Educational Media Reviews Online

This video aims to explore and explain Islam as a thriving religion in the American context, but confusion and a poorly planned script mar this effort from the start. To begin with, the packaging and the video’s opening sequence disagree on the program’s title. Are we exploring “Islam in America” or “Islam in Appalachia”? Moreover, the subtitle “Islam in Exile,” also misleads by aiming for drama when elucidation is needed.

The strength of this production lies in the range of persons interviewed, especially first and second generation Muslim immigrants, some of whom are eloquent in explaining their religious practices and their experiences of being a distinct minority among the residents of Johnson City, Tennessee.

Beyond that, this video, which makes a plea to avoid stereotypes, abounds in stereotypical and partial representations of both Tennessee Christian culture and Muslims in the United States, bolstered by dated and inappropriate video sequences. The overall effect is to suggest that contemporary Muslim immigrants come from a grainy, exotic, pre-modern past, only encountering modern conveniences once they arrived at American airports. In addition, despite some mention of converts, this video does little to acknowledge that Muslim immigrants come from many cultures and countries.

The views of the Appalachia mountain scenery, though lovely, become tedious by the end of the video and do little to tell us about the community to which these immigrants have come. The jumping between flowing streams and historical explanation adds choppy disorientation to the mix. Ambitious in scope but poorly planned, written, and edited, better resources on Islamic history and practices, Arab cultures, inter-religious dialogue, and American minority groups must exist.