Moughnia

DEARBORN — More than 1.7 million viewers tuned in on Sunday night to watch TLC’s premiere of “All-American Muslim,” a reality show that follows five families from the city and chronicles their daily lives and viewpoints on practicing what is most likely the most misunderstood religion in the country. 

The series managed to get people talking across the country, and it’s also gotten much of the local Arab American and American Muslim community talking as well, becoming a hot topic on social media sites and in Internet searches, where it ranked as high as #2 on Yahoo for example. 

On the show’s Facebook page, opinions across the country varied strongly, with many non-Muslims saying that the show allowed them to learn and open a dialogue on various issues. 

Complaints about the show’s format were also expressed, however, the most common one being that the show does not show the diversity of Muslims in America as it only follows five Lebanese families and doesn’t include African Americans, Asians, or others. 

Others took issue with the show for not including more information or scenes about the cast members practicing their religion or following its guidelines directly in their daily lives. 

“This show is a wasted opportunity for representing our real diversity,” said Ayah Mahfouz, 35 of Dearborn. “Only Arabs were shown, even though we are a small minority of the Muslim population in the U.S. and throughout the world. So why was there not one African-American, South Asian, Bosnian, or any non-Arab Muslim family?

The first episode instead focused largely on a wedding between Lebanese Muslim Shadia and her Irish Catholic husband Jeff, who converted to Islam on the show as part of the marriage, along with another cast member, Nina, and her quest to open up a nightclub in Dearborn. 

Cast members including Shadia, who lives a more liberal lifestyle in terms of dress and in other areas and has several tattoos, have said that they are just trying to show their personal lives as is. 

“None of us (are) up for Muslim of the year. We are just here to show our lives as we are,” she said at a press conference prior to the show. 

Zeinab Moughnia, 23 of Dearborn, said she believes that having a more diverse cast nationality-wise would have caused other issues, however. 

“It’s almost impossible to have a more diverse cast because if you had African American, Chinese, or Asian families on there everyone would think that what that specific family portrays would be what all Muslims from that group are like,” she said.

“If you have a show with all Lebanese it will give you a certain idea of the diversity…overall I feel like a message will come across that hopefully will be positive.” 

Deyana Unis

Another viewer who did not want to be named, a Lebanese Muslim in his 20s, said he felt the show played too much to stereotypes. 

“If its purpose was to promote a positive image, I feel as though it was more like, adding on to stereotypes, attempting to “humanize” us, like ‘Yeah, we’re humans too,” he said. 

“I think people need to stop with this apologetic mentality, like when I go to a concert I don’t walk around saying, ‘Look at me, I’m a Muslim!'”

Others have commented on the show’s Facebook page that TLC will likely get around to showing more scenes of the families that practice more aspects of Islam in the coming weeks. A large portion of American Muslims on the page, as well as many in the Dearborn area, have said they are concerned that the first episode did not showcase the modesty and dedication to all aspects of the faith that many Muslims around the world are known for. 

Deyana Unis, 21 of Dearborn, said she believes the show should be taken as entertainment first and foremost, however. 

“I think the show did what a reality show is supposed to do, make ordinary lives entertaining. Using a group of Lebanese Americans in Dearborn showed people who are so similar but practice differently, proving how difficult it is to generalize Muslims,” she said. 

“I do not understand why people were so angry. Did they expect it to be some sort of Islamic lecture and Qur’an recitation? It has shown a more realistic image of Muslims and Dearborn than anything else in the media.”

The show airs at 10 p.m. on Sunday nights and is expected to run for at least eight episodes.