I remember growing up and having my parents sit me down to watch Islamic scholars talk away for hours in either an extremely monotonous or over-dramatic tone, beards dragging on for miles and with eyes capable of breaking through the television. While I sat there staring at the minutes tick away in front of me and had my day dreams mix away with all the haram and the halal and the do’s and donts blur into a result of a good hour and a half wasted and concluded with a firm father’s, “fehmty haga?” (did you understand anything?) show-closure, an awkward head nod and a “can I now be excused” by yours truly.
Needless to say, I have never been a fan of religious shows.
Then came Moez Mas3ood. An “Islamic chicken soup for the soul” as I like to put it, a warm cup of coffee on a cold winter night. After all these years of being repulsed at every single Islamic show streaming on TV something finally emerged worth watching. Mas3ood isn’t new on the scene, he has run various different shows before however, this Ramadan’s series, “Khatawat El-Shaytan” stood out particularly.
The series focuses mainly on the steps the “Shaytan” (devil) takes to stray humans away from their religion. Moez strays away from discussing the wrong and right. His tone of voice does not elevate nor does it steer toward anything judgmental. On the contrary, a peaceful young mind discusses the soul and true essence of Islam in a warm and inviting tone. He discusses concepts and examples relatable to everyone from every age, social class and view point. He mentions Freud and Gallilo and manages to squeeze in some light hearted expressions that include “that’s a haram combo.”
However, the highlight of this series is that Moez has come up with a genius idea to portray his points even more to the viewers: Actors to portray whatever it is concept he explains in each episode. This idea manages to draw viewers closer to the points made while keeping the audience interested, leaving them wanting to know more. They grow closer to the characters and relate to the situations taking place in regard to what Mas3ood is addressing.
Out of the episodes I have watched thus-far, the eleventh episode is by far my favorite.
Moez manages to steal a part of my mind, preaching exactly everything that concerns me nowadays regarding religious ideologies: appearances vs the interior connections between a person and God. Moez condems “sheyookh google” and other Islamic ‘scholars’ (undeserving of that title) who have created a religion solely based on appearances, “deen zaher men gheir baten, deen faregh men el insaneya” –“an outer religion without a core, a religion empty of humanity.”
He goes on through-out the episode to explain how this all came about from the fact that at a point a “monoculture” was being formed. Everyone was following everything western –mindset, clothes economy etc. People wanted to revolt from all that hence focusing all religion aspects on appearances. Whereas on the contrary the essence of the religion is about love, modesty patience –factors that cleansed the soul rather than what one’s outer appearance reflected.
If you haven’t heard of or seen the series I suggest you start today, food for the soul is beneficial for everyone and Mas3ood will definitely not disappoint. I, for one, now “excuse myself” to go check if the next episode is up yet.
Watch the full series here: https://www.youtube.com/user/MoezMasoudOfficial/videos