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Wed. Dec. 26, 2001
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Art & Culture > Movie &Theatre > Archive
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Shazia Mirza
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Humor and laughter are essential ingredients of the human experience. Islam recognizes this fact and allows it provided that certain guidelines are followed. As with every other facet of life Islam demands that a believer maintains a balance while joking and not violate any of religious and ethical strictures. However, in a rush to be a part of the "in-crowd", some Muslims have plunged into entertainment-related professions without realizing the Islamic implications of such a career choice. A case-in-point is Shazia Mirza, 26, who is currently being touted as the "only female, devout, Muslim, stand-up comic" in Europe. While she is all the rage in comedy clubs, her outrageous jokes and actions often push and sometimes cross the bounds of Islamic propriety.
Born to Pakistani immigrants in Birmingham, U.K., Mirza earned a degree in biochemistry and for a time taught physics before embarking on her career as a comedian. She says that she always had a sense of humor and wanted to act in Hollywood films. "I wanted to act and be on stage, wanted to do Hollywood films; I never saw any Asian women in Hollywood. Why not? I would ask myself," she told BBC Birmingham Online.
"I feel that I'm making a difference/change just by standing on that stage. Voicing Asian women, voicing Muslim women and representing another section of society, giving an insight to people about how it really is."
She cancelled her show for a week after the 9-11 attacks but came back with the intent of fighting ignorance about Islam with humor. She says that she allows people to laugh when normally they might not for fear of being labeled as racist or bigoted.
Three weeks after 9-11 she returned to the stage and said "My name is Shazia Mirza - at least that's what it says on my pilot's license," to which the audience applauded.
"We're not all fanatics. I tell audiences how they can distinguish me from Muslim terrorists: they have bigger moustaches than I do," she told the BBC.
She wears a scarf while performing and considers herself a moderate and devout Muslim. "The whole point of my act is to help reduce Islamophobia in Britain," she told London's Telegraph. "The reason it took off was that no one had really heard what it's like to be a Muslim woman here. There were so many stereotypes. I talked about my life and I allowed people to laugh along with me."
But of concern to some Muslims is Mirza's take on Islam's empowerment of women, which for includes performing in front of drunken crowds. "A lot of Muslim men think that it's not the place for a woman to stand on stage in front of a drunken crowd trying to make them laugh. But actually Islam gives women a lot of power," says Mirza, as quoted by the Telegraph. "We're not all as oppressed as the women in Afghanistan. Just by standing on stage, I'm liberating women and some men clearly fear that means they'll lose the upper hand."
She explains one of her jokes about Muslim women like this: "I always have men come up to me afterwards and ask me questions and say: 'Is it true that [Muslim] women have to walk steps behind their husband, is that true?' I say 'Yes, they look better from behind'."
In October, the BBC reported that Mirza "does not poke fun at her religion." But recently she did and created some controversy with the joke. Doing her act in front a mixed gathering of men and women she told the following joke about her pilgrimage to Mecca: "I felt a hand on my bottom. I ignored it. I thought: "I'm in Mecca. It must be the hand of God."
This attempt at religious humor so outraged some Muslims that a number of youths reportedly attacked her one night outside a club in which she performs.
The press was quick to point out that Mirza is a very devout Muslim as she prays, fasts and doesn't eat pork or drink alcohol. However, Muslims have concerns that this type of humor goes beyond the realm of what is appropriate and that issues of Islamic guidance on the roles of women have been ignored in the rush to highlight Mirza's somewhat unusual career.
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Mohammed Ayub Ali Khan Islam Online, Chicago
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