(piano music playing)
- [Narrator] What comes to your mind
when you think of Muslims?
Do you put them in a box based on biases heard
from the media, your peers, or just unknown sources?
As you play along this episode of "Odd Man Out",
think of how you pick them up.
(upbeat music playing)
- [Narrator 2] We brought together seven Muslims.
- I'm Muslim.
- [Narrator 2] One is a liar.
If the group discovers who the liar is,
they'll split a cash prize.
If the liar survives, they win the entire prize.
- [Editor] Also, there's a surprise this episode.
Not that the cast is all moles,
but for the first time the prize money will decrease
for each round the players continue past round two.
- We're like the families from Pakistan.
- Same, same - Wow.
- Yeah. What part?
- Karachi - Oh, Karachi? Islamabad.
- Wow.
- Yeah, I'm also Pakistani too,
but I'm from Karachi as well.
- I mean my family, we're just from New York,
but I know that my grandfather had converted to Muslim.
- I'm Palestinian. - Oh, yeah.
- Parents born, raised there, first generation.
- I'm Jordanian,
which is next to Palestine.
- Oh, yeah. - Yeah.
- I lived in Amman for two years
when I was younger. - Oh really?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- I just came from Amman like two years and a half ago.
- Mm hm. - Cool, cool.
- So, I'm new here in the States.
- Yeah, I'm from Bangladesh. - Oh, okay.
- So, my parents are from first generation as well.
- How did your family implement Islam growing up?
- Al-Baab was asking a lot of questions and she was
kind of trying to get information out of the others.
So, I suspected that.
- My community growing up wasn't, there was a lot
of, you know, white people, Latino people.
And I always felt like I was the only Muslim.
- Nah, I relate to that too,
because like, I mean like I'm African American, you know?
So like, I think it's like not expected of me to be
but growing up, like, that's just what I was taught.
Like from my father, from my grandfather.
You know, after my father had passed away,
you know, like it made me like look
at everything he taught,
- Yeah. - you know?
So I got right back into it.
- Yeah, - You know what I mean?
I mean, growing up Muslim, my mom's white,
so it was kind of like a half culture,
you know? - Yeah.
- But I did the Sunday school thing
and I like finished the Quran twice.
- Oh, yeah. - So it wasn't
as like strict Muslim.
- I come from a Muslim family,
My mom is not strict,
however, she wears hijab, but she never enforced it on us.
Like she always, they tell us, "When it's the right time
for you and you feel it within your heart
that you wanna wear hijab,
then you're gonna wear hijab." - Yeah.
- I was looking for like little clues
and I know with like Zaina, she wore an evil eye.
And like, my mom taught me
that in Islam, like the evil eye
like you are not supposed to wear that.
- What's it like being Muslim for us
and what's we found
like the hardest thing - Right.
- Yeah. - being Muslim,
- Right. - at least maybe here.
- Being Muslim for me, it's funny
'cuz you know, I'm very liberal, I guess in a way.
It's hard because some people again just put you
in a box and they're like,
"Wait, but you're not wearing hijab
and you know, you wear tank tops."
- My mom wears the hijab.
I've always kind of envied
that like she can wear her Islam like publicly outside.
- True. - Cause like,
sometimes I'll see another lady walking
down the street wearing a hijab
and I wanna say (speaks in foreign language)
but I don't want it
- Yeah. - just to be like
some random guy who she might
like be afraid of on the street.
- Yeah. - Just trying to talk to her.
For high school, I went to a Catholic all guy school.
So, that was very different.
- Oh. - Interesting.
- When he mentioned that he went to a Catholic school,
I was a bit thrown off because you would assume
that they would go to a school based off of their religion.
- It was like, it was a school that was close by
and my mom like wanted me to like all boys,
I don't want like you with girls around,
- Yeah, yeah. - kind of thing.
- Okay.
And for her it was just, it's still like it's
another religious institution
that's gonna be teaching like similar values
and just like morals kind of stuff.
(clock ticks) - Oh, no. Okay.
I guess, sorry. (group chuckle)
(upbeat music)
- You know, she didn't get to really talk a lot.
And again, she said she was like, you know, half white
and so it seemed very obvious.
(upbeat music)
(buzzer buzzes)
- We love you so much.
(group chuckle) We'll miss you so much.
(Al-Baab speaks in foreign language)
- Because I'm half white,
I think it definitely made people suspicious of me
because I don't look Pakistani at all.
So they'd probably think
that I was lying when I told them that.
- Okay. I think we should ask
like more factual-
- Yeah. - Questions. Like.
