Performative Islam

The Theatre of Muslim Social Media

My reason for posting this video is mainly twofold:

One, for Daniel Haqiqatjou: take a good look in the mirror and put aside this Ali G-like persona you’ve become and come back to reality.

Two, for others: beware of those who make startling transformations right before your eyes.

Such individuals are not well and I do not mean “mental health”: the heart is disturbed. When they can don a new costume and force the world into an artificial one-dimensional fantasy in which they have cast themselves as the underdog reluctant hero in their own play, a play Shakespeare himself would have been proud of, full of betrayal and intrigue, then know that such a transformation is as fake, and dramatized!, as a three dollar bill.

Here’s the Muslim Septic back in July 2015 chillin’ with all the “deviant Muslims” at my house for Eid.

I have prepared a few videos discussing the phenomenon of what I call performative Islam in that I have observed over time the shift from practicing Islam, as a means of describing and embodying piety, to where it is performed for an audience. This, I feel, is most so with those who’ve become Muslim, especially those in positions of leadership.

From Practicing Islam to Performative Islam

The Fragility of Performative Islam

The Myth of Two Islams

Islam, Orientalism, and the Modern Muslim