Synopsis: Rayyan decides to add a few yuletide touches to cheer up Sarah, who is openly longing for the traditions of Christmas.
Christmas is around the corner and Sarah’s blue. She misses the fun and pageantry of her pre-conversion Christmasses. Rayyan vows to make this year’s Muslim festival, Eid alhada, a little more Christmassy to cheer up her mom. And: the Christmas rush leads to trouble at the mosque, where Amaar and Magee come into conflict over limited parking.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Videos courtesy of mydien
What did you think of this episode? How does it compare to the previous episode?
Are there any other topics from the episode that you want to discuss?
Little Experiences ... 
I thought it was rude how Amaar demanded that McGee gives up parking spaces on the one night he can’t really mess-up (McGee has to be the most pathetic Minister on the planet), Christmas.
Sure Secular Humanists within the Anglican church has diminished the ranks of the church, and church attendance has dropped dramatically (it has increased though at Real Christian churches) but Christmas is still a time of year when Christians want to get together at church.
(Yeah, even with the Christmas thing going for McGee in the end he still blows it. What a pathetic little man is he.)
Also I find it very offensive how Christmas is under attack. If I moved to India for example I would allow my child to participate in Hindu festivals explaining to them that this is their way but we celebrate our religion our way. The secular humanists want to wipe Christmas off the calendar and it is sad that Muslims are joining them in this effort.
Say this alliance between the secular humanists and the Muslims achieves victory over the Christians. What do you think the secular humanists will do then? Co-exist with the Muslims when they couldn’t co-exist with the Christians? No, they will go after the Muslims ways.
But not all Muslims are with the secular humanists on trying to wipe away Christmas. Actually some pretty prominent Muslims are coming out to defend Christmas.
Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Shayk Ibrahim Mogra said, “To suggest celebrating Christmas and having decorations offends Muslims is absurd. Why can’t we have more nativity scenes in Britain?”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1212/p06s01-woeu.html
This season really hasn’t shown the inherent differences that would lead to conflict between the Muslims and the secular humanists. Sure the secular humanists are all with you when it comes to not having Christmas celebrations in the schools but, how does Baber feel about the sex education classes that by law Layla has to go through? What does he do when he finds out that Layla’s gym teacher is a Leisban.
Here’s a good one what happens if Baber finds out that the schools are going to have same sex bathrooms. Heck, it is happening in America.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58760
As much as Amaar wants to be go with the flow go along get along when it comes to social issues, as a person of faith and a Canadian citizen sooner or later he will have to feel compelled to speak out about the damage the secular humanists have done to the West.
McGee might have been sexually abused as a child. Why isn’t there any woman in his life? Only Catholic Priests and Nuns can’t marry and he isn’t a Catholic Priest.
I wonder how the Mosque would react if McGee comes out and admits to himself and the world that he is a homosexual.
I thought it was rude how Amaar demanded that McGee gives up parking spaces on the one night it is really difficult for him to mess-up (McGee has to be the most pathetic Minister on the planet), Christmas.
Sure Secular Humanists within the Anglican church has diminished the ranks of the church, and church attendance has dropped dramatically (it has increased though at Real Christian churches) but Christmas is still a time of year when Christians want to get together at church.
(Yeah, even with the Christmas thing going for McGee in the end he still blows it. What a pathetic little man is he.)
Also I find it very offensive how Christmas is under attack. If I moved to India for example I would allow my child to participate in Hindu festivals explaining to them that this is their way but we celebrate our religion our way. The secular humanists want to wipe Christmas off the calendar and it is sad that Muslims are joining them in this effort.
Say this alliance between the secular humanists and the Muslims achieves victory over the Christians. What do you think the secular humanists will do then? Co-exist with the Muslims when they couldn’t co-exist with the Christians? No, they will go after the Muslims ways.
But not all Muslims are with the secular humanists on trying to wipe away Christmas. Actually some pretty prominent Muslims are coming out to defend Christmas.
Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Shayk Ibrahim Mogra said, “To suggest celebrating Christmas and having decorations offends Muslims is absurd. Why can’t we have more nativity scenes in Britain?”
This season really hasn’t shown the inherent differences that would lead to conflict between the Muslims and the secular humanists. Sure the secular humanists are all with you when it comes to not having Christmas celebrations in the schools but, how does Baber feel about the sex education classes that by law Layla has to go through? What does he do when he finds out that Layla’s gym teacher is a Leisban and has put up nude photos of herself and her “friend” on the internet?
Here’s a good one what happens if Baber finds out that the schools are going to have same sex bathrooms. Heck, it is happening in America.
As much as Amaar wants to be go with the flow go along get along when it comes to social issues, as a person of faith and a Canadian citizen sooner or later he will have to feel compelled to speak out about the damage the secular humanists have done to the West.
Saturday’s vote by members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin made it the first full diocese to split from the U.S. Episcopal Church.
“We have done everything we could in the past 20 years to make it possible for Christians and believers to stay within this liberal organization, but it became more and more impossible,” said Bishop John-David Schofield of the San Joaquin Diocese.
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If I am right this group is of the same denomination that McGee’s church is. No wonder he has fewer and fewer members.
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But that isn’t to say that Christianity on the outs in Canada. In some denominations it’s actually on the increase.
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Bruce Guenther, associate professor of church history and Mennonite studies at Associated Canadian Theological Seminaries, has compiled statistics on over 160 denominations, using data from Outreach Canada and other sources. While Statistics Canada asks Canadians directly where they belong, Guenther’s approach is based on asking denominations to count their members and attenders. While the results are similar, they are not identical.
Generally, Guenther’s statistics indicate that while there may have been a massive decline in church attendance from the 1950s through the 1970s, there has not been significant decline in the quarter-century since then. In 2001, Canadian denominations claimed 16,668,851 members — about 56 percent of the Canadian population — and actual attendance of 6,026,414, representing just over 20 percent of the population, a figure similar to those obtained by Statistics Canada and polling companies.
Guenther’s figures show that the Roman Catholicism is continuing to grow, in numbers if not as a percentage of the Canadian population. Catholic membership grew from 10,320,024 in 1981 to 12,624,403 in 2001, and attendance from 2,759,910 in 1981 to 3,451,874 in 2001.
One of the main reasons Catholics are holding their own is immigration. According to Statistics Canada, one-third of immigrants to Canada in the 1980s and almost one-quarter of immigrants in the 1990s were Catholic.
A massive evangelical shift
Compared to Roman Catholics, Protestants count fewer of their non-attenders as members. Therefore, ‘Protestant’ losses seem much greater than Catholic ones.
In fact, Guenther’s figures show that total Protestant attendance has not declined in real numbers over the last quarter-century but there has been a massive shift within Protestantism.
Guenther breaks ‘Protestant’ churches into ‘mainline Protestant’ and ‘evangelical’ groupings. Mainline Protestants are those in the former ‘big three’ denominations — the Anglican, Presbyterian and United denominations — plus Lutheran and Reformed churches.
