The Education of Mohammad Hussein (2013) Reviews

• My thoughts on "The Education of Mohammad Hussein"

  zmangutters-12014-01-07

  This documentary was a disappointment to me because clearly Terry Jones represents the worst of the non-Muslim public. I cannot identify with him at all, and I think most non-Muslim Americans would say the same thing.. However, the program attempted to show the Detroit Islamic community in a very civilized and benevolent light. I, for one, got the impression that memorizing the Koran was the #1 priority in the education of young Mr. Hussein.One has to wonder what else besides the Koran gets taught at the Islamic grade schools?Do these children get exposure to any American History? American Government? Science? Any exposure to the science of evolution? These are important issues that most Americans deserve to have addressed in a documentary about Islamic education in America. Another segment of the program dealt with the Terry Jones public confrontation vs. angry Muslims on the streets of Detroit. I believe it was clear from the footage that without the protection of the Detroit Police, the crowd would have assaulted Jones and his group, there would have been bloodshed, and very likely deaths. The cops had their hands full protecting the speaker from the Muslims, not the other way around. Years from now, this program will be viewed in a clearer context. I hope HBO can step up and drop the PC blinders. It boils down to this: I am a non-Muslim American, and Terry Jones does not speak for me..but, this program was very,very constricted and therefore, very inaccurate and misleading.

• Too Biased

  tawnminator2014-01-13

  There were interesting aspects to this, but it was slanted to make Muslims appear sympathetic. The parts with Pastor Terry can be skipped over. Although Islam is a concern for any free society---because Islam is not about human rights and not about freedom---that idiot is not the person to be speaking about it. It showed Muslims in their Islamic school and how they focus on the Qu'ran, as if there is nothing else to learn. This obsession with religion among Muslims explains why Islamic countries have the highest rates of illiteracy in the world. It was shocking to see high school girls wearing full veils covering themselves entirely in America. This is a form of misogyny and has no place in a free society. Having all women cover themselves in black tents so they are unidentifiable and indistinguishable from one another, reduces them to Black Moving Objects. A better documentary would be to show Muslims in their own countries, with Sharia law enforced. Show them going to public stonings. Show the religious police harassing men and women for merely standing next to each other. Show people being jailed for tweeting an innocent comment about Mohammad. Let's see the real Islam. Don't bother showing us this PC version of Islam Lite they practice in America.

• Islamic propaganda.

  maxgold202014-02-05

  Watching this I couldn't help but realize that nothing will ever change. Muslims will continue to brainwash their children and teach them that they are innocent victims. Their Islamic community didn't teach them WHY they are victimized, just that they are. They never taught them that countless terrorists acts are continually carried out in the name of Allah, and the terrorists cite the Koran as motivation. The Muslim children are never taught alternate ideas, different religions perspectives or even that of atheism. They grow up with an indoctrinated one sided view of the world. They grow up convinced they are victims and not the victimizers. Ideally, their community would condemn Islamic terrorist activities and fight with those concerned against it, but instead, they take a narcissistic approach and only focus on their own victimization without tackling the source, Islamic terrorist acts. By doing this it is completely disingenuous, teaching children that they are unfairly targeted when the reasons they are targeted are deserved and justified. Muslim children aren't the victims, those killed and injured in countless Islamic terrorist attacks are. Ordinary citizens have every right to be cautious of the ideology and the communities that spawn such anti-social actions. Pretending Islam and terrorism have no links and that Muslims are unfairly criticized is a lie and can only create more terrorism. How many of them will seek some type of REVENGE on their so called victimizers?

