Humza Arshad vs. Diary of a Badman Ex Crew thoughts

  Something interesting has happened lately with regards to the smash hit YouTube sensation Diary of a Badman, which stars Humza Arshad as the Badman. Some ex members of the Badman crew have now condemned Arshad and have joined in with an extremist organization to condemn him for among other things mocking Islam. I will analyze both sides of the situation and see who is indeed mocking Islam if anyone. I will also give other analysis with regards to the essence of Diary of a Badman so that the youth can truly see it for what it is.

          First off I would like to congratulate Mr. Humza Arshad for making the DOABM series. It has been a phenomenal success and other high budget British productions dealing with Islam and Muslims such as the "Infidel" and "Four Lions" have not had near as much success. Mr. Arshad is a genius and I do not use that word lightly, with nothing more then a really good camera and Internet software he has created something which has enthralled the masses, the Pakistani and Muslim masses, but Badman has millions of fans that are neither Muslim nor Pakistani, or Indian. Badman has cross over appeal. Humza has created a brand that is valuable and cool and trendy, and is a leader among the British Pakistani and greater Asian community. Badman is very progressive and super cool, and deals with themes and people who are normally associated with terrorism, polygamy or other negative things in society. Humza Arshad has given to numerous charities and I can imagine has put his blood sweat and tears into the making of DOABM. Personally speaking it's very hard to put yourself out there on YouTube because what you make lasts forever and its a huge risk because success is not guaranteed and massive Backlash's can occur. Mr. Arshad's success is nothing easy as there have been numerous Badman rip offs that have fallen flat on their face. Those involved with Badman should have been nothing but grateful to Humza Arshad for allowing them to earn some fame and possibly fortune through their association with Badman, however the opposite has happened and some members have turned on Mr. Arshad? Why and how could this be? To publicly accost you're Muslim brother after he had given you the ultimate platform for fame you could have never possibly earned yourself, seems very UN Islamic. Also we are to tell our Muslim brothers privately and sincerely when they are wrong, not in public tirades that will cause them UN ease and embarrassment. No one would care about the Badman crew if their was no Badman so to do what they did is grossly inappropriate to say the least. TO chastise Humza Arshad as they did was a terrible thing to do. I hope in the future they decide to apologize to Mr. Arshad and pray for forgiveness. Also they mock Arshad as seeking out money, In the Quran it says there is nothing wrong with wanting to have money or trying to be rich, in fact after the painstaking hard work Mr. Arshad has put into the Badman series, I would be the first one to wish him wealth and success. How can Muslim brothers be upset when another Muslim brother is creating wealth for his family and other Muslims?

     With that said I too thought at times Badman may have been inappropriate however nothing so significant that needed Abdul Jabbar to go on that scathing rampage. The contradictions of Abdul Jabber's rantings against Humza Arshad are too numerous to count. First of all. you are not allowed to judge others in Islam, while Abdul Jabber practically sentenced Humza Arshad to the hell fire. Secondly the Quran says the true and pious Muslims are soft spoken and kind, while Abdul Jabbar was seething with hatred and his tone was ultra aggressive. Also Mr. Jabbar decided he could re write the Quran and has thus given himself the right to judge other men when their haram is apparent? Mr, Jabbar me being a lawyer by profession, I am all too aware that judging immoral acts is a very difficult and an almost impossible thing to do with any real accuracy. What you think is apparent haram in Badman, may not be too millions of others. Not to mention the arrogance, and pride in the man's voice. Attacking another Muslim brother openly like that was the height of being judgmental, arrogant and self righteous. A vile sneak attack on a man who has never claimed to be a Mullah, nor an Islamic scholar of any sort but rather a comedian. Then the absurdity of bringing up the horrific massacres of Muslims in Syria? Is Humza Arshad being a British Pakistani Muslim to go and live in a cave and cry forever for the goings on in Syria? Are all Muslims of the world to cease any productive activity because of this? What's going on in Syria is sad and I am sure many Muslims think about it, however Humza Arshad is a comedian and powerless in the grand scheme of things, what the heck can he do about Syria? He's got a talent and that is comedy? It seemed manipulative and evil to try to flog Mr. Arshad with guilt about the atrocities in Syria. Finally Mr. Jabbar in a very manipulative way exclaims I say only what the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) says therefore I am abdicated from any critique and Arshad is wrong. If only it were that simply Mr. Jabbar, while what the prophet says is always wise, our interpretations of what he says are not. Unfortunately the versus of the Quran must flow through the human mind and be interpreted. You can not abdicate yourself by simply exclaiming you are repeating the Quran. I do not have too much time to critique everything however as Arshad says in his response video, the contradictions in Mr. Jabbar's speech are numerous.

