Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things

October 22, 2010 10:46 PM

Perhaps you feel like you should, like full-time Fox News analyst Juan Williams, get worried and nervous at the sight of people in Muslim garb, but you aren't sure you can always spot them. Fortunately, a new blog, Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things, is here to help you out.
posted by Tsuga (86 comments total)

Prince Abdullah (now King Abdullah II) of Jordan, wearing a Starfleet uniform in a 1996 episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

Ha!
posted by Sys Rq at 10:51 PM on October 22, 2010 [9 favorites]

The current top entry manages to tie in to not just the obvious one but a second recent thread!

Don't worry, the cowboy outfit is a standard thing here.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:52 PM on October 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

A slightly older blog brings you a different muslim wearing things 365 days a year. Because a Muslim a day keeps ignorance away.
posted by BinGregory at 10:54 PM on October 22, 2010 [3 favorites]

Look people, the issue is not how you dress, it's putting anything else in front of being an American first. Because every REAL AMERICAN puts that first. Like the Mayor of Calgary. Clearly he puts being an American before being a Muslim.
posted by GuyZero at 10:59 PM on October 22, 2010 [11 favorites]

This is exactly the right approach. So awesome.
posted by Auden at 11:00 PM on October 22, 2010 [9 favorites]

It's the people wrapped around the US flag that scare me the most.
posted by wv kay in ga at 11:17 PM on October 22, 2010 [9 favorites]

I understand why they fired Williams. But it's a missed opportunity to force him to make a documentary series about his own remarks and have him talk to muslims, have him challenge his own assumptions, have him investigate what his own assumptions do to US muslims, etc.

A documentary like that could have done a lot to bring these kind of misunderstandings into the open en clear up the ignorance that a lot of other people have too.
posted by joost de vries at 11:45 PM on October 22, 2010 [6 favorites]

Btw I was impressed by the conversation between King Abdullah of Syriah and Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Rampant sanity.
posted by joost de vries at 11:46 PM on October 22, 2010

Any tumblr with a cheesy slideshow of Shahrukh Khan is gold in my book.

(Is there such thing as a slideshow of SRK that isn't cheesy? Don't answer that. I don't want to know.)
posted by Mizu at 11:49 PM on October 22, 2010 [2 favorites]

* Some items are not available in every country. Shipping and handling not included.
posted by anigbrowl at 12:22 AM on October 23, 2010

Muslims wearing things.

Wanted to forward that picture to the blog, but I don't feel like signing up for Tumblr.

One of the disturbing things about looking for images of Muslims online is how many of them are violent. It's a sign of the zeitgeist.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 1:12 AM on October 23, 2010

Well, Abdullah sounded mighty sane, but he neglected to mention that every legislator and judge in his "constitutional" monarchy serves at his pleasure. It's an autocracy, plain and simple. He's a dictator, and hasn't been shy about wielding his power. I guess mentioning that would have been crazy, given the venue.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 1:17 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

So... a conservative black man with a hispanic name got fired by liberal white men for saying that he's afraid of Miss America because she's Muslim?

Is there a word for experiencing every emotion simultaneously?
posted by Davenhill at 1:19 AM on October 23, 2010 [11 favorites]

Any tumblr with a cheesy slideshow of Shahrukh Khan is gold in my book.

Have I over shared the fact that his wife's father's younger brother's daughter is married to my mother's younger brother's son yet?
posted by The Lady is a designer at 1:25 AM on October 23, 2010 [7 favorites]

It's a sign of the zeitgeist.

Oh, you mean the trend that muslims are growing increasingly violent all over the world because the jihad against the West has already launched and if we don't act soon we will have the World Caliphate any day now?

Or is it selection bias, I forget.
posted by mnsc at 1:25 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

I love this blog.

It's the people wrapped around the US flag that scare me the most.

here's some nightmare fuel for you

Have I over shared the fact that his wife's father's younger brother's daughter is married to my mother's younger brother's son yet?

I had to graph that out in my head to understand it. Why not just say his wife's cousin is married to your cousin?
posted by delmoi at 1:31 AM on October 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

Why not just say his wife's cousin is married to your cousin?

a) Because that would be too easy and b) because each of these "uncles" and relatives have entirely different words in our language designating their exact relationship i.e. they're not all called uncle
posted by The Lady is a designer at 1:45 AM on October 23, 2010 [7 favorites]

@mnsc: say what you mean.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 1:52 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Can I just say that I miss the Imran Khan from that era? Sigh. Unfortunately, nowadays he has turned politician and runs a party that a) has a reputation for being squeaky clean in an exceedingly corrupt system and b) cozies up to exceedingly corrupt mullahs. sigh and double sigh.
posted by bardophile at 2:03 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yum.

