Poor Righteous Preacher   

- Irfan Rydhan

Photos from the Power Of One comedy show: http://www.illumemedia.org/gallery.php?category_id=29&parent_id= 0

Comedian Preacher Moss speaks with Illume Magazine about using stand-up comedy to give da'wah and speak his mind about politics, racism and being an African American Muslim after 9/11.

Preach's first encounter with Islam was with the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther movement during the late sixties and seventies.  While studying Comedy 101 at Marquette University, he began to study Islam during his sophomore year in college.  After becoming Muslim, his comedic voice changed.  

Preacher then began to work as a teacher for severely emotionally disturbed children, while continuing his stand-up comedy on the side in Milwaukee. At the age of 29, his parents divorced and his mother was left with nothing.  Preach was already receiving calls from the likes of George Lopez and others in Hollywood, so he decided to quit teaching and give his retirement money to his mother to help her get off her feet.  He was off to Hollywood with nothing more than big dreams and faith in Allah.

Preach worked with Damon Wayans and George Lopez, but eventually was forced to choose between his values as a Muslim, with those of an up and coming comedian in Hollywood, and decided not to sell Islam short, and thus went his separate ways. Illume Magazine had the opportunity to sit with Preach and speak casually about his work and experiences so far. This interview took place after the Power of One comedy show, which happened in early December. Preacher Moss made his Appearance after other talented comedians and gave a very strong and entertaining session. He covered issues ranging from current events, racism in the U.S., to relations between him and his wife's family (who are Indian Muslims).

Preacher also touched on his conversion to Islam and how it affected his family, especially his mother who is a very religious Christian.  He described a very funny incident in which his mother tricked him into taking her to their church on mother's day and in reality, the whole church knew of his conversion to Islam and members of the congregation were trying to convince him to come back to the flock.

The interview below entails not only Preach's humorous personality but his articulate and serious nature as well. Although the jokes can fool you, don't let them fool you to the point of not believing in this man's wit, intelligence and most of all persuasion. Behind the comedy, there is purpose.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: First, could you enlighten the readers as to how you came to Islam?

PREACHER MOSS: By my early twenties, Islam had been a tough experience. I had toured with jazz bands for a number of years, and when that ended, it's like Allah knew my heart. I had been on a spiritual journey that led me to Muslims, and away from Islam.  It was a learning experience that the religion, not its followers, was perfect. I had the misfortune of studying Islam with a group of people who we not, spiritually inclined. In my early development that could have been tragic. It turned out to be inspiring, as it made me really look at how I could use my talents to increase humanity.

People often asked how I maintained my Islamic identity when I got to "Hollyweird."  The truth is like everything else I had to battle to maintain it. I struggled, because to really be successful in Hollywood, you have to see yourself as the center of the universe, and pretend you're the only reason you're there. You had religion out there, but it was more a by-product of agendas more often than true spiritual expression. If you stop to think about it, the entire film industry is built upon, people "acting" like people they aren't. The best actors are the ones that make you believe the make believe. I was never good at that. It was a conflict of interest for me, and many aspects of Islam. For this reason, I chose to work behind the scenes with other comedians. In this way I was always able to be in control of my environment.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: Have you encountered any negativity?

PM: I haven't really encountered a lot of negativity outside of being posted on some websites or blogs. There are a lot of things that could have gone wrong with being a Muslim comic, but (not) up to this point. I am sometimes surprised at how misinformed some Muslims are on the subject matter of comedy and humor. But they are coming around.

The interesting thing is that when I became Muslim, I never ever felt funny again. Discipline and struggle outweighed the "funny." "Funny" was for those who bothered to just listen to what I said rather than think about it. Comedy was my language. Laughter was just a possible outcome.  I have been blessed to have the support of the Muslim community as a whole, and of our scholars. The synergy of both has been of great inspiration to myself and other comedians I work with. I'm blessed to see other Muslim comedians come into a comedy community that has an established tradition for what we do, and then see non-Muslims appreciative of what we have developed as an art form.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: Do you feel as though in Muslim cultures, there is a taboo regarding entertainment and comic relief specifically?

PM: There isn't so much taboo when it comes to comedy and entertainment in Muslims cultures, as there is misinformation. All too often we fear what we don't know. This is common in other aspects of living too. It is not a rare characteristic. I believe that the role of negative agendas have been divisive anytime someone wants to uniquely express themselves. I am not a scholar, but can appreciate the poet Rumi, for his timely and insightful views of life from his perspective.