• The education for Americans in a cultural blindspot

  StevePulaski2014-01-06

  A few weeks back, I had to hear how one of my Muslim friends - a female, who always wears her hijab - was called a terrorist out in public. While I knew this kind of profiling and simpleminded discrimination was prevalent and certainly not nonexistent in America, it always strikes a chord with me when hearing something like this. You'd think for a first-world country, complete with some of the most cherishable freedoms in the world and some of the greatest blessings bestowed upon many of our citizens, we'd be more adult about accepting people different than us, religiously, ethnically, and racially. The Education of Mohammad Hussein, a short documentary that debuted on HBO January 6, 2014, does the job of showing the kind of discrimination the Muslim community is met with, specifically in the Detroit, Michigan area, which is home to a large number of Muslims. We first get a brief look at Al-Ikhlas Academy, a safe-haven for Detroit-area Muslim kids, where students of the same religion can learn about the teachings of the Qur'an, the religious book of Muslims, among other key principles in the community. The film touches on the idea that many of these young children know no life before September 11, 2001, and have experienced sometimes severe instances of racial-profiling in the Detroit-area. The other half of the film concerns Pastor Terry Jones, an anti-Islamic Christian who stirred up a whirlwind of controversy when a Youtube video showed him staging a mock trial of the Qur'an, ruling it responsible for numerous world tragedies, and concluded with him burning the book. The film shows a protest held by Jones in Detroit, preaching the gospel for Christianity to prevail and to excessively monitor or completely shun the teachings of Islam in America. The title comes from a ten-year-old boy we're introduced to in the film, who attends Al-Ikhlas Academy. Unfortunately, we know depressingly little about him come time for the documentary to wrap up, only aware that he doesn't know life before September 11, 2001 and wishes that many Americans didn't see his religion as a hate-filled one. Not really an atypical view, from a child or an adult who follows the Muslim path. The main point of criticism I have with this short is that the plot of it is completely different from what the title alludes to. The documentary's title gives you the idea you'll be watching a film involved in the education Muslim students receive and the treatment the kids endure. Instead, the project steers away from what you would think is its subject matter, into the broader (but definitely more telling) aspect of how numerous Muslims handle the hurtful discrimination bestowed upon them. The Education of Mohammad Hussein was directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. During this time last year, in fact, just ten days from today, I watched their film Detropia, a documentary examining the desolate, almost-entirely abandoned landscape that is Detroit and how its few residents cope with their once thriving city now gutted and left for dead. If Detroit has a cinematic voice, the voices are of Ewing and Grady, who will hopefully continue their line of films exploring the Detroit area and its current state following an economic downturn. However, this particular short doesn't concern any type of financial politics, but rather simpleminded discrimination and sheds light on a particular pastor who frequently seems to be contradicting his own views by not accepting "his neighbors," the Muslim people. One particular scene depicts this nicely, with Pastor Jones saying a prayer before attending his Detroit protest. Following the brief prayer, Jones puts a pistol in his pocket and heads off to lead a pointless rally spewing nothing but intolerance, ignorance, and impulsive hate. The short documentary is, indeed, short, clocking in at thirty-eight minutes and only scratching the surface off a topic that is necessary to explore in a deeper light. Ewing and Grady do an efficient job at providing a starting place, but when the credits roll, you know that these fine women have more to say than what has already been said. Even little Mohammad Hussein doesn't seem to be given enough camera time. However, I was waiting for the one comment I make when people try to say Islam is the religion of hate and intolerance. Knowing very little about Islam, I still can say with complete confidence that the radical "Islamofascists" we see in the media and in rallies are to the Islamic community what the Westboro Baptist Church is to the Christian community. Seriously think about that now. NOTE: The Education of Mohammad Hussein will be airing all throughout January 2014 on the HBO network. Since late 2013, I have made an effort to watch HBO original documentaries, many of which have premiered on Monday night and have shown exceptional documentary filmmaking quality. This one, despite its minor setback of runtime and focus, is no exception. Directed by: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.

• Takes privileges that distort the truth and facts

  chicmagnetbailey2014-10-13

  I sincerely felt this to be more of a political add for Islam than a documentary, but I recommend you watch this in order to see just how well the Muslims and HBO manipulate facts and truths as the devil did in the garden of Eden to deceive the innocent into thinking the devil himself is trustworthy. I consider this 'documentary' pure propaganda with HBO having an agenda prior to its script or being fearful as most businesses are to not offend Muslims with facts and truth. Its readily known that CAIR is supported by terrorists groups but there's no mention of this, instead HBO portrays it as a humanitarian group. In one part a Muslim accuses Pastor Terry is a racist but ignores the Koran which teaches how to put Christians and Jews into slavery, torture and murder them and mutilate their women, all these things are historical and current FACTS, yet HBO chooses to ignore these foundational truths and twist the report to show the Muslims as being the ones attacked !