Is he still married to whatsername Goldsmith?
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:04 AM on October 23, 2010

No, they split up a while ago.
posted by bardophile at 2:09 AM on October 23, 2010

There's a rumour that Jinnah, in his time as a barrister in London, never wore the same tie twice. I need to figure out how to verify this. :)
posted by bardophile at 2:11 AM on October 23, 2010

I read that he used to drink alcohol and eat pork - and I think that was in Freedom at Midnight, maybe that might also have the tie reference?
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:13 AM on October 23, 2010

Who's Imran with now? Back to eligible bachelor of nation status? ;p Didn't he have a raving affair with Zeenat Aman?
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:13 AM on October 23, 2010

I found this reference to both together, if that helps,

the country’s founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was portrayed wearing a traditional sherwani instead of his preferred Savile Row suits of a London–trained barrister. It’s fitting, then, that the one–time captain of Oxford University’s cricket team, Imran Khan, now wears similarly traditional kurtas (pajama–style clothing) in an attempt to build street credibility
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:20 AM on October 23, 2010

The Lady is a designer: Have I over shared the fact that his wife's father's younger brother's daughter is married to my mother's younger brother's son yet?

You outed yourself as some form of desi on the strength of this sentence alone, even without the mention of SRK.
posted by vanar sena at 2:26 AM on October 23, 2010 [3 favorites]

The guy in the horse's head mask is clearly a terrorist.
posted by Decani at 2:27 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

You outed yourself as some form of desi

yaar boss I have never hidden it, you were kin to me in my previous avatar ;p
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:38 AM on October 23, 2010

Just shoot me for this one, but its irresistable, i'm the desi in design
posted by The Lady is a designer at 2:39 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

The good news is, I get nervous whenever a person of any race wears religious "garb" on an airplane. That shit is flammable!
posted by gjc at 4:35 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

TLiad: Imran Khan appears to have given up his interest in being the most eligible bachelor in Pakistan. :) Jinnah did indeed eat pork and drink alcohol, something which the mullahs have been all too eager to write out of Pakistani history books. Unfortunately, they have succeeded in their campaign.
posted by bardophile at 4:39 AM on October 23, 2010

I can't look at this - it makes me too nervous.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 5:02 AM on October 23, 2010

A.R. Rahman, who won Oscars for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song for ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ calls Keyboard Cat one of his biggest influences.
posted by MtDewd at 5:40 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

F'ing awesome blog.

Mock these xenophobic bigots. Don't let them scare you.
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:50 AM on October 23, 2010

the internet is freaking weird. so freaking weird. this is what happens when you're bored, mad, and take your frustration out on the internets. you get put on metafilter. thanks, tsuga.
posted by raztaj at 5:57 AM on October 23, 2010 [5 favorites]

i need to google REZA ASLAN. he looks like a waaaaay hotter ANDY GARCIA.
posted by liza at 6:22 AM on October 23, 2010

Kudos raztaj, this is the perfect response well-executed. We can all only aspire to being bored this productively.
posted by vanar sena at 6:28 AM on October 23, 2010

All of those pictures scared me. Is that a $2 million dollar contract with Fox News for each one?
posted by NoMich at 6:41 AM on October 23, 2010

i need to google REZA ASLAN. he looks like a waaaaay hotter ANDY GARCIA.

Not only is Reza hot, but he's a damn fine writer as well.
posted by NoMich at 6:42 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Is there a word for experiencing every emotion simultaneously?

Yes. Modern Life.
posted by jonmc at 6:42 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

I liked this blog more than I expected to.
posted by jessamyn at 6:42 AM on October 23, 2010

I have such good feelings now about Aasif Mandvi (from his daily show appearances) that now just seeing his picture (wearing a chef's hat) makes me feel good.
posted by jb at 6:47 AM on October 23, 2010

The departure of Juan Williams from NPR to Fox News has raised the average IQ in both places.
posted by rdone at 7:00 AM on October 23, 2010 [16 favorites]

Well done, raztaj. And thanks for including a shot of Keith (that is Congressman Keith Ellison to you!) - fellow proud alumnus of my Catholic Detroit high school. A right honorable dude. And a Muslim. Wearing stuff.

Carry on.
posted by joe lisboa at 7:16 AM on October 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

Ellison is my representative. He's up for reelection in a week, but I have heard almost nothing about it. I don't know if there have been any teevee ads. I think it might be because the GOP decided to run Joel Demos, a Pentecostal minister who can't even get 2,000 followers on Facebook (by comparison, Eyedea, the Minnesota rapper who just died, has 22,000 fans, and Keith Ellison has over 6,000).

But, then, it might also be that Ellison is distracted by doing the actual work of being a Congressperson. He has authored legislation to give low income housing tax to formerly homeless youth, protect tenants from foreclosure, expand the omnibus bill to give a broader array of first responders benefits, expand school meals, and improve lead paint investigations.