Guenther’s statistics show that mainline Protestants have declined very significantly, from 2,240,991 members and attendance of 965,534 in 1981 to 1,666,715 members and attendance of 723,673 in 2001 — and evidence suggests that those numbers have continued to decline since then.
At the same time, evangelicals have increased from 974,295 members and attendance of 758,383 in 1981 to 1,341,897 members and attendance of 1,130,237 in 2001. That amounts to close to a 50 percent increase in attendance in just two decades. In terms of attendance, evangelicals now greatly outnumber mainline Protestants.
Moreover, evangelicals count membership more narrowly than other groups — not counting children or regular attenders who have not formally joined — and they count attendance by average Sunday morning attendance. Therefore, as Rick Hiemstra reported in the first issue of Church & Faith Trends, researchers such as Reg Bibby conclude that evangelicals represent about 8 percent of the Canadian population.
However, these evangelical numbers count only evangelicals in evangelical churches. Polls that measure theological beliefs peg evangelicals at closer to 12 percent of the Canadian population. Pollster Andrew Grenville told CC.com that “a high proportion of mainline attenders are evangelicals.” That is, while only a small proportion of mainline attenders are evangelicals, those who are evangelicals tend to be the more committed ones who show up on Sunday morning.
Depending on how one frames the questions, a significant portion of Roman Catholics have also been deemed theologically “evangelical.”
Outreach Canada, an evangelical ministry which has sponsored a number of church planting congresses, says its statistics show that the number of evangelical congregations increased from 9,152 in 1997 to 9,919 in 2003.
This suggests that the number of evangelical churches is growing slightly faster than the Canadian population. There is now one evangelical church for every 3,189 Canadians, a number that is inching closer to Outreach Canada’s first goal of having one church for every 2,000 Canadians.
I believe such statistics as I quoted above shows that when churches fail to preach the Gospel than sure, their membership declines. But for those churches where the Gospel is preached, the church is filled to capacity.
Look, my purpose here is not to convert anyone or say that one religion is better than the other. But this show mocks Christianity’s supposed declining attendance, but as these statistics show, while churches like McGee’s Anglican church might be on the decline, the evangelical churches are on the increase.
And in my opinion it is because the mainline churches now preach just a watered down version of Christianity that just amounts to “be nice to one another”. Not that there’s anything wrong with being nice to one another but if that is all there is to the religion then it is kind of lame.
But people are still hungering for that “Old Time Religion”, where the meat and potatoes of the Gospel is taught often with fire and brimstone, and they are flocking to places in droves where they can find such preaching . McGee on the other hand especially with the Anglican church being within those whole controversies with Gay bishops and leftist ideology getting in the way of the teaching of the Gospel will see his numbers continue to drop.
Sooooo, back to comments about the actual show. I really enjoyed this episode, it had a nice mix of humour and sentimentality that was so suitable for the season(s). Yasir’s twin was my favourite part, followed closely by Baber’s tears. Please Jake, remember that Reverend McGee’s character really is a caricature on the show; let’s not forget that this is simply a comedy that pokes fun at situations, stereotypes and ideas and does so in an unoffensive manner. Sit back and enjoy the fun!
“Please Jake, remember that Reverend McGee’s character really is a caricature on the show;”
It is because he is a caricature on the show that I attack him so harshly. He represents the Anglican church and in more general terms Christian leadership within all of Canada (and most other Western Countries).
So, when I call him pathetic, while he might not be a real person but an actor, since he is caricature I am attacking the leadership (or lack thereof) that can be found with the mainstream Christian denominations these days and that is why I stress that while mainline Christian denominations might be seeing a decline in church membership, evangelical Christian fellowship is healthy and growing.
Yeah Reverend McGee is a caricature, a caricature of everything that is wrong with the leadership of mainline churches in Canada (and other Western Countries).
“Please Jake, remember that Reverend McGee’s character really is a caricature on the show;”
It is because he is a caricature on the show that I attack him so harshly. He represents the Anglican church and in more general terms Christian leadership within all of Canada (and most other Western Countries).
So, when I call him pathetic, while he might not be a real person but an actor, since he is caricature I am attacking the leadership (or lack thereof) that can be found with the mainstream Christian denominations these days and that is why I stress that while mainline Christian denominations might be seeing a decline in church membership, evangelical Christian fellowship is healthy and growing.
Yeah Reverend McGee is a caricature, a caricature of everything that is wrong with the leadership of mainline churches in Canada (and other Western Countries).
The attack on Christmas, which was demonstrated most clearly by the caricature of the Principal holding a “Winter Festival” instead of a Christmas one is something that is really going on in Western Countries such as Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Many retailers, although depending on the Christmas season to come out with a profit instead of a lost of the year (to get into the black as they say in accounting circles) have started not to have the word Christmas in their ads or holiday decorations at their stores (you can still buy such decorations I mean them putting them up for the store itself) and some have even gone so far as forbidding their employees from wishing Merry Christmas.
Now I guess a legitimate criticism can be made that Christians should get back to its Spiritual roots and should stop buying stuff at Christmas but instead perhaps make the gifts. But it is so hard to disappoint the children who would have to go to school hearing about everyone else getting gifts. And who has the time to make their own. But if Christians did do that, it would certainly make a point as the retailers wouldn’t make a profit for the year and there would be a recession. It would prove to the retailers how important Christmas is to society and they would quickly start respecting Christmas shoppers again.
Jake, spare your attacks for some evangelical website where you might find someone who agrees with your long-winded diatribes.
I think the general goal that this episode addressed is to have a common festival at this time of year that celebrates the joy of friends and your fellow human beings without having implicit ties to one religious faith. It should be something Christians (whether you think they are “REAL” or not), Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Sihks and secular humanists (which I guess you could count me as one) can all take part in.
I doubt anyone is trying to totally “do away” with Christmas. It’s too enjoyable. There is no doubt movement to de-emphasize the connection to the supposed birth date of Jesus Christ but that reflects the effort to be inclusive of all Canadians regardless of faith and in fact returns the winter solstice celebration to its original non-religious pagan roots. Thats a reality I’m afraid you’re going to have to deal with.
How do non-secular humanists celebrate Christmas then, you wonder? The answer is: just like you, just without the religious aspect. There is a Christmas tree in our living room, there are lights on the house, I send cards to our relatives and my clients wishing them joy in the season and hopes for a prosperous new year. I simply wish everyone the happiness they should be should be able to obtain within their mortal life without any strings attached or threats of eternal punishment if they do not follow certain behaviour.
Back the the episode. For me, this and the following new years episode hit a high point in the series. They could have done without Babar being Santa at the end and I highly doubt no-one would show up for an Anglican ceremony because of a TV special but otherwise it was a brilliant display of the two faiths coming together.
Good lines:
“Can you stop your lamb looking at me like that?”
“No”
It is true that the Anglicans have been losing membership just like it is in the show.
By the way, how did they know if the food was ok for Muslims? They have lots of food rules so food prepared for a Christian celebration might not be appropriate for Muslims.