(Al-Baab clicks fingers) Yeah.
- Can we talk about like Ramadan
for everyone? - Yeah!
- And just like, what it's like fasting,
what it feels like for you, what your family does.
- It's like being around people who are not like doing it.
You know what I'm saying? - Yeah.
- And it's like-
- Your friends wanna hang out, - Yeah, like,
- like, "Let's go get food" - "Bro, let's go get food."
- And you're like, "I'll watch you guys eat."
- I'm like, "Yeah." - Yeah!
- It's like sometimes when watching people eat
for me, it like helps.
- Yeah. - Like I don't know
why I used to- - Watching "Food Networks"
in Ramadan. - Yes! Oh, my God!
- I don't know what it is. (Al-Baab laughs)
Yeah. It's like a torture kind of thing for ourselves.
- I've heard from like my family back home too,
at least like it is this case in Karachi
but like what's nice is is that in Ramadan,
- Uh huh. - they close the restaurants
and stuff, - Yeah.
- until Iftar, so it makes it even easier
for you to like, go ahead and still practice
because you know, sometimes you're
out like go out with your friends and eat, like not eat
but like just watch them.
- Yeah. - And they'll be like,
"I don't want eat in front of you, are you okay?"
- Yeah! - And I'm like, "Don't start."
- It's like, bro, it's cool.
- This is a test for us.
- For the recent Ramadan,
like it was a time when I was a bit younger
and I was in high school and I was going
through like a very like rebellious time.
- Yeah. - It was during Ramadan
where I just like, I had this like realization
like I'm not doing the right thing right now.
- Hm hm. - Yeah.
- And it was that time where I really like transformed.
- The reason I was suspicious of Aayan,
I feel like anytime when I'd peek around,
I just saw him like scanning everybody
kind of looking a little fidgety.
Someone would say something
and then he'd be, "Oh, yeah, me too."
- I try to fast at least like three to four days
out of the week,
just to kind of give myself that opportunity to do it.
There was one month I did it every day.
It was like the best month.
(group vocalize)
- Yeah, that's- - Yeah, it really is, but-
- Once you get used to it, you would, you would get it.
Like, it was hard for me
when I was younger to fast all the days.
- No alcohol or like no pork.
Do you guys like, feel strong about one thing
about Islam but like not about the others?
- I mean, I feel very strongly
about like, not eating pork. - Mm hm.
- I just remember, you know,
that's like something
- Yeah. - that my father really
like told me, you know, like, "Pork is swine",
you know, so. - Yeah.
- Like I stay like completely away from it, you know?
- Yeah. - I like,
I've even had conversations with my mom
where we'd be like, "If like a law
came down right now (group laugh)
and said 'It's okay',
like I still don't think I really would eat it."
To me, just like I see it as gross.
Like that's just, I don't eat pork.
- Yeah. Exactly. - It just comes like that.
- For me I also think the no alcohol thing is pretty big
for me also because I learned
in middle school it's like the mother of all sins.
(bell rings)
- Yeah, yeah. - So, I stayed away from it.
(upbeat music)
(buzzer buzzes)
- Sorry. - Bye, guys.
Good luck! - Bye!
- [Producer] If you continue past this round,
the prize money will be reduced by half.
- I was like, "Dang!"
- It felt like there was more pressure
to just find the mole quicker,
and I feel like I wanted to get
into some deeper questions.
- [Producer] Raise your hand if you're certain
that the mole is still in the box
and you'd like to continue the game.
- Okay.
- If you all will. - I will.
- [Producer] All right.
- Like how on a scale one to 10,
how developed do you guys think you are?
- Okay, for me around six years ago,
I had a very bad car accident and I was almost dead.
Like I stayed in the hospital
for three months and I have a scar in my face now,
if you can see it.
It was a very bad experience,
however, it got me closer to a lot.
A car hit us and I had to go through the front window.
I thank God I'm alive, that I'm healthy,
that there's nothing wrong.
- I'd say like, I'm like a five
because I don't really have anyone,
like, that's like, you know, it's not like
within like my family big like that, you know, so.
- Yeah. - The lessons
that we're taught, you know what I'm saying?
I embody those, maybe not all the, you know,
the other things that come with it, you know?
- True.
- Shall we talk about an experience
where you encountered someone
that was speaking down on you or not?
- For me, it was maybe I think my sophomore year
of high school.
I got this one sweatshirt
that like had an Arabic written,
(Amr speaks in foreign language)
and under in English, "This too shall pass".
And some random kid who, I didn't know, like skates up to me
and says like, "Oh, so you're a terrorist."