Additionally, he has authored multiple bills designed to reform and regulate the financial industries.

Demos works at TCF bank and had a grandmother who was a mayor of Roseville.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:36 AM on October 23, 2010 [4 favorites]

I'm holding out for the Muslim Lesbians Wearing Nothing blog.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:37 AM on October 23, 2010 [6 favorites]

Oh Andre Carson, in your velour loungewear....
posted by ChrisHartley at 8:18 AM on October 23, 2010

the internet is freaking weird. so freaking weird. this is what happens when you're bored, mad, and take your frustration out on the internets. you get put on metafilter. thanks, tsuga.
posted by raztaj at 7:57 AM

This was your doing raztaj? Glad to have been of service.
posted by Tsuga at 8:19 AM on October 23, 2010

Ellison is my representative. He's up for reelection in a week, but I have heard almost nothing about it.

Ellison is my representative as well. I sort assumed that his re-election was a given, so there wasn't much point to anything beyond some yard signs. I didn't even know who his opponent was, which is mildly embarrassing, but is probably indicative of how competitive the race is (or just that there are no Republicans in my area).
posted by hoyland at 8:20 AM on October 23, 2010

Ellison is my representative. He's up for reelection in a week, but I have heard almost nothing about it.

I don't think he's even bothered to campaign since his first election.

Demos works at TCF bank and had a grandmother who was a mayor of Roseville.

Woah. I never made the connection between the two demos's. my mind is blown.
posted by Think_Long at 8:26 AM on October 23, 2010

Like Jessamyn, I also liked this more than I expected to. Nice light touch on the snark, which sells the point more effectively. Well done.
posted by KathrynT at 8:51 AM on October 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

This is great!
posted by rtha at 9:14 AM on October 23, 2010

"Mos Def is most definitely Muslim, and a lover of the fedora."
Metafilter: Definitely Muslim, and a lover of the fedora.

Very interesting page, great (and I will have to remember to bring up the image of Roqaya Al-Gassara next time someone tries to call me a facilitator of oppression for supporting Women in Western nations being allowed to Choose to wear (or not) a headscarf, when they bring on the tired argument about how "a headscarf always means you can't do ANYTHING, because it is a weapon of OPPRESSION, forced on weak people."
posted by infinite intimation at 9:18 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's a sign of the zeitgeist.
no need to ascribe an extra sign.

I think post is tastless except for the making fun o, which... i change my mind King Abdullah of Syriah yeah i change my mind. I love the Star Trek out fit. I have a party picture of Sallem Bin Laden but that would not be tasteful to share.
posted by clavdivs at 9:24 AM on October 23, 2010

I knew that Omar Sharif was a Muslim as soon as I saw him. Christianity is incapable of producing mustaches like that.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 9:27 AM on October 23, 2010 [3 favorites]

I have such good feelings now about Aasif Mandvi (from his daily show appearances) that now just seeing his picture (wearing a chef's hat) makes me feel good.

Just make sure you never watch the M Night Last Airbender movie that never existed.
posted by kmz at 9:36 AM on October 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

They haven't got a picture of him posted yet, but hopefully soon they'll have an image this guy because he wore those so well.
posted by Webbster at 10:04 AM on October 23, 2010

They haven't got a picture of him posted yet, but hopefully soon they'll have an image this guy because he wore those so well.

Actually, there is a picture of him looking stylish in shorts and gloves.
posted by Tsuga at 10:23 AM on October 23, 2010

Totally the right approach.

But you just know someone out there sees this alarmingly as Muslims in disguise.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:48 AM on October 23, 2010

But you just know someone out there sees this alarmingly as Muslims in disguise.

Ah-yup. I see someone dressed up like a horse, I'm going to shoot 'em, that's what I'm going to do.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:14 AM on October 23, 2010

I enjoyed the hell out of this. Thank you so much.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 11:40 AM on October 23, 2010

Actually, there is a picture of him looking stylish in shorts and gloves.

Ah excellent. Thank you Tsuga.
posted by Webbster at 11:41 AM on October 23, 2010

A.R. Rahman just performed at the RBC Center in Raleigh a few weeks back and apparently it's one of the greatest spectacles ever created. I'm bummed I missed it.
posted by NoMich at 11:54 AM on October 23, 2010

heck, we did an A.R. Rahman piece in church a year ago for an interfaith service, in Urdu, and that was awesome enough. And he wasn't even there.
posted by KathrynT at 12:17 PM on October 23, 2010

heck, we did an A.R. Rahman piece in church a year ago for an interfaith service, in Urdu, and that was awesome enough.

