Jihadi Uncool
January 8, 2015 2:15 PM   Subscribe

Average Mohamed [AP text|AP video] is a cartoon series by a Muslim convenience store manager in Minnesota who seeks to provide a counter-narrative to Jihad extremism and Islamic State propaganda videos, rap, etc. The target audience is young (8-16) Muslims and the site is multilingual. "It takes an average Mohamed to recruit and radicalize our youth," he said. "It will take another average Mohamed to counter that perspective."
posted by stbalbach (8 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
Peace out, extremist thinking!
posted by radicalawyer at 2:54 PM on January 8, 2015


Isn't the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, doing much the same thing, just with the backing of the Mighty Marvel/Disney Establishment?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:13 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


I am fairly certain that Ms. Marvel is not intended as a response to Islamic extremist propaganda, so no.
posted by kagredon at 3:59 PM on January 8, 2015 [5 favorites]


I very much like the intent of this effort, but I am unsure about the execution. This reminds me of 1980s anti-drug cartoons, or the very early 2000s dawn of web animation. Perhaps I am missing the cultural nuances (and it sounds cooler in Somali), but is this really going to appeal to the young Muslim men who would otherwise be inclined to Salafist extremism?

What I do hope is that this is just the rocky start to what will evolve into a sophisticated and savvy campaign against fundamentalism throughout the Islamic community. I'd argue that the film Four Lions was been the best piece of Western propaganda made so far in the 21st century- because it depicts terrorists as idiotic losers, rather than as dangerous or impressive individuals.

The forces of moderation and tolerance will prevail, and have prevailed, when 14-40 year old muslims no longer see Jihadis as cool but instead as a collective of unhinged violentl would be- renaissance faire LARPERs (meaning no disrespect to LARPers here).
posted by LeRoienJaune at 4:13 PM on January 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


If you were embarrassed by veggie tales as a child, but wish it had none of the high quality video effects or script writing- this might be the series for you!
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 4:38 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


For those who claim the "moderate muslims" do not speak out this is at least an attempt to do so. It may not stop the bloodshed and hatred but it shows that not every muslim is a blood thirsty savage.
posted by fgdmorr at 6:23 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


I like this. I'm not Muslim, but just from its message I think it's simple, direct and truthful, and has the potential to make people reconsider things. I think it succeeds in a way in which a slicker presentation might fail.

I kind of wish there were Christians doing something similar in response to Christian fundamentalist warmongering. Well there probably are somewhere, but Muslim extremists are in the news right now.
posted by JHarris at 7:27 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


Wham! Bam! Islam!
In 2003, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa — Kuwaiti psychologist, graduate of Columbia Business School and father of four young boys — had an idea: create a comic book series with roots in Islam and Islamic culture. Al-Mutawa came up with the concept of THE 99: a team of superheroes, each one exemplifying one of the 99 attributes of Allah.
posted by Golden Eternity at 9:11 PM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


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