      Now I am no comedy expert however I have been watching American and British comedies for decades and I have analyzed the greats. While Mr. Arshad is a proud Muslim and Pakistani he is also British, and that will come through in his sense of comedy. Please if you will try to understand that when it appears that Humza Arshad is mocking Islam and or Muslims he is really mocking himself. Remember the Badman character is not the perfect Muslim nor is that what Arshad intended with him. He is an exaggerated caricature of the British Pakistani Muslim Jafaican gangster wannabe. He is the comic relief, who acts grossly inappropriate, and has a somewhat messed up family life. So when Arshad pulls on a Muslim brothers beard, or mocks a Muslim brothers mother, Arshad is not saying this is good, or cool, what he is saying is that the Badman is a jerk at times albeit unintentionally, a good natured jerk. The way the Pious Muslims indulge his idiotic behavior shows them to be above all things civilized caring and decent. Badman is showing pious Islamic garb clad Muslims in a way no one has ever dared in popular culture except Maybe in Canada's little Mosque on the Prairie. He's showing them as the anti Jerk too Badman's jerk. He's humanized them way beyond the stereotype of extremist or terrorist and into the realm of pious soft spoken good guys who can tolerate the rude abrasive behavior of the moron Badman. There is no self hatred in Arshad's work only a profound sense of timing and comic understanding. The arrogant filled and proud may be aghast and say he insults Islam. However those who think deeply understand he is using a very intelligent form of comedy. I will explain. When an aggressive loud jerk is disrespectful to a nice soft spoken guy, the fool or the proud will say, look at the disrespect he is showing how dare he! However on careful analysis in today's world the ass whole or jerk is always to be the one being disrespected, Badman is the ass whole or jerk while the pious Muslims are shown as totally nice, reasonable decent and kind. Badman does these types a favor and yet they turn on him?

     Secondly to the mother, again not all mocking of your own culture or people is self hatred. Sometimes jokes are used simply because they are funny. Humza Arshad has humanized the Niqabi beyond Islamic baby making machine or terrorist loving Ninja. He portrays his mother in a Niqab as a caring loving mother and only a moron would take seriously her violence toward him. That's the joke, if some moron in your're school yard is mocking a Niqabi because of Badman then it's their fault for ignorance. However it's as if without Badman Niqabi's would be loved and cherished women in British society. Badman if anything has led to a net positive influence again humanizing Niqabi's as mothers, who may listen to music, cook and who struggle to raise moronic wannabe sons like Badman. Humza Arshad is real, some extremists tend to romanticize Niqabi's or Topi and beard clad Muslims to the point of no critique. While wearing a Niqab or a beard and topi in the west is brave and we respect those Muslims for it, we know they are simply human. They pass gas and swear and do haram. Because Arshad shows the reality does not mean he endorses it, again Arshad is humanizing people who are ever rarely humanized on screen. It is the vain pride of someone extreme who cannot tolerate anyone making fun of them. Someone who cannot lighten up and relax even when they know deep down inside the reality may be shown.

     One of the things Arshad also does is include an Islamic lesson in the show, this is revolutionary and usually the lesson is profound and powerful. These life lessons while from Islam seem to have a profound effect on non Muslims as well. Humza's light hearted and soft approach to Da waa has been extremely powerful and has garnered an interest in Islam from many non Muslims. Again Humza's aggressive talk in Badman when dealing with Islam sometimes is not to show that he is mocking the Deen or the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) but rather again he is showing Badman is a a young confused kid who does not know how to act properly or a jerk if you will, a well intentioned jerk who is trying his best to deal with the profound message of the Quran.

