All-American Muslim Wraps Up

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

It's difficult for me to believe how fast this series came and went. Though it has not yet been canceled nor renewed, I wonder what the future could hold. Obviously there's future football games. There could be more on Shadia and Jeff and how their early marriage is doing. The same with Baby Naseem. And Samira's quest for a pregnancy. Suehaila and Nina both have potential career changes coming. I don't know that the Jaafars would be all that interesting to cover, but I've said multiple times that I feel like this show is just covering too many people. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see this show continue, but I would prefer to have more about several families than a tidbit or none every week on so many. You?

All-American Muslim "Crunch Time" (S01E08): Some general topics covered include the use of hookah in the culture, foods you can't eat (like pork), and the pressures to have children. [and, as per the usual, I'd love to get feedback from those not talking in these smaller sessions.] 

Aoude - [Nader (a federal agent) & Nawal (a respiratory therapist) are newlyweds in their mid-twenties with a newborn son, Naseem.] They have friends over. The guys head to the garage for hookah, and the ladies stay inside. Nader's friends tell him that he needs to make time with Nawal. Nawal feels fat - she hasn't even shopped, and that's one of her passions. So, one of her friends goes shopping with her, and they look for fashionable and chic modest things. They bring the baby in the stroller. She confides in her friend that she feels like a virgin with her insecurities. [interesting comparison. I wonder how this tends to factor into other relationships in this stage as well.] She does buy some things at Dolce. The couple decides to go to the big football game without Naseem. Nawal went to Dearborn High, and Nader went to Fordson, and they sit on the Fordson side. They have a great time on their first real "date night." [good for them!] 

Zaban - [Fouad (a HS football coach) and Zaynab (a part-time secretary) have been married 12 years and have four kids.] The big game against Dearborn is a focus of this episode. Fouad does ask God to make his team victorious. The game goes well, and they win in the end.  

Bazzy-Aliahmead - [Nina, first-generation Lebanese-American, is an event planner who doesn't wear the hijab. She wants to open a nightclub in Dearborn. She's married to Alex, a gasoline distributor, and they have a son, Andre.] Nina goes out with her friends, and she decides to have a test party to see how it goes. She wants to talk about the club with her mother, but her mother wants her to have more children. [hahahaha!] People are talking about Nina and there's already some possible backlash. It caught her off-guard a little bit that people who came out to the trial didn't support the idea. [agreed.]

Jaafar - [Angela (a maketer for an auto manufacturer) and Mike (Deputy Chief for the Wayne County Sheriff's Office) are high school sweethearts, have been married for 11 years, and have two boys and two girls.] Angela realizes that she's "late," and wonders if she's pregnant. Turns out, she's not. [they drag this out to be something and it's nothing. meh.]

Amen - [Mohsen and Lila have four grown children - Suehaila, Samira, Shadia, and Bilal. Samira and Shadia are married and appear with their spouses on the show. Suehaila is 32, unmarried, and works as a court clerk and in a PR/political realm as well; Bilal (also unmarried) works as an athletic director.] Bilal brings up the idea of someone moving to Washington, DC since they all travel there often. Mohsen doesn't want Suehaila to leave, and Lila won't be supportive if Sue leaves. Sue talks about wanting more out of life professionally, but to her parents it doesn't matter since she's not married. [poor girl. She needs some happiness!] The girls went to Dearborn for HS, but when Bilal was great at football and wanted to go to Fordson, Shadia had to switch over, too. [wow. Shadia couldn't finish out her last two years? It's not like they moved, right?]

McDermott - [Shadia (Amen) has a son, Adam, from a previous marriage and recently married Jeff. Shadia has piercings, tattoos, wears a lot of makeup, doesn't wear the hijab, and is a special education aide. She and Jeff would like to have one child, preferably a girl named Olivia.] Shadia makes corned beef and cabbage for a potluck at her mother's. [interesting. We don't hear how everyone liked it, though.]  

Fawaz - [Samira (Amen) is married to Ali, and they've been trying to conceive for several years. Samira recently returned to wearing the hijab, having removed it post-9/11. She is a medical receptionist] Samira makes taboule, since she was told to eat onion to help with infertility. [I hadn't heard that.]