Last year they had two shows about homosexuality.
I am surprised they didn’t have any shows about homosexuality in this season as I would have thought that living in a society that accepts homosexuality would cause some problems with the Muslims.
Baber is concerned about the Christmas Carol at Layla’s school? I am sure Layla purposely doesn’t tell him what goes on in her sex education class.
…and in fact returns the winter solstice celebration to its original non-religious pagan roots.”
Greg, you don’t think Paganism is a religion? How intolerant of you.
I am going to have to agree with Jake about some points. Ammar was being a bit insensitive to the Ring Ding a-whatever Christmas thing, even though it was on the same day as eid. As for Baber, he is just a maniac father who is way too overprotective of his daughter who is pretty strong in my opinion. He reminds me of the story I read on the net the other day about how in Canada, a father killed his daughter because she didn’t wear the hijab. Extremism much? I am Muslim, and I wear it by choice. I go to a public (Christian) school, and am allowed to participate in all sorts of non-Islamic activities, just because its good to get to know other religions. Some Muslims are just intolerant of other religions, and that is not a good thing. Islam teaches us to embrace others and learn their ways, and accept everyone in the community no matter what religion they are. This has just been misconceived in this century.
The Muslim Council of Britain has actually come out in favor of Christmas. You know for the Left tolerance means tolerance for everyone except Christians. I want to thank the Muslim Council of Britain for not going along with the Secular humanists in trying to destroy Christmas.
wow. happy holidays everyone…it brings out the ‘best’ in us all, doesn’t it.
this episode was very sweet….in it’s typical situation COMEDIC way. think a little metaphorically guys…Christians and Muslims often have practical problems when planning for our big holidays.
In my community, there are going to be at least TWO different EID Al ADHA dinners and prayers because of the controversy of the moon sighting, again. This was demonstrated by the “mix up” with reverend McGee scheduling.
Christians often dispair about how Christ has been taken out of Christ-mas resulting in x-mas shows with hip hop dancing and ring a ding sing a longs…
But, in the end, the point that THIS holiday season, in December, Christians, Muslims and Jews all have a “holy-day” celebrated in honor of a Prophet and God, the same Prophets and God that we all believe in! And God, by what is never a coincidence, made it all right for this diverse community to celebrate and appreciate each other while celebrating. Even Layla got into it (and Sarah in her typical whack way).
My only question, was the turkey halal???? 😉
asiila
I just got a kick out of “Peace Train” being played at the holiday party – very nice touch. I just wish Yusuf Islam would perform here in the US but I doubt that will EVER happen. OK, back to the show, good show and much better season overall than the first.
Jake, you’re pretty much caricaturing the “left” and “secular humanists.” I’d say the majority of my friends are left-wing secular humanists (and the rest are a mixture of Christian, Pagan, and Jewish), and I don’t know a single person who wants to get rid of Christmas. What we all object to is the overwhelming nature of commercial Christmas crap (do YOU like bad covers of insipid songs on every radio station?) and people who act like Christmas is the only “real” winter holiday, and should be prioritized over those of all other religions.
How is it more tolerant of *multiple* faiths to have a Christmas performance than to have a winter performance that includes students of all faiths as well as we horrible secular humanists who apparently don’t deserve a public voice in society (not one as badly run as in this episode, of course)?
Re: the episode. I liked it, and it was nice to see Baber and Layla actually connect for once. I think this season has done a pretty good job of making Baber less one-dimensional and showing that he isn’t as extreme as he first appears, and really does care about Layla. I feel bad for McGee. (I wouldn’t assume he’s a comment on the state of the entire Anglican church any more than Mercy Mosque is all of Islam.)
where is episode 11? Can someone please post a link. I thought episode 10 & 11 were aired together.
Thanks in advance.
“McGee. (I wouldn’t assume he’s a comment on the state of the entire Anglican church any more than Mercy Mosque is all of Islam.) ”
But McGee is a caricature. He is a comment on the state of the entire Anglican church. One of the themes of this show is the decline of Christianity as represented by McGee’s inability to fill his church.
But again, while the Anglicans are dying away evangelical Christian fellowships are healthy and growing.
And by the way Mercy Mosque is supposed to represent the Islamic experience in the West. Just like right now the Mercy Mosque is just in its infancy but growing, the influence of Islam in Canada is starting out small but ever growing.
Want to bet that if the show last long enough the Muslims will eventually buy the whole church property as their membership will have grown too big to be held in a back room of a church and as McGee can no longer keep his church going with so few people going to his Anglican masses. Then perhaps the Mosque would rent space out to McGee and the handful of old churchgoers he has left.
You want to talk stereotypes?
Not one white person is portrayed favourably in this show. Except the gay guy who we haven’t seen this season but was in a couple of shows last season.
Video 2 and 3 are unavailable!
Wow!!!! Jake you seriously need to chill.
I’m pretty certain this site was not meant to get people so heated up.
I understand you point about Amaar being insensitive but it was in a comic way and it was aimed at offending anyone. If you believe the show is out to prove something rather than a little light entertainement the stop watching it!!!! No one holds you at gunpoint to watch it now do they!!!!
Stop reading so much in to things and learn to relax.
I meant NOT aimed at!
hi, could anyone tell me what happened to episode 11?. i was under the impression that two episodes (Eid/Five year plan) were to be aired last wednesday.
Thanks in advance.
“How is it more tolerant of *multiple* faiths to have a Christmas performance than to have a winter performance that includes students of all faiths as well as we horrible secular humanists who apparently don’t deserve a public voice in society (not one as badly run as in this episode, of course)?”
The question is not us being tolerant to them but them tolerant of us. We don’t live in a Theocracy. We don’t force anyone to practice a specific religion or any religion for that matter. But that doesn’t mean that the dominant religion should be removed from the public square as it is an issue of culture even more than religion.
Again, if I had moved my children to India I wouldn’t mind them going to pageants where they learned about Ram. Then when they came home I would explain to them that it is part of their culture and while they might believe that we believe this.
But you want to ruin it for the many to satisfy the few. Christmas is cultural as much if not more than it is religious.
And Yassir I believe that Yusuf Islam is on the no fly list. I am surprised that “Peace Train” is halal.
Nice to find fellow internet addicts of LMOTP. It’s been even nicer finding this show in the first place, helping me along the path to understand my fellow travelers on the earth a bit better. I’ve been actively pursuing a better understanding of Muslims – particularly Muslim women and the hijab, and Canadian Muslims – but not watching television, I only stumbled across the show a month ago. And by now I’ve watched every episode at least twice 😉
While I believe you are reading a _little_too much into things Jake, I do agree that the Christian side of things is rather unbalanced. But, this is a show about the Muslim minority, not about the mainstream majority (or even other minorities). A little heavy on that side of the scales doesn’t even begin to approach the male WASP worldview’s domination of our cultural landscape for so long.