     Again while some of Arshad's stuff may go too far, all in all we have a very talented and special young brother on our hands who has profoundly helped the image and identity of British Pakistanis and Muslims. We should express politely and lovingly the places where we disagree with him and he himself has stated he will be far more careful from now on. What more can we ask of him. If every time any Muslim brother who does something productive is swamped with hatred and jealously how can we ever hope to progress? If you don't like DOABM, get a camera and make you're own thing and express what you have to say. Hatred is easy, creating something new is hard work.

Adnan Khan
BA LLB

Muslims and Focus. 6 Things Muslim's can do to improve focus.

  I am not going to be nice in this article. I am going to try to be real and discuss a topic that is very important. Not just for societies as a whole but for individuals in their day to day life. You don't have to be Muslim to want or crave or understand the power of focus so if you are a non Muslim reading this article I hope you benefit from it too. The importance of focus in your life exponentially increases your chances of success and happiness in life. However I am not writing this article in order to help individuals focus, I will be writing that one later. I am writing it about the collective, that is Muslims who are clearly all over the place in their thinking. They are confused and have all kinds of idea's floating around. Many young Muslim males and females are unclear on which path to follow. Even worse with the advent of the Internet, conspiracy theories and other forms of entertainment have made matters more confusing. Many cannot focus on what is important. They do not know what to focus on even, there are over 100 million young Muslim males and females in the world and they could if they choose to be the first men and women to land on Mars or worse delve into the world of paranoia helplessness and extreme and unforgiving behavior  I personally would like to see these young Muslims in 50, 60 or 70 years landing on Mars myself. So I have chosen to describe the top ten things breaking the focus of Muslims and destroying or greatly limiting their life chances of success. They are not in any particular order and are all extremely important.

6. Conspiracy theories: Conspiracy theories are everywhere, especially on the Internet, everyone has an opinion about what's really going on. Who the real "oppressors" are etc. Muslims sitting in front of the Internet watching sometimes 50 or 60 part conspiracy video's not only waste useful time which could be spent on friends, family, work or prayers or religious study. They take allot of young Muslims outside the realm of known reality, break their normal and regular disposition and in extreme cases turn many young Muslims into paranoid and even semi schizophrenic types. "Did you see the 666 in the Disney logo" one will ask the other, "did you know Rihanna worships the devil". Most of the time the people making these video's themselves are purely in a world of conjecture egged on by other conspiracy theorists. Don't get me wrong taking a critical analysis towards current events is very important and investigation and using logic are also important. However you will never know if someone is a Free Mason or not. You will never know if Michael Jackson was killed by the "Illuminati". I totally understand that you tube conspiracy video's can be fun to talk about and even watch. However remember your first priority is toward yourself!, then your family and community. Have you prayed, have you washed the dishes have you studied, helped out at the local orphanage etc. Your time on this earth is too short to be trapped in a false reality of silly conspiracies and poorly made you tube video's. Your time is valuable and you must make the most of it. Don't let conspiracy video's break your focus on what is important.

5. Laziness: Muslims are lazy! You may say "Hey wait, that's a huge generalization and aren't millions of Muslims hard working chaps"! Of course they are, I believe most generalizations are wrong, however what I am getting at, is that other civilizations emphasize hard work, almost like it is a religion, and work relentlessly to build and fulfill their obligations. Since so many Islamic obligations such as feeding the poor, healing the sick, and taking care of your family, depend on the wealth you have, relentless hard work should be a first priority of all or most Muslims. Saying that this life is only a test, and that as long as I fulfill my religious duties I am good is not enough. Laziness is a sin anyway you cut it, and living off welfare is not becoming of a true Muslim. There is no excuse for laziness none whatsoever, Laziness will bring poverty and misery on those who indulge in it, and it must be said clearly that laziness is not acceptable and their are no excuses for it period.

