2006年VOA标准英语-Filmmaker Looks at Muslims in America Observing

By Greg Flakus
Houston
06 September 2006

Later this month, Muslims around the world will begin a month-long fast to observe Ramadan. During this time, they fast all day long and then eat in the evening. A Muslim-American filmmaker has chosen this as his subject in a new film about how five American Muslim families practice their faith and how non-Muslims relate to their traditions.

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The director of the feature-length documentary "American Ramadan" is Naeem Randhawa, who was born in Pakistan, raised in Canada and, for the past eight years, has made Dallas, Texas his home.

As a thoroughly¹ American Muslim, he was distressed² by the distorted image of Islam many Americans have, partly because of conflict in the Middle East and terrorism, but also because of negative images in movies and television shows. He wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between people of his faith and other Americans, most of whom, he says, hold the same basic family values as Muslims.

Randhawa says he thought a documentary film might be a way of showing how traditions that are fundamental to his faith are similar to traditions in other religions. Speaking to VOA, he says the fasting Muslims do during Ramadan seemed an ideal subject.

"I was trying to find a platform that would seek to build bridges and look for commonalities between Christians⁴, Jews, Muslims, Hindus ... Really, just about every religion has some form of fasting," he said. "So, this seemed to me like a great platform to bring different people come to the table and have a dialogue about what is common to all of us."

Randhawa says he also wanted to show that Muslims in the United States are not all the same. For this reason, he says, he deliberately⁵ looked for a variety of subjects to use in the film.

"We purposely went out and chose five different families. We wanted to make sure they were all very diverse," he said. "We have a student who is trying to balance her student life with work, with her home life, with school life. We have an inter-racial couple in California. We have a divorced dad who is coping with taking care of his kids by himself and sharing time with his ex-wife. We have another lady whose husband was incarcerated⁶."

Randhawa says the film also includes interviews with scholars and religious leaders from various faiths who comment on the benefits and blessings⁷ of fasting.

"I have a rabbi who talks about fasting for Yom Kippur. I have a Christian³ doctor who talks about fasting for Lent and I have an iman who talks about fasting for Ramadan," said Randhawa. "It is interesting that they all talk about the same purpose of fasting. We all fast to be closer to God. That is their words. What is interesting is that all three of them say the same thing, they just say it in a different context."

Randhawa says reaction to screenings in Dallas and elsewhere has been very positive, from both Muslims and non-Muslims. He says he was especially pleased by a conversation he had with one non-Muslim woman whose image of Islam was almost entirely⁸ based on misconceptions before she saw the film.

"She had thought the call to prayer was some kind of jihadi type call to war. So she was very surprised to see it in its context, in a mosque," he said. "Things like that really encourage us and we are really happy to see that Americans are watching this and understanding that Muslims are not different than Jews and Christians in their family values and the way they live their life in America."

The film, "American Ramadan," has been shown at some film festivals and in special screenings here in North America, but Naeem Randhawa is finding interest in the film from as far away as Europe and the Middle East. With the success of this endeavor, he says he is ready to take on other topics and continue making films that are aimed at bringing people of divergent faiths and traditions together in understanding.

1 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

2 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

6 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

7 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。