However, it would be nice to show a non-Muslim in a more positive light – Magee’s a rather pathetic shepherd without a (visible? existent?) flock, the mayor’s a consumate small-town politician with no religious beliefs to hold her back, what’s-his-name-the-radio-host’s an all-round loudmouth bigot, the aging redneck with few braincells left…while stereotypes can be found on both sides (it IS a sitcom, after all), it gets a little depressing.
As to Sarah, the bridge, she’s secular no-matter what side she’s on. She’s only Muslim for love of Yasir, rather than Allah.
Funnily enough tho, it’s more Rayyan than Sarah that gets into the “Christmas” spirit… with all those gaudy decorations!
Oh, that reminds me – it wasn’t the elf-with-the-eye-patch that sunk the Ring-ding-a-sing-along this year – Magee also scheduled it on the same night as the Winter Festival (which showed terrific attendence 🙂
And Aisha, as for Baber – while most of the time he is fairly right-wing and conservative, it is the way he treats Layla that redeems him. Instead of behaving like Aqsa Parvez’s murderous father, Baber – while desperately wanting Layla to wear the hijab – has NOT gone overboard. Or, at least no more overboard than most fathers of teenage girls having to navigate current fashion (especially when single-parenting, without much recourse to feminine advice). If you recall the episodes with the hijab, Baber found out that Layla was “mature enough”to wear the hijab, yet once he saw how that would affect her relationship with her friends and classmates, he compassionately decided to hold off until at least “next month” to bring it to her attention. And then when he discovered Layla pretended to adopt the hijab only to hide a bad streak job, Baber told her he cared more about “good thoughts in her head” than what she wore on it. He said then that she didn’t have to wear it (until she was ready?) I’ve from a fairly socially-conservative upbringing myself, so I empathize with the situation (and my Dad was just a non-practicing Protestant, stuck in a middle-class-mid-1950’s mindset that never existed in the first place).
Whew… now if I could only track down the next episode. Sadly mydien doesn’t have it, I already asked. Patience, as I told him, is a virtue in all cultures… better practice it 😉
I’ve had it up to here with your rhetoric, Jake. Please establish a blog elsewhere, where you can have your little debates with people who actually want to fight about these topics. I don’t come here to talk about Christian denominations going extinct or exploding. (By the way, if you want to talk about that stuff, why don’t you throw in a reference to Jewish people? They’re marrying themselves “out” into extinction. Oh wait. Jews don’t count, right?)
Anyway, if you’re so passionate about these issues, maybe you ought to spend more time trying to actually make changes in your community rather than blathering on, irking the patrons of this site.
Sorry, Jake, but as a scholar of religion, I can’t stand these types of unintelligible diatribes on sound byte religion trends.
Anyhap, I liked this episode! This season is certainly better than the first, though I’ll definitely try to find a copy of the first season when it comes out on DVD :]
This American is anxious to see the following episode!!! Canadian television (and [pop] culture, really) is a mystery to me, even though I live so close to BC. I need to be enlightened!
Adara,
Hear! Hear! Well said.
We need positive messages here. Yes, you can point out things that may irritate you about the show as long as the show remains the main topic of the discussion. I have to agree that the consistently negative portrayals of Caucasian non-Muslims in Mercy reminds me of the demeaning portrayals of whites and blacks on TV when I lived in Japan. Hopefully future episodes can rectify that imbalance.
Greg, I meant to give you a shout-out for your previous comments!
I agree; now that I think about it, so far no Caucasians have been portrayed as “nice people” on this show. Then again, sometimes–and especially in a small town–there really is no Caucasian person who will publicly renounce or try to distance themselves from their fellow Caucasians’ antagonism toward Muslims (or any other minority group).
Also, note that (unless I’ve just reeeeally missed something) Rayyan’s character is of mixed race and inherited two very different cultures, so she sort of represents both groups. I appreciate that they show their mixed family, especially since the West generally doesn’t think of Muslims as race-transcending or accepting of bicultural/biracial marriages, though in my experience, it seems to be just as prevalent with Muslims as with non-Muslims. Malaysians with Arabs, Indonesians with Pakistanis, Africans with Caucasians…it mirrors Islam’s general message of “don’t get hung up on stupid things like racism, because God doesn’t favour anyone”.
And–I know, I’m biased, my future children will be “100% mixed”–don’t “exotically mixed” kids bring a little bit of awesome? =P They are exposed to different perspectives and see how they can function together successfully, and I think Rayyan’s character has demonstrated that in several episodes.
Sorry for ranting. Isn’t the function of race and faith interesting? */nerd*
Hi Adara,
I’m right with you. Although I refer to my kids as “multi-racial” to emphasis that just because they come from two different racial backgrounds doesn’t mean they are less of one or the other. They have learned to take the best from both worlds and respect each side. Rayyan definitely reflects that ideal.
Get a life losers!!!!!! and STOP FIGHTING!!
Answer the real question which users are asking:
sarah
December 18, 2007 at 7:01 am
hi, could anyone tell me what happened to episode 11?. i was under the impression that two episodes (Eid/Five year plan) were to be aired last wednesday.
Thanks in advance.
I’m also wondering what happened with Episode 11 as well.
I enjoyed the episode. Like some others I wondered about the offering of food from Reverend McGee since it probably would not be halal unless by chance he got Fatima to cater.
Has anyone uploaded Five Year Plan to Youtube? I’m jonesing for an episode this week.
episode 11 anyone????
Even though they try to portray Fred poorly, I really like him. Perhaps it is because I know of people like Fred in real life and how kind and savvy they really are.
Sure he makes fun of the Muslims but never in a cruel way. Compare that to the Mayor who really have contempt for the Muslims but keeps it to herself for political reasons (though her contempt leaks out at times).
I hope that as the show continues they try to play Fred at least as favourably as they play Barber. For I really believe that if the Muslims of Mercy were ever attacked (by whom, I have no idea so it would never happen) Fred would be the first one there with shotgun in hand to defend them.
Yeah, he might criticize their ways and such but that doesn’t mean he is a bad person. He keeps them on their toes.
By the way, if you want to hear a Real Fred I really recommend Lowell Green out of Ottawa radio station CFRA AM 580
His show streams on the Internet from their web page. Check it out.
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Also I recommend Dave Rutherford of CHQR 770 AM who is really good. His show streams through his station’s web page as well.
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Also Charles Adler of CJOB AM 680. His show streams through his station’s web page as well as he is on many other radio stations.
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Bill Carroll is also pretty good. Again streamed on the Internet through his radio station’s web page CFRB AM 1010.
What you will find from all these hosts is that they prove an important check to the local and national leaders. After all it was Fred who stopped the SheMayor from spending taxpayers money on a new bathroom for herself. Without a “Fred” (and an anonymous Yasir) in Mercy she would have got away with it.
While we wait for a new episode I recommend this video.
It’s hilarious!
And this one.
It just gets funnier and funnier.
Since we are still waiting on new episodes perhaps we can discuss the British miniseries “Make Me a Muslim”.
It’ one of those “reality” shows. See I put reality in quotes as for all of us who have seen “reality” shows know, they aren’t that real. But the premise is that a group of non Muslims lives as Muslims for 3 weeks. There are three episodes in total.
