The First Knight of Ramadan: A Muslim Nerd's Dilemma (video)

[Video Link] Aman Ali, one of the guys behind "30 Mosques," tells Boing Boing, "Instead of doing a roadtrip this year, we're releasing short films."

I love this one. In it, a Muslim nerd "is excited for the new Dark Knight movie," but it releases on the first night of Ramadan.

The short film stars Aman Ali, is directed by Musa Syeed, and was shot by Omar Mullick. Subscribe to their YouTube channel for more.

• [fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

  So… would skipping your religious appointment to go see Batman qualify as a “Dark Knight of the soul”?

• [occlupanid]

  That was really great, esp “Don’t lie to your Mother” in Batman voice.  Plus I learned a bit more about Ramadan today.

• [Charles Lenchner]

  Aman is doing a great job of bringing the American and the Muslim narratives in close proximity. God bless.

• [Peppermint]

  This was awesome, really informative, and incredibly heartwarming. The conclusion was as predictable as ib a  superhero movie, which makes it all the more awesome!

• [oasisob1]

  I take issue with him calling Batman Begins ‘the first Batman movie’. Serious issue.

• [James]

  I don’t know what is so uplifting or heartwarming about this video. When I watch it all I see is an obsolete tradition from one of the worlds most oppressive religions smothering the identity of a young man who is being subjected to pressure from his own family and wider community to deny a part of himself. I would have found it much better if he had decided that he was confident enough in his own identity to go to the movie despite what peer pressure said and know that it didn’t make him any less of a person. I know this comment probably won’t be all that popular. But I think it is long past time that we stop being so damned respectful around religion. I will put it bluntly. To me it is clear that religion has done much more harm than good in this world. That doesn’t mean I think the people that follow the religion are evil, just mislead. Aman seems like the sort of guy I would get along with just fine. He quite frankly reminds me a lot of my own nerdy friends. If I were friends with him I would have missed him on opening night. I am sure his own friends missed him as well.

  • [spoonerist]

    Mostly because it’s an honest portrayal of a guy dealing with smoothing out the incongruencies of his inherited culture with his adopted one. If you’re an immigrant from a country with strong religious traditions, culture and religion are nearly inseparable… if you were young  enough when you came here or were the child of immigrants, you tend to develop your own interpretation to help you bridge the old and the new. I think that’s what this guy, Aman, is trying to do. He’s simplifying Islam to a definition that can adapt to the multiple societies he may (or want to) belong to, without alienating them (or himself). Religion can be used as a mirror to better observe oneself, it’s not nearly as restrictive as you’ve made it out to be. I’ve never heard such a clear explanation of Ramadan before, I can appreciate the sentiment behind it. That being said, one shouldn’t have to adhere to a calendar to tell you when to start or stop…

• [Adrian Anhorn]

  The contortions that religious people go through..

  If you want to fast, find your own motivation for doing so and go for it. You shouldn’t have to go ask someone else (ie the Imam) to explain to you why you should or shouldn’t do something.