I was just like taken it back.
I was like, "Excuse me?"
I think I was like 15, but that was like the first time
for me that I really like experienced it
and was just a little like, "Whoa", like,
"Where does this come from?"
This kid looked like he was 12.
He would look younger than me,
but he already has these ideas of like,
"Oh, you're a terrorist", just
because you have like, maybe some Arabic written
on your sweatshirt.
Almost every time I've gone to the airport, whether it was
with my family or by myself,
any of us would be pulled to the side
for a little random search.
There is definite kind of prejudice involved
in that, I believe.
- I can go.
It was basically in like, it was
in middle school and we were in PE class
and a kid goes up to me
and 'cuz he heard my last name.
- Just go quickly. - Yeah.
- He just like, he called me a terrorist
and I completely lost myself and started cursing at him.
But then afterwards I had this whole realization
(bell rings) - like, that's not
what you do.
(upbeat music)
- [Producer] All right,
so this has happened for the first time.
There is a five-way tie.
(group chuckle) - Oh, my gosh.
- [Producer] So each person will be asked one question
by any other participant.
- Why were you put into a Catholic school?
- Honestly, it was three minutes from our house.
My parents wanted a school that would teach similar values.
- Are you a Muslim?
(group chuckle)
(Maira speaks in foreign language)
- I'm Muslim.
- Like what's the biggest thing to you
that means that you're Muslim?
- So I wear hijab in high school
but then when I entered like UCLA, I took off my scarf.
But I think that because of this,
I actually grew closer to Islam.
Would you mind listing all five prayers and like when
in the day that they happen?
- Dang. I don't know why I'm on the spot right now.
- Sounds suspicious. - But you know, it's-
Crap.
It's like morning, I watched my dad
do it a lot. - Oh, yeah.
- What was like the point that really like
that turned you to, you know,
find a law, a bit more, I guess.
- Oh, yeah.
I mean like I was just like,
partying a lot. - Oh, yeah.
- Doing a lot of like just bad things like
and my whole family's really religious.
So I'm from Bangladesh, like you won't meet a Bengali
that's not Muslim, you know. - Yeah.
- How can you be exempt from fasting?
Do you know?
- Yes, of course. - Yeah.
Okay, if you are very sick
and you are under medication and stretching your life,
you should not fast, especially for elder people.
(upbeat music)
(buzzer buzzes)
- Oh, man.
Good luck.
- We love you, bro.
- [Producer] Raise your hand if you're certain
that the mole is still in the box
and you'd like to continue the game.
Majority wins.
If the lights turn red, then the mole is still
in the box and you lose.
If the lights turn green,
that means you eliminated the mole.
(suspenseful music)
- Oh, no way. - Bro.
- [Producer] Will the mole please step forward?
(group vocalize) - I knew it, I knew it.
- [Zaina] I'm sorry.
- Like my gut instinct was Zaina
and so I wish I would have said,
"If fits too well, it's gotta be her."
- She fit the character very well
but the reason why I didn't go further
with it was because I had met Muslims who were like her.
- No, but I really want to tell you the truth.
I know a lot of Quran I've studied Quran.
- Were you raised up in another religion?
Are you ex-Muslim or?
- No, no, no, no.
I'm Christian.
- Oh, my. - That's what I thought
- cause it was like- - But, we are only 2%
out of the population in Jordan.
We're very, very like few.
(upbeat music) Wow!
I want this every day.
(group chuckle) I'm sorry, guys.
I did it.
It was kind of, I felt bad
because they're all nice
because I know I'm a liar and they're all super sweet.
- You know, I'm not as knowledgeable
and I have tattoos, you know,
I don't follow necessarily the guidelines.
I'm not strict with it.
You know, I just know that it's a personal relationship.
- We all have our own like ways we practice
and we understand that just
because somebody practices it a little bit less
or a little bit more, doesn't make them any more
of a Muslim than the other person.
- Hi, my name is Ragini Bhasin
and I directed this episode of "Odd Man Out".
And if you'd like to play along in the next episode,
you can go to our Instagram page
and vote for who you think the mole is.
Until next time.
- There's one myth that I don't,
it didn't come from my teacher,
it came from a lot of seventh graders for some reason.
And they're like, "Oh, people get in trouble
for kissing in the halls."
I'm like, "Geez."
- I am a middle schooler.
- I'm a middle schooler.
- I am a middle schooler.
- I'm a middle schooler.
- I am a middle schooler.
- I'm a middle schooler.
- [Narrator 2] One is a fifth grader.
(upbeat music fades out)