Nadia Hussain famous because of the Great British Bake Off states that she see's herself as being British and love being here however it is clear that other people fail to see her having a right to be here because she reports racism as she quotes,"racism is a part of my everyday life." Hussain admits to being subjected to an an arranged marriage, whialthough it is a very happy one but would not impose on her children. She is credited as having a poschitive effect on race relations with the Muslim community.
It is surprising that Channel 4 produced 'Indian Summers' in 2015. Set in the final days of the British Raj, it offers a set of stereotypes of British upper class prejudices about Indians who seek to overthrow British rule. Audience appetites for merchant - ivory style period drama are long over. Poor rating meant the cancellation of a series in spring 2015.
So My Jihad is simply an excellent romcom, ticking all the boxes of magical initial spark, through harsh-reality obstacles that must be overcome, and on towards (we hope) a happy ending. But it does all this through the prism of the young lovers being Muslim: obeying their community’s moral code, frequently invoking Allah, intent on marriage rather than merely dating.
So why do texts look ‘real' ? Sohn-Rethel proposes a set of 7 codes of realism in analysing texts, such as the requirement of surface realism, that the representation looks and sounds like the real world it claims to show; the code of ideological truth, that is, does the fictional representation construct a compelling, persuasive truth; the code of psychology and character motivation, that is, the fictional representation invests greater realism in the psychology of its characters than in other codes.
Jihad
The literal meaning of Jihad is struggle or effort, and it means much more than holy war.
Muslims use the word Jihad to describe three different kinds of struggle:
- A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible
- The struggle to build a good Muslim society
- Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary
Many modern writers claim that the main meaning of Jihad is the internal spiritual struggle, and this is accepted by many Muslims.
However there are so many references to Jihad as a military struggle in Islamic writings that it is incorrect to claim that the interpretation of Jihad as holy war is wrong.
- Surface Realism: The mise en scene of Jihad offers very convincing surface realism in it's depiction of London life in the Muslim community, with curtains twitching and neighbours watching any women who is walking out with a man. Nazir, for example, feels obliged to steal a hijab from a strangers washing line to disguise himself when walking Fahmida home in a scene of comedy that characterises the whole.
- Ideological Truth: The characters express themselves with persuasive conviction as they struggle with their own inner jihad. That is, they convince us of their muslim beliefs and desire to reconcile their hopes with their religion.
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