All American Muslim

This show debuted on TLC last Sunday night. Right after Sister Wives though for some reason I cannot get my wife to watch that show.

This show centers on five Muslim families in the very heavily Arabic Muslim city of Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn, we are told in the beginning of the show, is the most heavily Arabic city in the world that is outside of the Middle East.

I think any show that can show the Muslim community in a positive light is only a good thing as we all, myself included, have heard and seen all the stereotypes.

Dearborn, Michigan has high schools that are 97 percent Muslim. In the first episode we meet all the families but the first episode centers on the Amen family. One of their daughters is getting married. She is marrying however an Irish Catholic. In the Muslim faith men can marry outside the faith but women may not. I am not sure of the reasoning of this other than perhaps it is considered important to protect women from the infidel. At least in ancient times.

We see Jeff McDermott accept the Islamic faith, a very easy process, and marry into the family. We see the stress this puts on his mother. At the wedding the cultures meld quite well and we see both belly dancers and Irish step dancing. Perhaps to help us all get along better we need more not less interfaith marriages.

My wife liked the show quite a bit, I found it interesting. I think we will watch some more episodes though I am not sure of the shelf life of this show.