How apt, did you know he was born Hindu but only converted as an adult? Here's his tribute to peace
posted by The Lady is a designer at 12:23 PM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

When I see people dressed in traditional Godwin garb, I get worried, I get nervous. I GUESS I'M A RACIST!
posted by mccarty.tim at 12:26 PM on October 23, 2010

It's the people wrapped around the US flag that scare me the most.

here's some nightmare fuel for you

surely this is what you meant...

I like the idea of this site, though the implicit notion that it's ok to be afraid of people dressed in middle eastern clothes is a little discomfiting... But, baby steps, I guess.
posted by mdn at 12:47 PM on October 23, 2010

Any tumblr that brings together Julian Bashir and Richard Thompson is tops in my book.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:47 PM on October 23, 2010

Um, guys, Abdullah is the king of Jordan, not this mythical Syriah-with-an-h place.

FWIW, Syria-without-an-h is a single-party presidential republic, which is a bit different from Jordan's constitutional monarchy.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:32 PM on October 23, 2010

tsuga: This was your doing raztaj?

yep. twas my weird thursday brainchild. this might sound completely lame, but it's an absolute honor to have something i created be on the main page. i created this account in 2007, but first became a fan of metafilter around 2000 or 2001 - I believe I found it on Yahoo! Cool Site of the Day! i swear i've got an old username that every once in a while i try and remember but never can. in any case, i'm really so content that people actually find this amusing and interesting and perhaps a little worthwhile. and holy shit i made something that made it to metafilter!
posted by raztaj at 4:34 PM on October 23, 2010 [9 favorites]

I like the idea of this site, though the implicit notion that it's ok to be afraid of people dressed in middle eastern clothes is a little discomfiting...

I really hope that this isn't the way the blog comes across. I'm trying (with the help of some awesome submissions) to try and include visuals of people dressed in a variety of ways, of lots of different backgrounds - so-called "traditional" and not, stereotypical and not, just to portray an honest spectrum. Then there's the zomgtheydressjustlikeusOHNOES part, which, unfortunately, is going to take a lot of continues effort to break down. Sadly some people will never get over their irrational fears of the boogeyman other, under this very broad label of people that identify themselves as "Muslim." But, like you said, baby steps...
posted by raztaj at 4:53 PM on October 23, 2010 [3 favorites]

I still get nervous when I see coolots.
posted by newdaddy at 4:59 PM on October 23, 2010

Awesome, raztaj! I thought the tone of your blog was just perfect. I contacted the admins to see if they can add a "By MeFi's own" to the post.
posted by Tsuga at 5:05 PM on October 23, 2010

I added it, hope that's okay. Nice work raztaj.
posted by jessamyn at 5:35 PM on October 23, 2010

Huma Abedin. Huma-Huma!
posted by newdaddy at 6:17 PM on October 23, 2010

It's really too bad that there isn't a religion which prevents you from wearing Ed Hardy shirts.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:48 PM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

I really like this tumblr. Thank you.

I'm especially proud (as AZ, t_l and other Minnesotans have mentioned) that my adopted home state is well represented.

I'm gonna go listen to Brother Ali's Fresh Air now.
posted by elmer benson at 7:49 PM on October 23, 2010

If u really wanted to make this blog change minds...you should make it muslims NOT wearing things.
posted by hal_c_on at 8:18 PM on October 23, 2010

Look people, the issue is not how you dress, it's putting anything else in front of being an American first.

I agree, it's all about being an American fist, smashing and pounding the world into a bloody pulp.

What?
posted by krinklyfig at 10:31 PM on October 23, 2010

This is great, but I must object that Imran Khan isn't wearing a sweater vest. It's just a sweater. Thank you.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:57 PM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow. raztaj, nice work. And you've made it to BoingBoing. More pairs of eyes for PoMWT = yaaaay!

And the douchebaggy ZOMG SCARY AY-RABS talk starting immediately on the comments page = booooo.
posted by hangashore at 9:36 AM on October 24, 2010

Neat blog!

I'm curious how do you tell who's Muslim. Do you just Google up interviews and/or biographies?
posted by ODiV at 5:44 PM on October 24, 2010

Perhaps there needs to be a spin-off website of Christians, Jews, and other non-Muslims wearing what people (like Juan Williams) think is "muslim garb"? Maybe there could be a "spot the muslim" quiz even?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:59 AM on October 25, 2010

"A headscarf always means you can't do ANYTHING, because it is a weapon of OPPRESSION, forced on weak people."
Like this? www.life.com/image/50585349
posted by wenestvedt at 7:24 AM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

If u really wanted to make this blog change minds...you should make it muslims NOT wearing things.

And feel free to start here, here, or here.
posted by kittyprecious at 8:02 PM on October 27, 2010

Muslims Wearing Things: The Music Video

(Narcicyst ft. Shadia Mansour :: "Hamdulillah")
posted by BinGregory at 8:18 PM on October 27, 2010 [2 favorites]