Sunday, February 11, 2007

Crazy Egyptians

I saw this a while ago, and as wrong as I think it is (what's a hijabi doing in a music video?), I thought it was a nice summary of the life in Egypt - the hordes of staring men, the "hijabi" gear, and crazy Egyptians walking on the Mediterranean.
I could go on about the purpose of hijab and how it's being defeated because of things like this. But I'm sure all my readers are informed enough to form their own conclusions. Plus I'm not currently in the mood to get hate mail from people who disagree.

(I hate to admit it, but now I actually think it's a great song. Technically, he could be married to her - he is wearing a wedding ring.)

13 comments:

Tasneem said...

maybe because I didnt understand the song I thought it was kind of weird, but the whole video seemed a little off...

Anonymous said...

I'm going to assume they are married. It seems a lot nicer to me that way.

Anonymous said...

actually, i thought the 'couple' were cute, but then i love all things corn.
very catchy song. who's the singer?

Anonymous said...

yea, lets hope they were married. but it seems these days ppl are scared of the REAL portrayal of muslims. like hijabis and beardos came in all different shapes, styles, and philosophies. we all know whats 'right' and 'ideal', but its not necessarily close to reality. i think lil' mosque one the prairie is along the same lines, ppl might have that same problem, in that it reflects the normal bell curve of ppl, and doesn't necessarily show the ideal.

whats better? i dunno. but i sure do appreciate reality.

Anonymous said...

I actually can't make much of it since i dont understand arabic. although I am not surprised at the guys staring at her. if you dress up like that and go out...even the ppl who don't usually notice would stare...actually if i was there i'd stare at her too, for a making a spectacle of herself...and i am a girl.

Anonymous said...

so i guess, upon further thinking. is that is it ok, to have ppl showing outer signs of islam or peity, doing things that islam would find inappropriate?

i guess, we'd think of a play. is acting permissible?

AP said...

This is what's Egypt's like?

'Naiicce' *Borat-style*

Asmaa said...

Tasneem, most Egyptian people are a little bit 'off' ;)

Sara, yeah it is way nicer that way. Yay for married people...kind of :S

Littlefish, I like corn too, especially on the cob. If you click the youtube thing, it'll give you the name of the singer. It's Haithem something something.

Anon, haha well that's what people in Egypt do - stare at everybody. It's a full-time job. I'm going to be a bit optimistic here and say that at least she's wearing hijab. Even if the prupose of it is being trampled on, it just goes to show that there's at least some recognition that women wear it and that it's becoming a norm in their society.

Maaz, it's all fine and dandy to portray 'real' Muslims, but for what purpose? I mean, non-Muslims are only getting these snap shots of Muslims: either while they are either in the news or movies as 'terrorists' or in shows like little mosque as kind of moronic (Not to say I dislike the show, I like it). So in actual fact, non-Muslims are never exposed to a real and normal Muslim unless they know one personally. So what's the solution?

Arif, if you could see me now, you'd see my eyes rolling upwards and my fist shaking.

In conclusion, I don't have a conclusion.

Squeeky said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Squeeky said...

Assalaamu Alaikum :)

That ... was interesting hehe

MT said...

i saw this video two years ago in dubai at a sheesha cafe (don't ask what i was doing there).

so the cafe was playing this arab music channel... i remember thinking 'arab music videos are really "progressive" '

Then they showed this one and I thought "oh, a hijabi. that's a nice change"

so while you're right about the awkwardness of this video, it's much better than the garbage that plays on the music channels most of the time

Anonymous said...

i wonder if exposure of muslims in a show like lil' mosque on the pirarie, helps some nonmuslims talk to muslims, or get them to realize that hey, we're just normal ppl? i do think there is good in it, in terms of bridge building.

Anonymous said...

HAHAAHA...it's exactly like Egypt! But Egypt wouldn't really be Egypt without the guys staring at you 24/7, so this video is accurate.

Does this girl have a personality? All she's doing is snapping and smiling. UGH.

LayTurrz && Peaceoutt