4. Bad, illiterate or uneducated Imam's or Mullah's. These guys are everywhere as well. Like the conspiracy guys these guys have proliferated thanks to Internet technology. Every single one of these guys has an opinion on religion and is ready to send anyone to hell who does not agree. Their only qualification is usually some extra large beard and a fiery look with an Arab robe. Some of these guys yell and shout, some talk quietly  some come off as know it all's and young Muslims tend to take to them. After all young Muslims are looking for guidance. I will list a few guidelines when trying to choose a good imam to listen too in my next 2 or 3 articles. I can only say for now, look to the guys who are living the Deen and who are successful with a happy wife and children. The ones who live and breath the religion. Also look to your own understanding read the Quran and Sunnah in a language you understand and what you feel is right in your heart, is what you should go for only deferring to Mullah's or Imam's who you know are good. This will keep your focus on the Quran and Sunnah and not some middleman who may or may not have a clue on what he is talking about. Remember the key here is focus.

3. Politics: Muslims are obsessed with politics this obsession wastes the time of millions of Muslims who have neither the power, nor money or time to be important in politics. I myself fall pray to this focus breaker at times. Politics is a dirty game as they say, and it does not alleviate the hunger of one orphan, or make one screw on a highway titter etc. An obsession with politics will take up valuable time, the time you need to fulfill your religious obligations. Remember politics is entertainment, so you can not use politics as an excuse for not fulfilling your religious duty because you say you are learning, or getting valuable information from it. Politics is such a waste of time, it breaks the focus of Muslims, and causes stress and anxiety.

2. Talking about religion: We see this everywhere Facebook posts, quotes, meetings, etc. Muslims are always talking about religion, when they truly know nothing about it in the first place. We have all had that moron who knows nothing quote one verse or one story because he has read the Quran 10 or 20 times and thinks in his peanut sized understanding of religion, that he can declare case closed! on certain issues. That solves that one he may exclaim. This is the curse of pride, we must be humble and accept that we know nothing, and try to focus on the simple and obvious things. Talking about religion breaks our focus because this inevitably leads to arguments anger, confusion and frustration as everyone has a different opinion. Again please read the books yourself and come to your own understanding and focus on the things which are obvious. Like pleasing your parents, keeping your house and yourself clean. Staying in shape, and finding a good job to take care of you and your family. The major irony here is that I sound like I am preaching to people about being selfish. In fact it is just the opposite, have you ever met that fat guy who goes to the gym, and never really works out, but tries to preach to others, about working out as if he is Sly Stallone from Rocky 4. The fat guy may proclaim  I am being unselfish! When the other's in the gym are thinking " Work on yourself we don't need your advice" Unfortunately allot of Muslims are like that, while Muslim countries are poor, underdeveloped and miserable, often in a state of Civil war, some Muslim preachers have taken it upon them selves in utter arrogance to preach about the United States or South Korea being bad. Remember don't be the guy in the gym who's fat and is always talking, be Sly Stallone from Rocky 4 and every action you make will encourage and help people 100 times more then the mere words of a looser. Don't break your focus by talking about religion, live the religion quietly and focus on leading by example.

1. Protests, Marches and demonstrations: While I respect the march for civil rights conducted by African Americans in the 1960's for political and civil rights in America Muslims are not in that position. Muslim people are in some of the most important nations on earth. Some Muslim countries have 1 million man armies with nuclear weapons. Others have 5,000 year old civilizations. While Muslims are indeed in a miserable and sorry state, they are at the same time still a great people even if a mere shadow of their former selves. They are not an oppressed minority in a rich powerful country. Muslims should work for political change in their respective countries as now most or many of the major Muslim countries are democracies with free elections. Protesting and begging the powers that be for any thing that happens which offends you is firstly unbecoming of a Muslim and secondly a misplaced usage of time and energy. While my heart goes out to Black Americans or the people in the Gaza strip for the most part, Muslims should shun this "Gaza Strip" Mentality especially if you are from a country with over 100 million people with nukes. Muslims need to focus on personal responsibility and a leadership roll, not perpetual victim hood and begging higher ups to give them respect and attention.  A no nonsense ruler mentality should be developed, where excuses are minimal and hard work is maximized.

Posted by Insightful