Here are the episodes as you can get them on youtube.
Episode 1 Part 1 of 5
Episode 1 Part 2 of 5
Episode 1 Part 3 of 5
Episode 1 Part 4 of 5
Episode 1 Part 5 of 5
Episode 2 Part 1 of 5
Episode 2 Part 2 of 5
Episode 2 Part 3 of 5
Episode 2 Part 4 of 5
Episode 2 Part 5 of 5
Episode 3 Part 1 of 5
Episode 3 Part 2 of 5
Episode 3 Part 3 of 5
Episode 3 Part 4 of 5
Episode 3 Part 5 of 5
Yeah, not really Little Mosque on the Prairie but similar in that both shows are about the interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Thanks for the tip, Sue :]
The “Make me a Muslim” show has got to be one of the worst introductions to Islam one can find (save the introduction of extremists). I would not be surprised if people thought the Muslims to be a bunch of crazies after seeing that show. And judging by the comments about it on the internet, that’s what happened.
I’m with you, Hank. I think we’ve seen a good side to Fred when Fatimah got hurt. I do think Fred likes Fatimah, not in a romantic way though.
Salam! Well I just discovered this blog and it’s great how everyone discusses these issues. I think it’s what the creator of the series wanted… that people get to know muslim ways and that the scenes in the series will be discussed =) I don’t know who the owner is of this blog but if you read this you might want to affiliate with my site? It’s a fansite and fanlisting on ‘little mosque on the prairie’, I try to add more stuff soon and it has a forum too. And of course if you’re a fan, e-mail me and I’ll add you to the list =)
happy holidays to all.
Will someone please please please please answer the most asked question here:
Does anyone have Little Mosque on the Prairie S02E11 (episode 11 is called “The Five Year Plan” also aired immedately after Ep10 on Wed 12th Dec 2007 ? If so, please post a link to Ep11
This episode was beautiful, in my opinion.
But why did they play “Peace Train” sung by someone else? Why didn’t they use Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens’ version which is the ORIGINAL?!? The guy who remade it wasn’t half as good!
I liked this version of Peace Train too =) Maybe they were not allowed to use Yusuf Islam’s version, or it was cheaper for them to buy the other guy’s version who is singing it anyway?), seen that it’s a rather low budget production.
And Ep11… well, searching for it. Seems to be nowhere on the net so far…
Episode 11 is airing Jan 9th (so says the show’s website – go check). So no need to search for it, it’s not there yet.
No Anton, you are mistaken!
Ep 11 (The Five Year Plan) was a back to back episode broadcasted straight after Ep10 on Dec 12th 2007. See: http://www.cbc.ca/littlemosque/blog/
http://next-episode.net/Little-Mosque-on-the-Prairie/show/426/season/2/overview.html
So we’re missing Ep 11 called “The Five year Plan”
As-salaamu alaykum,
Whoopsie, sorry 😦 I guess we are missing that episode… waaahhhh i guess the people who usually record it weren’t there
Jake and others:
Amaar was not asking for parking spaces on Christmas. McGee had scheduled some sort of choir sing-a-long on the same day as the Eid dinner. His vehement refusal to reschedule was a little out of character. Oh, plot devices, how transparent you are.
Good episode though.
McGee refused because it was the only event all year that he gets good attendance from his church members. It’s the only time he really gets to shine (since he is a pathetic pastor).
The event was extremely important to McGee which made it all the more tragic when the event actually wasn’t attended by members of his church because there was a popular Christmas special on television that they watched instead.
Yeah, its a sad indictment upon the the Anglican church and its members, but like I previously mentioned, while there’s a decline in the membership of the so called “mainline” Christian churches in Canada, the evangelical churches are on the increase.
It shows that when churches fail to preach the Gospel then sure, their membership declines. But for those churches where the Gospel is preached, the church is filled to capacity.
The Anglican church has spent its time supporting the homosexuals so is it any surprised that it lacks spiritual subsidence for its members and therefore so many have searched for it elsewhere.
the people who normally load up the episodes probably didn’t know there was another episode aired after Ep. 10 so they didn’t record it…
Yeah, that Make Me a Muslim show was a bit disappointing…some of the characters were so. obnoxious. argh. I kept thinking “They have to be acting.” (Hopefully they were!)
Salam
is there a repeat of lmotp? i live in the uk and there is no other way of watching these episodes. please please please can someone post a link!!!!
by the way, i think they should strenghten mcgee’s and amar’s characters. they are both religious ministers but not one of them has a clue. if it wasn’t for the importance of the friday sermons i don’t think amar would have a congregation either.
Is an imam allowed to be beardless?
and if anyone does have the link to episode 11 can they please post it………..please!!!
This is not a comment about this particular episode or even this show. I have a question about Muslims in general.
Why do they have to greet each other in a foreign language? Why couldn’t they use like in Canada for example French or English to say their greetings?
And if Allah is just the Arabic word for God why don’t they just say God? Or are they trying to distinguish Allah from other “gods”. But if there is only One God and Allah is just the Arabic word for that One God, why don’t they use the English translation of that word which would of course be God.
I just think there would be less misunderstanding between Muslims and the rest of the world if Muslims would just say their greetings in the language of the country they live in. It would make Islam seem less foreign.
Personally it makes me cringe when I hear a Muslim give another Muslim a greeting. It sounds so foreign, and yes, hostile. Perhaps I wouldn’t cringe if the greeting was given in English.
I’m going to attempt to answer Felix’s questions, although I’m not Muslim, so if there’s anyone out there who can provide additional information or correct anything I (inadvertently) get wrong, please post!
My understanding is that Arabic is the language of Islam, as the language in which the Qur’an was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. Any translation from that original Arabic is considered “insufficient” because of the differences that naturally occur in translation. As an extension of that, it is only natural that they would refer to God as Allah, because that is their name for Him. They pray in Arabic, their sacred texts are in Arabic, so why would they not refer to God in Arabic?
Regarding greeting each other in Arabic, again, it comes down to the importance of Arabic. They’re not walking up and saying “Hey, baby, how’s it going?” in Arabic; they’re saying something like “God be with you” or “May God bless you.” You may have noticed that many Jewish people do the same thing–though in the West they are generally assimilated enough in the community that you’ll only hear it on holidays or the Sabbath–they’ll say “Shabbat Shalom,” meaning “peaceful sabbath.”
If you think about it, the use of Arabic between Muslims is really no different than the use of Hebrew between Jews, or, traditionally, the use of Latin between Catholics (though this has died out).
I’m not going to address your comments about the perceived “hostility” of Arabic greetings, because it’s a little too close to xenophobia for me to maintain any semblance of good manners. You do, however, get points for asking questions instead of continuing in blind prejudice.
I believe what Alyse said is right on. However, let me add:
It is only sunnah (the way of the Prophet) to greet another Muslim in Arabic but it is a requirement to respond when greeted at an equal or greater level. A Muslim may even greet another Muslim with “Peace be unto you”. It was the way of the Prophet and is highly recommended. Muslim do not usually go around greeting non-Muslims with foreign greetings so I don’t see how it becomes foreign.
