Page 18 - Desk of the Imam

Desk of the Imam Magazine April 2018
women are responsible for the reputation of their
family,” she says. “We were the carriers of
shame." Manzoor says Burq Off! came from her
trying to make sense of the confusion about
what it meant to be an immigrant person living
in the West — a Pakistani Muslim living in a
secular society. "[I was] trying to navigate so
many different contradictions in terms of
religion. It didn’t seem that Islam, or I should
say the way that Islam was taught to me, had
room for somebody like me,” she says.
Manzoor says producing Burq Off! helped her
reclaim her Muslim identity and repair strained
relationships. Sharing that journey has been
transformative for her
audiences too.
"I just wanted her to stop
talking because I felt like she
was spilling my secrets,"
says Fiana Arbab, who saw
the show in Dearborn,
Michigan. "It’s definitely a
gray area in my life because
I’m American, but I’m also
Muslim, but I’m also
Bengali. So it’s really hard to
navigate between the
different spaces and the different cultures. I
absolutely loved it. I definitely started crying.
And I would definitely love to share it with my
family."
Burq Off! has played to sold out audiences in
New York, and across North America and
Europe as well. Manzoor's currently organizing
a tour of the show in the Middle East, which has
involved making some changes.
"The edits were much more [about] looking at
places where I say 'shit' and saying something
else. Or when I say 'sex' saying something else.
It’s literally taking particular words and getting
my thesaurus out," she says.
Dubai, for example, has strict rules about
provocative language and gestures. Her father
warned her that taking out the curse words
would take all the spice out of the show. But
Masjid Al-Hamdulillah | Desk of the Imam 18
Manzoor says the essence of the show is still
intact, which is something she’s not willing to
compromise on. At least she wasn’t until
recently. “Sometimes people ask me — they’ll
be like, 'are you scared that there’s gonna be a
fatwā out on you? What are you going to do
when you go to Pakistan? How do you get the
courage to do this?'” she says.
Manzoor recently postponed an upcoming show
in Pakistan. She decided to wait until things
were less volatile. But it’s not fear that’s
stopping her. "I’m planning on working and
doing this work for a long time so I don’t want
to be reckless,” she says. “At the same time, if I
was afraid I wouldn’t be
doing this show. So there is
definitely some larger
confidence that I’m
connected to that’s making
me continue."
Manzoor is working on a
sequel to Burq
Off! — focusing on the men
in her life. A second season
of Shugs and Fats was
recently released online, and a third season is in
production.
Land of No Men
By Chisom Winnifred
Where the foothills of Mount Kenya merge
into the desert, the people of Samburu tribe are
found. The Samburu, just like the Maasai are a
semi-nomadic people. Only the Samburu are still
very traditional and have not parted with old
customs as compared to the Maasai. Cattle, as
well as goats, sheep and camels, play a vital role
in the Samburu way of life and culture. The
Samburu are highly dependent on their livestock
for survival.