When it comes to comedy, Muslims sometimes have a limited understanding of the art form and tend to be dismissive of it's potential for good. I can see where some would feel that self-expression could undermine authority. But it could never come close to undermining the will of Allah. That is totally unrealistic- comedy is an art form that organically speaks to the people. There is no burden of interpretation from an outside source. Your audience validates it or doesn't. It doesn't follow the protocol of some Muslim chain of command in most instances. Azhar, Azeem, Mo Amer, and myself differ in which scholars we go to for guidance and interpretation, but ultimately we make our own decisions because we will be held accountable.

Islamic comedy is a source of da'wah, just like social comedy can be a source of da'wah. It really is an issue of where our intentions led us.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: Can jokes and humor go too far? And where should individuals set their limits (adab) or be reminded of their limits by others?

PM: Jokes and humor go to far when anyone willingly attempts to deceive the people. You are in a trusted position to give information, and it's a sacred trust. I remind others, and myself, that we hold a powerful position as communicators. It's this trust that should be considered every time we open our mouths to speak. This is a huge responsibility. If you cannot give information responsibly, then you need to learn how or defer to those who can.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: The Michael Richard's incident: what is your take on that? I know you've used the "n-word" a little bit in your performances and many leaders in the Black community are saying that it shouldn't be used, what's your take on that?

PM: People should not be disillusioned into thinking that the word does not exist, that it's not a part of our vernacular. You can remove the word, but you're not going to remove the environment and attitude that allows for that word to exist. We can't be utopian and think we're going to remove a word and all of a sudden Iraqi's are going to fall in love with Iranians and "kumbaya". No.

Alhamdulillah, I've been able to come out of that and accept the shahadah (declaration of faith) 20 years ago and now when I look at it, I don't look at it totally from my context. It means I'm allowed to talk to other people who are not African American, who are not Muslim, or whatever. You have to be able to educate somebody and through education people learn why I don't want to use that word. Right now it is a knee-jerk reaction. This guy 'Kramer', or Michael Richards, let me tell you something, there's something in him. There was an environment that let him think it was okay to use that word.

Same thing with Mel Gibson, there was something in him, there was an environment that he was a part of, to allow him to say these things, even though he claimed it was alcohol. Alcohol brings out the true you, alcohol and money brings out the true you. Same thing with Muslims, when we get with each other, we want to call people infidels, and all these things. We want to down people's culture. When you render the word powerless is when you attack that environment that allows it to breathe and matriculate in all these type of things.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: Do you feel like your success is more within a certain generation or is everyone receptive to it, from all walks of life and all age groups?

PM: My success has definitely been universal. Doing the Allah Made Me Funny tour and End of Racism Comedy Tours has afforded me a very large demographic. All praises due to Allah. The model is the religion itself as the religion is universal. I'm just following a game plan already in front of me. Most people are receptive, and those who aren't are inquisitive. I say this meaning that they often times are brave enough to seek out some clarity on whatever I may have spoke about, as opposed to making an incomplete and hollow judgment.

Years ago at an MSA event, I spoke about racism in America, and was labeled a racist by another Muslim organization, that shall remain nameless. It was a ridiculous assumption, as I had watched an Islamic scholar talk on the same subject 30 minutes before me. The only difference was that I spoke about it in a specified way. I performed the same several years later at an event for the unnamed Muslim organization, and was called brilliant.

My point here is that we cannot take the core values of subject matter conditionally. We have to be brave enough to be vulnerable in getting out a pure message about what we believe, or don't believe. It boils down to being consistently sincere.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: Is Islamic creativity and artistic expression being muted? How can Muslim artists combat these restrictions?

PM: Islamic creativity and art are being muted, because we think they can be muted. We allow this foolishness, if you will. If Allah gives you clarity in you life and ambitions, why should you let anyone compromise that? Muslim artists need to have a backbone like non-Muslim artists. Artistic expression is not lavished on all of humanity. Everyone is not an artist. Being an artist is rarified air. You have to understand and accept your place, as a servant would his master. Once you understand that, you're in a better place to express yourself wisely and with confidence.

ILLUME MAGAZINE: You have a new comic strip coming out.  Tell us a little about that.

PM: It's called "Preach the Word" and right now it's specifically with Illume Magazine. It's a great comic; I think it's in the spirit of "Boondocks" meets Muslim culture. Intellectual thought. It's biting, like an Islamic "Doonesbury." We want to take shots in an educated way, but a caring way.