You are right on about the Quran being purest in its original text. The Arabic language has been highly diluted for centuries thus translating has become difficult and it was ordained at the time of the Prophet that one must recite the Quran in its original language. Of course, you may read translations to understand it, but KNOW the Arabic.
Regarding the word “Allah”. It is essentially derived from two words, “Al” and “Illah”, meaning THE God, not just God. This is why one says Allah and not just God. However, saying God is not forbidden and is ok when speaking to non-Muslims or just saying it in natural english conversations.
These are important questions and I regard you for asking then. I hope you don’t perceive Muslims as “hostile” from now on. Forgive me for any errors I may have made in what I said.
Peace be unto you.
First of all, “it sounds hostile”… only if you’re scared of Muslims. The words assalaamu alaykum mean “peace be with you” and I have a hard time figuring out how that is hostile. Furthermore, I never use this greeting for non-Muslims (though I would sometimes say in English “peace be with you” if I know that the person is religious). I don’t know a Muslim who would use this greeting with a non-Muslim.
Second of all, I’m Russian. When I meet another Russian, I say “privet”, because that’s our word for hello. Does this also sound hostile? If it doesn’t, then what’s the difference? It’s a foreign language, too. Or how about a polite hello, “zdravstvuite”? If you’re scared of Russian, too, then it sounds like you don’t want any foreigners in your country, which is a whole other issue. If not, then I don’t see what’s the difference. And if you’re about to argue that the difference is in ethnical vs religious affiliation, then you should know that non-Muslims Arab speakers (including Christians) use “assalaamu alaykum” as well.
Thirdly, in theory one can use another Arabic greeting, “merhaba”, which was the greeting prior to Muhammad (peace be upon him). But the Prophet said that he has given us a better greeting, “peace be with you”, so why should we use an inferior greeting when talking with each other (note that I said “with each other” – not with non-Muslims)?
As far as using the word “Allah” instead of God… well, I often don’t. For me, “Allah” and “God” are interchangeable. If I’m talking to a non-Muslim, I tend to stick to the word “God.” The usage of the term “Allah” instead of God is very prominent in the media with the intent of separating out the Muslims from the rest of the population. However, I myself do not use “Allah” in speech, unless in prayer (which is in Arabic).
And finally, as Alyse pointed out, Arabic is our sacred language. It’s the language God has chosen to speak to mankind, just as he chose Hebrew to reveal the Torah. Latin in Christianity isn’t exactly the same, because it’s not “officially endorsed” by God. At any rate, Christ spoke Aramaic, not Latin. So I feel more of a connection to God when using Arabic. This is why I use phrases like “inshallah” (with God’s will) and “alhamdulilah” (praise be to God) in my speech, as well, but only when I know the person is OK with it. In my regular day-to-day speech, I use “hopefully” and “thankfully” instead.
And in the end, this is my cultural practice. It is no different that the strange cultural practices of other faiths and of other ethnicities. Why should the Muslim one be separated out to be “hostile”? “Hola” and “adios” have become an often used greeting in America even among those who do not speak Spanish, yet that is not considered hostile. I understand that the argument changes if you think that everyone in your country should only speak its official language (French or English) and that all foreign practices should be kept private. But if you do not condone such an infringement of freedom, I do not see why Muslims are selected from among all the rest. Why not the orthodox Jews who also say “shalom alaykum”?
Anyway, I do not mean these statements as an attack, but more of a critique of your stance on the issue. Hopefully you understand my point of view on it 🙂
Peace be with you all
Words have meanings but often words and sayings have histories as well.
Call a Black Man in America a “boy” and you will likely get your lights punched out. Sure, you might just mean it as a casual term. Heck, you might call White men in America “boys” as well. But for a Black there’s a historical context to that term that remains powerful even today. In prior generations, especially in the South White Men used to call Black Men “boys” as a way to demean them. They called Black Men “boys” as a way as saying “you aren’t as good as a white man”.
Well the term “Allahu Akbar” translated might just mean “God is Great” but you can’t separate it from a historical context. It was a Muslim Battle Cry, and in that sense it was meant and is still used total as a hostile cry before going against an enemy. Sure it might also be used in an innocent way as well but just like “boy” might unintentionally be used innocently, the history of the phrase “Allahu Akbar” so overshadow everything else that as unintentional as it may be, for many hearing “Allahu Akbar” is threatening to them.
Of course when I hear “Allahu Akbar” I immediately think of a terrorist detonating a suicide bomb, or spreading machine gun bullets in a crowd full of women and children. You may think it is unfair for me to have these images. But they don’t come out of nowhere. They come from real incidences of that term being used in that way.
Sensitivity should be a two way street. So just as you should be sensitive enough not to call a Black Man a “boy” you should be sensitive enough to understand how hearing “Allaku Akbar” effects people and choose instead to say “God is Great” which doesn’t have the historical baggage of being a war cry like “Allaku Akbar” does.
Well the term “Allahu Akbar” translated might just mean “God is Great” but you can’t separate it from a historical context. It was a Muslim Battle Cry, and in that sense it was meant and is still used today as a hostile cry before going against an enemy. Sure it might also be used in an innocent way as well but just like “boy” might unintentionally be used innocently, the history of the phrase “Allahu Akbar” so overshadow everything else that as unintentional as it may be, for many hearing “Allahu Akbar” is threatening to them.
“And in the end, this is my cultural practice. It is no different that the strange cultural practices of other faiths and of other ethnicities.”
Except maybe for some sects of the Jews I can’t think of any other religion that uses foreign sayings as greetings.
— First of all, “it sounds hostile”… only if you’re scared of Muslims. —
Well, I don’t like the word “scared”. But I do recognize the times in which we live.
“Except maybe for some sects of the Jews I can’t think of any other religion that uses foreign sayings as greetings.”
First of all, why don’t you think Jews sound hostile, too? Secondly, the greeting is only foreign to you. In such a situation, my using Russian isn’t any different. But you don’t seem to think other foreigners in your country using such greetings as hostile?
I understand your reaction to the phrase “Allahu Akbar”, but it is, once again, a media scare more than a real image. You know people who say “Allahu Akbar” the most? The muezzin (the guys that make the calls to prayer). Athan, the call to prayer, involves singing “Allahu Akbar” four times total. Athan is done five times a day, making it 20 “Allahu Akbar”s daily. It is also a phrase that is used every day by millions of Muslims around the world that have nothing to do with terrorist organizations.
So if your association with “Allahu Akbar” is terrorism, then blame the media, not the Muslims. Your reason is not a historical reason, it’s a prejudice reason (however ill-informed) and I’m not going to accept it or censor my speech because of it.
And what image do you have when you hear “assalaamu alaykum”? So far I haven’t heard any terrorists crying that as they were going to blow themselves up.
