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4.5
The PBS documentary, “The Great Muslim American Road Trip” follows a young Muslim American husband and wife, Mona Haydar and Sebastian Robbins, as they travel across the. country learning about various significant individuals, places, and events, which played a role in the history and development of Islam in America. We learn about various aspects of Islamic theology and the experiences of various types of American Muslims from various cultures, interpretations of Islam, and walks of life. They begin their adventure in Chicago. We learn about the Muslims who were brought to America as slaves, and the Black Muslim experience more generally. We then learn about the history of Muslim immigration to the U.S. We learn about how some Black people in the twentieth century often adopted Islam as a method of resistance. We learn about the famous Moorish explorer, Mustafa az-Zammuri, known to the Spanish as Estevanico, who explored the American Southwest in the 1500’s. A lot of this movie is devoted to discussing how various Muslims have given back to their communities in various ways. Next we learn about the Ottoman Syrian Muslim convert camel driver, Hajji Ali---known to Americans as Hi Jolly---who attempted to introduce camels to the American West. They then end their trip in---wait for it---Mecca, California. I was both intrigued by how Mona, the woman, had a career as a rapper and actually did Islamically-themed rap songs. That was kind of cool. It kind of reminded me of another famous Muslim American rap group who I really like called Native Deen. When they interviewed Muhammad Ali’s daughter, she was absolutely correct about the fact that one’s religion should inform how one lives. Indeed, as a scholar of religion with a Bachelor’s Degree in Islamic World Studies, it is worth noting that the vast majority of the world’s religions---including Islam---it seems to me, are what I would call “lifestyle religions”---that is to say, religions that require a believer not merely to pay lip service to a set of theological beliefs, but rather, to LIVE ONE’S LIFE in a certain way. When I heard the Adhaan---the Islamic call to prayer---it brought back memories of when I was in college and when I spent a summer studying Arabic in Fez, Morocco, because I remember waking up to the sound of theb Adhaan every morning. I thought it was kind of funny that a life-sized replica of Jerusalem was created for the 1904 World’s Fair. One thing that did irritate me a bit was how Sebastian and Mona constantly feigned ignorance about certain EXTREMELY BASIC facts which most people who study either the history of Islam or the history of the United States would know. For example, I found it hard to believe that they had not heard of Muhammad Ali, or that they did not know that 66 began in Chicago. Their supposed ignorance, surprise and fascination at these facts seemed kind of staged, exaggerated, and a bit hard to believe. It really did feel at times like they were play acting and obeying the commands of a director who, I suspect, probably told them something to the effect of, "I know that these facts may be common knowledge, but feign surprise, astonishment, and fascination in order to make things more exciting for potential viewers." I am, however, a bit surprised that they don’t talk about the Muslims who came to America BEFORE the African Slave Trade, such as the Ottoman naval admiral, Hadji Mehmed Piri Reis (1465-1555), who explored the Americas in 1512 and 1513 or the pre-Columbian voyages of people like Abu Bakkari, the brother of the West African king Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire of West Africa and his voyages to the Americas in 1310 and 1312, as well as the Chinese Muslim naval admiral, Zheng He’s voyages to the Americas in 1418 and 1421. When discussing the African slave, Estevanico, they forgot to mention that this particular individual was a slave who was what was known as a Morisco---a Muslim who was forced to convert to Christianity during the time of the Inquisition. I was also a bit surprised that they did not go to Dearborn, Michigan, which is the one American city with the largest Arab and Muslim population in the country.Overall, however, I would highly recommend this documentary to anyone wishing to learn about the history of Islam in America.
