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Meet my mum, the Obama of the ummah

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on May 11, 2008

Mum in the middle, flanked by my sister and me

Everywhere I go these days, one of the first questions people ask is, “How’s your mother?”

Already, on this Mother’s Day, I’ve received a number of emails from perfect strangers wanting me to convey their “salaams,” “greetings,” and “duas” (prayers) to my mum.

Why do they care? Because my mum is the undisputed star of Faith Without Fear. The film is being widely watched, and a lot of viewers have fallen in love with her.

I can’t blame them. In the movie, mum is dynamic, funny, humane and humanizing. And I’m not saying this because she agrees with everything I believe. Quite the opposite. She challenges me big time, even managing to shut me up in one scene.

Don’t get too excited. I recover quickly.

In another scene, mum responds to a couple of Muslim men trying to humiliate her. “Trying” is the key word: Her grace proves Eleanor Roosevelt’s point that nobody can take away your dignity without your permission.

Mind you, this isn’t the first time I’m paying tribute to my mum. In the “Afterword” of my book (written before the film), I tell the story of how she came to realize that we share the same struggle for Muslim reform. It’s just that we approach it in different ways. Which is entirely halal because unity is not the same thing as uniformity — a distinction that the worldwide Muslim nation, or ummah, would be wise to learn.

More than anybody I can imagine, my mum represents the hope for Islam today. She shows herself to be the kind of Muslim whom moderate liberals and moderate conservatives have a hard time hating. You could say she’s the Obama of the ummah.

Meet my mum by downloading video clips from Faith Without Fear. Let me draw your attention to two clips in particular:

* “Irshad and her mother discuss the dangers facing Irshad”; and

* “Irshad and her mother debate faith and prayer.” This is where she has me on the ropes.

So, to get back to the question: How’s your mother? In short, great — for more than one reason. A few days ago, she became a grandmother for the second time. Mum now has a girl and a boy who’ll see her either as a mentor or as a tormentor.

Or both, like her own daughters do.