So what are the “times in which we live”? The guys that will blow you up are not the guys that go to the masjid five times a day, say “assalaamu alaykum”, fast during Ramadan, and don’t drink alcohol. Most domestic terrorists are encouraged to pretend to be Western. The guys at the masjid are very unlikely to blow you up. And you can’t possibly worry about the guys abroad as that’s obviously not in your control.
I don’t see why, just because my greeting of peace causes some negative image in your mind that’s been hammered into your head by the media, I have to abandon its usage. What I think your (and my) country needs is an education to be able to rise above these stupid prejudices.
I encourage you to learn about Islam, meet and talk to some Muslims, and maybe you’ll find yourself more comfortable hearing the words “assalaamu alaykum”. That’s the only good solution I see to this predicament.
HEY! WHY NO MORE SHOWS? HAS THE SECOND SEASON ENDED? IF SO, WHEN WILL IT START AGAIN???
ASIILA
AND, YOU PARANOID (PROBABLY WHITE ) FOLKS NEED TO STOP TRYING TO GET MUSLIMS TO GREET EACH OTHER IN ANY OTHER WAY THAN HOW WE DO. YOU’LL HAVE ABOUT AS MUCH LUCK WITH THAT AS GETTING US TO STOP PRAYING OR WEARING THOSE ‘FUNNY CLOTHES.’
PAY ATTENTION:
AS SALAAM ALAIKUM, RESPONSE: WALAIKUM AS SALAAM. THE JEWS SAY ‘AS SHALOM ALAIKUM’ IT TRANSLATES THE SAME: PEACE BE UNTO YOU…WHAT THE ‘HELL’ IS WRONG WITH THAT? A LITTLE PEACE.????…JESUS USED TO SAY THAT TOO YOU KNOW.
WOW. I’VE HEARD ABOUT HOW AMERICAN FOLKS FIGHT BILINGUALISM EVEN WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD SPEAKS AT LEAST TWO LANGUAGES (USUALLY MORE AS A MATTER OF COURSE), BUT THIS IS RI-FRICKIN’-DICULOUS.
YOU CAN’T TAKE THREE WORDS (THAT WERE USED WAAAAAAY BEFORE YOU EVEN KNEW HOW TO TALK, MUCH LESS EXISTED)? OR ALLAHU AKBAR FOR THAT MATTER…HOW PROGRAMMABLE YOU GUYS ARE…
FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. I DON’T KNOW, MAYBE IGNORANCE….
BTW, AS SALAAM ALAIKUM, YALL. 😉
wa-alaykum salaam asiila,
It’d be nice if you didn’t type in all caps, thanks.
There is a point in what she is saying, though. If you look at the statistics, the young Muslims growing up in Europe today feel angry with the countries they are raised in. The older generation has integrated quite well, but their children are not integrating, but actually going in reverse. Why?
Since the last generation, Muslims have been portrayed as the “others” and as “evil” much more than prior to 9/11. Foreign policies of Western countries has been very anti-Muslim since then. This sets the European Muslim populations apart from the rest of society. With separation, Europeans fear the Muslims more and the more the Muslims are feared, the more likely they are to become radical and decide to become terrorists.
So being scared of greetings like “assalaamu alaykum” is not only ridiculous, but it further drives Muslims into radicalism. So my advice is, as stated above, go talk to Muslims, figure out why you actually don’t need to be scared of them, and things will work out much better than if I was forced to not use my favorite greeting with other Muslims.
salaam
I just don’t understand why you just can’t speak English so that the people around you don’t misunderstand what you are saying when you greet one another.
And, I really don’t think it’s “what being portrayed” that’s the problem. Muslims do say “Allahu Akbar” before going on a killing spree.
So what needs to change is not our perceptions, because they are correct. What needs to be stopped is Muslims going on killing sprees and then perhaps we wouldn’t have such an instinctively angry feeling when we hear the words “Allahu Akbar”.
“So being scared of greetings like ‘assalaamu alaykum’ is not only ridiculous …”
Not scared, but on edge.
Why are we “on edge”
Well perhaps incidences like this have something to do with it.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4102781&page=1
Missing Little Mosque on the Prairie S02E11 (series 2, episode 11 called “The Five Year Plan” did indeed aire on CBC immedately after Ep10 on Wed 12th Dec. See series 2 episodes listing at: http://epguides.com/LittleMosqueonthePrairie/
Unfortunately, only Canadian residents can buy and download this missing S02E11 episode from the iTunes store in Canada for $1.99, see:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewVideo?id=270309989&p=268678625&s=143455
Dear sir
Assalamu Alaikum
This show is getting worse by the week. It is propped up only by stereotypes about Muslims and non-Muslims.
For instance, qurban is protrayed as a sundown ritual. Nonsense! The Pakistani director is clearly bringing her cultural priorities and prejudices to the show and protraying it as mainstream. I am a Tamil Muslim and we slaughter lamb after sunrise. So it is easy to distribute among family and friends.
Thanks Sue
Make Me A Muslim sounds promising. I have just begun watching. I did’t know Bible bans pork.
Felix,
The whole point is: you shouldn’t be on the edge. From everything you’ve said so far, your only source of knowledge about Muslims is the media. There’s nothing scary about “assalaamu alaykum” or “Allahu Akbar”. If you associate either of those with terrorism, then that’s your problem, not mine. I say “Allahu Akbar” every time I change positions during my prayers. I say when I see some great work of God. I hear the muezzin say it. Just because some small minority use it before they commit violence does not make the phrase associated with violence in my mind.
What you’re saying is like saying that people shouldn’t say hello, because that’s what a lot of rapists say when they approach their next victim and so the word “hello” has a bad connotation.
So once again, your prejudices are your problems, not mine. I am not going to abstain from doing something just because you’re “on the edge” around Muslims. There are 1.5 billion Muslims in this world and if there are a 100 000 terrorists, that doesn’t even make .01% of the population. Even if there are 1 million terrorists, that’s still less than 0.1%.
You are fed your images by the media and because you have no other source of information, that’s all the information you have. I have not met one person who knew something about Islam and was still “on the edge” around Muslims saying “Allahu Akbar”. Your ignorance is not my problem.
Peace.
Assalaamu alaykum Sadat,
I don’t think the point of the show is to show the exact practices of every Muslim.
And the Bible contains the Old Testament, which part of the Jewish tradition as well. That means it contains passages forbidding pork. However, the church has since decided to forgo these restrictions. It was a big debate in early Christianity.
The term is “on edge” I don’t like the word “scared” because at least to me it implies an incapacitating fear.
Where the allied soldiers scared when they went up against the Nazis. If a soldier said he wasn’t he was either lying or crazy. But that fear didn’t stop him from doing what needed to be done.
In this day and age we need to be scared of Muslims. Sure 99 percent of the Muslims aren’t terrorists but the problem is that 99 percent of the terrorists are today Muslims. Now it needs to be a controlled fear of course. We can’t strike out irrationally. But fear can be good, just like you need to be afraid of being hit by a car when crossing the street. You don’t necessarily not cross the street, but you take the reasonable precautions.
