like we get to see the Amen family being all judgy of convert Jeff. Let's wait and see...seriously Bilal, you're not that far behind Nina in my 'I don't like you' poll.

More discussion about converting, how you can't *ask* someone to convert it has to be something they want to do and the discussion about how Islam is Islam and you can't change it to fit your life. Which is, as we've said, both true and not true. There's also the discussion about God's Mercy and messing up. How you can't take advantage of the mercy by intentionally doing something wrong while thinking, oh, well, God'll forgive me so it doesn't matter. People in Christianity (and probably all religions) think that way too. It doesn't work that way!

For Bilal, scarf = more respect. Not so!

Ack! Crap. Shadia, you moron! Look, just saying that 'he converted to marry me' or 'he wasn't raised around it' is not going to endear him to your family and make them forget that he's not fasting. Look, I agree that Bilal can be a tool. BUT. I agree with him and with Suehaila. If Jeff converted just to marry you it wasn't for the right reasons.

That being said, I'm still lobbying for my idea to treat converts as children! Let them ease into things like the Ramadan fast. That doesn't mean them ignoring it but, with the right intentions, working their way up to the full fast. It is hard! They need to stretch and train up for it.

Of course Fouad is going to D.C. Good for him! Awww...the kids are so sweet...

Back to Samira and her hijab quest...I do hope that Samira eventually manages to get pregnant because she wants to so badly and I kind of think she'd be an awesome mom but I don't think it will be because she put on the hijab.

Oh, hell. The brother-in-law talk about religion...

I do see Bilal's point of how now Jeff is a part of the Muslim tradition and how his actions reflect on other Muslims and vice versa. It's not fair that a convert's actions are more deeply scrutinised than a 'born' Muslim but that's not unique to Islam.

*ponders* I still have my doubts about Jeff's conversion. Not that he's not sincere because I have no way of judging that, but his readiness for it. I think he rushed because he wanted to marry Shadia. Whom I'm liking less and less.

So the 'dislike' column goes thusly: Nina, Bilal, Shadia.

Heh. Nader has no idea what to do with babies...

'Uhhh...your baby's crying...' Run Away!

I have to say the tradition of saying the adhan to the baby when they're born is very nice. Can we institute that for Christianity? What would we use?

*laughs at Fouad* Yes, there are Muslims outside of Dearborn.

Baby? Who do they have in the house doing the 'home video' filming?

God, they're so sweet! For the record, and no one take this wrong, but I would marry Nader. Or someone like Nader. He seems so wonderful. She's maybe in labor, in pain and he doesn't know what to do, they're waiting for her to decide whether or not to go to the hospital and he's praying on/at her belly/for the baby! *hugs them*

Nawal really doesn't want to go to the hospital on a 'false alarm'. I get that but wow, how scary must that be? Pregnant, not knowing if the baby is coming or what's going on...

I'm currently happy not to have this problem...

She called her mom! Who told her to go to the hospital. Good call! Go Nawal's mom!

Nader looks so scared...they won't let him into the room with Nawal.

Finally, she wants the camera off! I wouldn't want my labor being filmed either!