Acting out Islam! Communication with Muslim Actors and Actresses. Part 1

About a year ago, I was at a meeting with some other Muslims. An Islamic Think Tank! We were all discussing different ways to spread the message of Islam. The conversation has been going on for many Muslims living in America in the last few years. As the events of September 11^th have made living in American more difficult for people in the Islamic community, there has been greater discussion on how to help integrate the Muslim community in the United States.

I currently give sermons in the Islamic community. As you may or may not know, there is no organized clergy in Islam. We don’t have priest or ministers. In the Muslim community the person who leads the congregation in prayer or the one who gives the Friday Khutbah (Sermon) is called an Imam. The Imam is someone who is recognized by those respected member of the society to be qualified to give the sermon and lead the prayer.

When I give the sermon, I don’t like to just give a speech. The Khutbah should be an event. It should be something that is life altering. The purpose of the sermon is to make those in the audience feel differently when they leave. Make them change the way they act or think about an issue.

During one of these community meetings, I was asked how I give the sermon because it is different than many others. One person asked if I had taken acting classes. I was confused by the question.

“What do you mean?” I asked. The person went on to suggest that when I give a Khutbah it is like the audience is seeing a performance, like they are witnessing an event. This is part of what I train young leaders to do. Make their presentation or public speaking events deep and meaningful.

Being a person who is religious, the idea of acting can be somewhat offensive. I claimed, I am not acting, I am expressing my beliefs. Acting is fake, right?!

Is acting being fake, or is it using skills that will better make your audience willing to accept the message that you are giving them? After a little more consideration and personal pondering, I realized that there may be some benefit in the concepts of training yourself to act and perform.

This series of blogs is an attempt to elucidate the ideas and thoughts of my journey into the acting fields. Discussing some of the possible problems areas, in the filed of Acting, that affects Muslims and has a negative image in Islam. Just like anything in the melting pot that is America, acting is a combination of many things. Many times Muslim Scholars will claim this act is Harram or this Act is forbidden. Often times the reality is a lot more complicated and deals with many intertwined social and religious perspectives.

This is not meant to be a religiously based scholarly work, just personal thoughts. As always you will have to answer to the Lord on your own. My job is not to speak for Islam about what Allah does or does not think. Everyone must make their own decisions and live with their own consequences.

However, I will include the times where I felt uncomfortable or uneasy by what I was being exposed to.

Yet after pondering the concepts myself I began a journey into the acting and performance world. I will share it with you.

Acting as an Alternative Career for Muslims to help Islam and win the war of Ideology.

If you are interested in getting involved in the industry, or would like to support projects of Muslims in the entertainment industry, please contact me.
 

Saleem Siddiqui

HotConflict@Gmail.com

Acting Out Islam Series

Part 1. Acting out Islam! Communication with Muslim Actors and Actresses.

Part 2. Acting out Islam: Classes, Instruction on Performance Emotion Stage Presence.

Part 3. Acting out Islam: Monologue Process, Homosexual, AIDS, Gay Sex!

Part 4. Acting out Islam: Audition, Resumes and Head Shot. How to Land a Part?

Part 5. Acting out Islam: Short Films produced by Low budget Hobbyist for Exposure.

Part 6. Acting out Islam: Independent Full Length Feature Film Movie Production.

Part 7. Acting out Islam: Web Serial TV Episodes Soap Opera Style Film Production.

Part 8. Acting out Islam: Playhouse Plays Stage Presence and Cast Crew Construction.

Please check out our other series of articles.

Alternative Careers for Muslims To Stop Terror and Win the War of Ideology in Islam

Using Technology Internet Social Networks Trends To Understand People, the World

Saleem Siddiqui is a Political Commentator, Public Speaker, Actor and Consultant. He is a trained Mediation and Conflict Resolution Specialist. He conducts sermons and training for various religious and Nonprofit organizations. Working with effort to increase Muslim and Islamic awareness in Communications, Public Relations (PR), Public Speaking, Political Strategy, Media, Marketing, and many  other fields as they relate to the integration of Muslims in the United States of America and around the world.

Saleem Siddiqui has undergrad degrees in Arabic and religion from the Middle East and attended Law School in Houston,Texas. He has consulted with the FBI and testified on behalf of the District Attorney of Virginia on cases relating to National Security and “The War on Terror”.

Comments

[Acting coach Hollywood]

Interesting article! keep up hew good work i was looking forward on it.

by: mattew