Salam Cafe

Salam Cafe is a very interesting TV show, providing great insights into Aussie-Muslim culture.

Salam Cafe is part chat show (think The Panel) and part comedy sketches (think The Comedy Company). It generally makes for an amusing and informative half hour.

Given that its main topic matter is religion, and Islamic religion at that, this is an impressive, even unique achievement.

The panellists are likable, articulate, charitable and genuinely funny: they’re the sort of people you’d like to have around for a dinner party. With the exception of Susan Carland – an Anglo-Aussie convert married to the well known spokesman Waleed Aly, one of the other panellists – they are all of Middle Eastern or Asian descent.

The show seems to have several different goals.

One is to inform Anglo-Aussies about their Muslim neighbours. I learnt, for example, that many Muslims prefer to have no physical contact with members of the opposite sex, including handshakes.

Another is to present Muslims as being everyday Aussies. They do this by their constant references to the footy and other popular pastimes, along with their choice of special guests, like HG Nelson and Cathy Freeman. In the final episode, as they commented on the upcoming World Youth Day, they were keen to declare their love and admiration of Jesus.

Giving voice to the everyday frustrations of being an Aussie Muslim is another feature of the show. The ridiculous and very amusing Uncle Sam – short for Osama – mocks our ignorance in a method reminiscent of Borat or Ali G. On other occasions they turn the spotlight on themselves, wondering how a sharia version of Big Brother might turn out, for example.

In all of this the show is keen to promote Islam, an interesting point of tension with some of its other goals.

And yet in seeking to promote Islam I cannot think of a single occasion where the panellists spoke of the goodness of Allah or even the godliness of Mohammed. Is this telling? Why might this be?

This is poles apart from what we evangelicals are trying to do as we urge and encourage people to put their faith in God by pointing them to Jesus. Instead, they were seeking to convert their viewers to the lifestyle and culture of Islam. This is more akin to how many Roman Catholics might go about ‘evangelising’.

But how do you promote and uphold the culture of Islam in a liberal, laissez faire land? What, for example, do you say about the hijab, the head covering worn by many Muslim women? On several occasions it was a source of simple humour – there’s no need for a mobile phone headset when you can simply slip it into your hijab! On another occasion one of the panellists went on a passionate and lengthy rant about how it really wasn’t a big deal and that we should stop making such a fuss about it. And yet the same panellist, in a different forum, described the hijab as a source of great pride for Muslim women since it designates them as the ‘flag bearers’ of Islam.

On the flipside, I was surprised to see everyone of Middle Eastern descent – whether they be cyclists or performers – being claimed for Islam. Once again it raises the question, ‘Can you really be Aussie and Muslim?’.

Asking the same question of our Christian faith reminds us that, while we may be privileged to reside in Australia, our true citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Therefore we should not speak of the Christian life as being normal or Aussie but as being abnormal and heavenly.

It’s difficult being a Muslim in the West right now. I don’t envy them the suspicion and misunderstanding they regularly deal with. It’s also a significant time as they work out how they will see themselves and relate to the rest of us. Salam Cafe provides an interesting and entertaining window into that experience.

Salam Cafe was screening on Wednesday nights from 10-10.30pm on SBS. You can view all 10 of this season’s episodes on the SBS website.

Latest articles in watching
- The Wager - 2 weeks, 3 days ago
- Packed to the Rafters - 3 weeks, 3 days ago
- Burn After Reading - 1 month ago