The Harlem-born actor and son of an imam his role as a series regular on NBC's 'The Blacklist' as a way to address how Muslims are depicted in popular culture.
Donate NowHisham Tawfiq is known to fans of NBC’s adventure drama “The Blacklist” as an FBI special agent. But, like countless New Yorkers aspiring to make it in a creative field, he held down plenty of other jobs before that one to make ends meet. He spent 20 years as a New York City firefighter, continuing through his first two seasons on the show.
But "The Blacklist," now in its 10th and final season, hasn’t been just the latest in a series of jobs. The role has also provided a way for Tawfiq — the son of a Harlem imam, or a spiritual leader in the Muslim community – to address the way Muslims are represented on television and viewed in popular culture.
“When I came back, I was still kind of finding my way,” Tawfiq said. “I worked a lot of jobs here and there, continuing to dance with the dance company. But then I joined the Marine Corps.” “Even though I was getting more money than I had received from the fire department,” he said, “it was still very scary just to have the idea of leaving a job to pursue acting – which was kind of this dream all my life.”
He says that, having grown up the son of a religious leader, he felt a certain duty to represent Islam and Muslims in an authentic way. “The Blacklist” includes scenes of Zuma praying and speaking with his imam. That came about, Tawfiq says, after he discussed the essence of his character and his relationship to his religion with the creators of the show.
Moustafa Bayoumi, a professor of English at Brooklyn College, says it remains rare for Muslim characters to have complex storylines on TV. He cites the action drama “24,” starring Kiefer Sutherland as a counterterrorism agent, as an example of the limited options many Muslim characters face when being depicted.There was this dichotomy that you had to have either worked for the U.S. empire, and then you were considered good, or you didn't, and you were considered bad,” he said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Assailant who killed senior Asian man in East Harlem gets 22 years in prison | amNewYorkJarrod Powell, 51, was sentenced on Friday, March 31 for the hate crime killing of Yao Pan Ma, 61, in East Harlem roughly two years ago. Powell is to serve 22 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision.
Read more »
CAIR sues US prison for blocking Ramadan accommodations to Muslim inmateAlexander Crichlow, a recent convert, has been denied accommodations including breakfast before dawn, double serving of dinner at sunset and permission to pray with other Muslims, alleges Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Read more »
Israeli forces storm Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, arresting hundreds of Palestinian worshipersHundreds of people were arrested when violence erupted at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, among the holiest sites in both Islam and Judaism.
Read more »
Israeli forces storm Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, arresting hundreds of Palestinian worshipersViolence broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City overnight after Israeli police stormed the sensitive compound, fueling fear that already-high tension in the heart of the Middle East could erupt again.
Read more »
Violence at Jerusalem mosque prompts fears of wider fightingIsraeli police have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, firing stun grenades and beating Palestinian youths who hurled stones and firecrackers in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday seasons. Gaza militants responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, drawing an Israeli airstrike in response. The violence came as Muslims mark the holy month of Ramadan and Jews prepare to celebrate Passover at sundown Wednesday. Such confrontations at the contested holy compound have sparked deadly cross-border wars between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers in the past.
Read more »
'The Power' actor Daniela Vega on her transformative role as a rebel nunThe new dramatic series “The Power” embraces a jolting premise: that young girls have developed the ability to radiate electricity as a means of self-preservation.
Read more »