“Allahu Akbar” has a history that supersedes its definition. It is a Muslim war cry. It is what terrorists say before they blow up something and kill a bunch of people. So certainly you should be able to understand why people feel hostile when they hear those words and be sensitive enough not to say them where non-Muslims might here them.
As for “Assalaamu alaykum” it sounds foreign. It sounds Arabic (which of course it is). Since it sounds so foreign and most people don’t know what it means it would put them at easy if Muslims didn’t say those words in public where non-Muslims could hear them and if they must say it in the general public say the English translation.
And do they have to wear such foreign clothes. There is a saying about not looking like you “just got off the boat” (I know most all immigrants came by plane but the concept is still relevant).
“it would put them at ease” I meant to type.
For isn’t sensitivity a two way street?
(I know most all immigrants came by plane but the concept is still relevant). I meant today. Historically they came by ship and that is how the saying came about.
Felix, you really need to get a grip. is the reason you are even on this site is to become more Muslim sensitive; to understand? if so, just listen and stop arguing. if your reason is just to keep the fitna going (to cause confusion, to be argumentative—ooo, another arab word!), you can stop now.
But before that, understand this: MUSLIMS ARE NEVER, NEVER GOING TO STOP USING ARABIC TO GREET EACH OTHER, NEVER, irregardless of non-Muslims’ “comfort” zone. In fact, i have yet to meet any non-Muslim who freaked at the phrase…they often know what it is, or give ME the salaams as a gesture of friendship.
And to prove your argument is specious, think about this: since you and all the other non-muslim media programmed folks now know that ‘ALLAH AKBAR’ means God is Great (and claim “all terrorists say that before going on a killing spree”), you also all now know that AS SALAAM ALAIKUM means “Peace Be Upon You.” which, NO terrorist ever said before killing.
capish? (btw, exactly when were you next to a terrorist to hear what he said before he pushed the button? i know of no official statement of survivors or of some kind of manifest from terrorist organizations that lists Allahu Akbar as its rallying cry. I have however, seen it time and time again on every “muslim terrorist” movie that has come out since the 1980’s.)
Anton’s point is very important. Allahu Akbar is an integral part of prayer…so much so that if it’s not said at the beginning, the prayer is invalid.
you can’t talk sense to nonsense.
let Felix rave.
asiila
Are we going to see episode 11 any time soon?
GOOD NEWS !!!!!
You can download missing Episode 11 (The Five Year Plan) from: http://www.mininova.org/tor/1097171
here’s the link to Episode 12: http://www.mininova.org/tor/1095561
please post if someone has rapidshare links.
thanks.
Felix,
Wow… “why do you have to dress so differently?” “why do you have to speak in a foreign language?”
Next it’s going to be “why do you have to pray?” and “why don’t you drink alcohol like the rest of us?”
And then “why can’t you just be agnostic like the rest of the Western world and dump this whole silly Islam business… I mean Islam is just so foreign”..
You really need to listen to yourself and put yourself in my shoes right now. Imagine if you were in my position listening to this nonsense. You don’t even reply to my arguments, you just reiterate the same statements over and over again.
If you want to feel “on the edge” so bad, I ain’t stopping you. But I ain’t stopping with my salaams either.
Oh and like Asiila said – I have had quite a few non-Muslims say assalaamu alaykum to me as a sign of friendship. They were white, American, and Christian.
Anyway it’s pointless to be discussing this.
Peace.
Episode 11 n 12 has been Uploaded 🙂 enjoy
Felix, it is okay if they say “Allahu Akbar” in their Mosques or in places where non Muslims can’t hear them, but you are right there is too much history associated with the saying for non-Muslims not to reflexively get all hostile when hearing it.
Yes, it is the last thing a suicide bomber says before blowing a place up. It is what the terrorists say as they are shooting off their machine guns at innocent women and children but it goes back much further than that.
It is a war crime that Muslims have called out for generations as they attacked, killed, and mutilate those who would not follow their religion (they call them infidels). Now we here have a poor long term memory unlike the Muslims who for them something that happened 1000 years ago seems like it happened last week, but still that term resonates with us as something of horror.
Yeah it might literally mean “God is Great” but for generation after generation us “infidels” it has come to mean from the actions that come after the words “Kill the Infidel”.
So they can say day after day that it means “God is Great” but their actions speak louder. It is a war cry and for non-believers it has the effect you would expect that a war cry that has been directed against you in the past would.
To me I get the same feelings hearing “Allahu Akbar” that I do hearing “Heil Hitler”.
Anger! And a desire to strike out against those who said those words.
Oh, also when terrorists have captured Westerners, kill them, and film their killing to be played on the Internet, “‘Allahu akbar” is what they say as they cut the heads off.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/011334.php
Is it any wonder then why Westerners might take offense and get all hot and bothered when they hear “‘Allahu akbar”.
Muslims need to be sensitive to this and not say it around us “infidels”.
it was really a fun episode. i loved the lamb its such a cute animal, and when the kids came in to ask if they could play with it, to funny and i start wondering how can you play with a lamb!i was glad she didnt kill the lamb casue i’m a vegetarian so it would have been sad for me. Also i just loved how Rayyan got all exited when she went shopping with her mom, they are so alike!
also just wanted to say that in my family we celebrate christmas just like Greg said, like this christmas i played guitar hero with my sister!
I think Layla is my new favorite character, as the show goes on and she gets more scenes the more I like her!
I don’t know if it is just the role she is playing or how the actress plays her, I hope she goes far
I really never got into the debate about “Allahu Akbar” but I have to agree that it has a history that supersedes its literal translation.
I believe the example between “Allahu Akbar” and “boy” is a good one. A white man may call another white man who is much younger than him “boy” even if he is past 21 as merely a term of familiarity but God Help you if you ever say that to a Black Man. And that makes sense given how that term has been used historically especially in the American South to demean the black male.
Sure, “Allahu Akbar” might just mean to you as a Muslim “God is Great” but historically, and even currently that term has been used as a battle cry against us “infidels”.
So of course we would get all instinctively upset by hearing a Muslim utter “Allahu Akbar” given it’s use as a battle cry. I just love it how sensitivity is always a one way street. We have to be sensitive to things that bother you but you don’t have to be sensitive in return.
For centuries Muslims have cried out “Allahu Akbar” before mowing down the infidel in battle. Even today when a terrorist is about to blow himself up or is about to machine gun a bunch of people he cries out “Allahu Akbar”. On Internet videos as he cuts off the head of the Western capitive he cries out “Allahu Akbar”.
But we are not supposed to have a natural reaction to hearing that term? Yeah, PC is always a one way street isn’t it.
So is this supposed to be Amaar’s second year in Mercy?
The story this monday doesn’t even seems like what I remember the first few seasons as being.
Nahida, how did you like this year’s Christmas Special?
I wonder why it isn’t up here yet?
I was disappointed that it continued the same mean spirited tone as last season. They desperately need to get rid of Throne!