Could you imagine if there was a play like Book of Mormon, but about Islam?

[Anonymous]

I just saw Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center. It was so funny, I don't think I've ever laughed that hard, or at least not in a very long time.

Before I went, my mom asked me what the play was about. I told her it was a comedy making fun of Mormons (that's really all I knew about it at that time). She got all concerned, and was like, "it is safe? What if someone bombs it?". I told her that I doubted Mormons would do something like that, and that she was probably thinking of a different religion.

I found it pretty surprising and ironic that apparently, the Mormon church paid to take out full page adds in the play's program guide. I thought they were fake adds, put in there as a joke, but they were real. DH and I mused that it was funny that the Mormons actually took out advertising at the play that makes fun of them, whereas if this play was about Muslims, violence would probably ensue, or at least claims of "racism" or "Islamphobia" or a "hate crime".

Do you think a play like this could successfully be made making fun of Islam?

[Anonymous]

I think they would kill you.

[Anonymous]

No, a play like this about Islam would never make it on stage. Political satire on Islam has resulted in death threats with contracts taken out on publishers.

You will never see any thing that uses Islam for amusement without serious repercussions. Ironically, I attended Catholic school back in the day when the nuns were in full habit. There are several successful, funny plays about that time period which I hold fondly to heart.

[Anonymous]

OP you would have to have been living under a rock to be ignorant of the fact that there are muslims who would be infuriated by such a play. Surely you were already aware of past incidents of death threats over such satire. So I can only imagine the real point of your post is to underscore the fact that no, many muslims do not have a sense of humor about their religion.

As someone raised Catholic I feel perfectly comfortable criticizing or making fun of my religious background. The reality that not every culture or individual is like me in that regard is not shocking to me.

I don't agree with the over-the-top defensiveness. But if I lived in a culture or religion where I felt beleagured and threatened by those not of my faith, I might not have much of a sense of humor about my religion, either.

[Anonymous]

The Mormon Church didn't have too much criticism of the play because they didn't make fun of some of the more sacred parts of the religion. I saw the play and while it poked fun, it was pretty superficial. It didn't get into the role of women, the temple rituals, baptisms of the dead. Making fun of young kids for not drinking coffee, having premarital sex or for being naive about Africa isn't too detrimental to the religion. A very similar type of play could have been made about other missionaries.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm Muslim and while I don't speak for all Muslims, world-wide, I will point out that there was an absolutely hilarious comedic play that came through here about 2 years ago. I think it was called "looking for laughter in the Muslim world" or something close to that. It had a great run and was very funny, but never became mainstream, like the Book of Mormon....

Interestingly, I've also had several Mormon nannies (and have now outed myself in my social circle) and they were all bemused by the idea of the book of Mormon and it had been discussed in church meetings. It's quite a homogenous population (unlike Muslims), so I think it was "easy" for the church to preach tolerance for the show (and have the vast majority agree) and point out that even by having a humorous show, it would bring more people to examine Mormonism - hence the ads.

[Anonymous]

Muslim PP again - Mormons are all about spreading their religion any which way, so the play does that.

Also, regarding humor in Islam, have you heard of the burqa avenger? It's a cartoon geared at adults (satire) - kind of funny...

Mormons are also not oppressed around the world - it's easy to be made fun of if you're pretty secure in your place in the world. Muslims don't have that kind if acceptance.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Book of Mormon isn't really about Mormons - it's about religion in general. It focuses on Mormons simply because what Mormon's believe seems so silly to mainstream Christians. That said, the clear import of the musical, to me at least, is that other religions often believe in things that are equally silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just saw Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center. It was so funny, I don't think I've ever laughed that hard, or at least not in a very long time.

Before I went, my mom asked me what the play was about. I told her it was a comedy making fun of Mormons (that's really all I knew about it at that time). She got all concerned, and was like, "it is safe? What if someone bombs it?". I told her that I doubted Mormons would do something like that, and that she was probably thinking of a different religion.

I found it pretty surprising and ironic that apparently, the Mormon church paid to take out full page adds in the play's program guide. I thought they were fake adds, put in there as a joke, but they were real. DH and I mused that it was funny that the Mormons actually took out advertising at the play that makes fun of them, whereas if this play was about Muslims, violence would probably ensue, or at least claims of "racism" or "Islamphobia" or a "hate crime".

Do you think a play like this could successfully be made making fun of Islam?

YOu've got to be kidding me You do know that there are many Muslim plays who make fun of Muslims right? We do have a sense of humor after all and we don't just go around bombing people and accusing them of Islamophobia because of a play, we do know the difference between Islamophobia and plain fun. Google Axis of EVIL Comedy Tour

[Anonymous]

Ex-Muslim here. Self-deprecating humor is pretty common in swaths of the Muslim world, but it's not received well from someone who isn't "one of them/us." It's the same thing for other in-group humor, whether pertaining to skin color, gender, sexual orientation, etc - who does the comedy is very relevant when it comes to joke-telling.

Additionally, keep in mind that Islam is over 600 years younger than Christianity. How many jokes about Christianity would have been well-received in 1400?

I definitely have my gripes about Islam in general, and I make plenty of light jokes about both, but it's important to understand the context of how well/poorly jokes can be received.

[Anonymous]

Looking for comedy in the Muslim world was about a guy going to India to find out what makes Muslims laugh. It was mostly about his trip planning and all the things going wrong with his trip. Also India has a huge population that isn't Muslim so most of the audience at his shows weren't even Muslim. It wasn't really a movie about Islam at all, and not even a very good movie.

Axis of Evil comedy tour is 4 Middle Eastern comedians making fun of themselves and their own cultures. Very different than other people making a play that mocks or is satirical about Islam.

A play similar to the Book of Mormon would never happen about Islam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for comedy in the Muslim world was about a guy going to India to find out what makes Muslims laugh. It was mostly about his trip planning and all the things going wrong with his trip. Also India has a huge population that isn't Muslim so most of the audience at his shows weren't even Muslim. It wasn't really a movie about Islam at all, and not even a very good movie.

Axis of Evil comedy tour is 4 Middle Eastern comedians making fun of themselves and their own cultures. Very different than other people making a play that mocks or is satirical about Islam.

A play similar to the Book of Mormon would never happen about Islam.

The thing is in Muslim communities the culture is an Islamic culture of some sort so the 2 are mixed and making fun of themselves and Islam is making fun of islamic practices of some sort. But you are right that we would never have a play blatantly mocking the Quran, if that is what you meant? I think there if a fine line between comedy and being offensive and that line can be easily crossed especially for minorities that have been discriminated against, just like the Jews were not happy about Passion of the Christ.

[Anonymous]

The Mormon religion was created inside the US, and only in the 1850s or something like that. I think the LDS church has to have a sense of humor about itself because it's so new compared to Christianity and Islam. It's not even 200 years old!

[Anonymous]

OP you would have to have been living under a rock to be ignorant of the fact that there are muslims who would be infuriated by such a play.

You're close but not quite accurate. OP lives under a bridge.