President Donald Trump’s rise to power has stirred much consternation and concern among American Muslim communities.
It’s also provoked fearless (and devilishly irreverent) acts of defiance ― like the one created by Kausar Mohammed, a 25-year-old actress from Los Angeles, California.
In “Dangerous Muslim,” a parody of pop star Ariana Grande’s hit song “Dangerous Woman,” Mohammed sidles up to a wall plastered with photos of the president, jokes about Trump’s “fish lips,” and seductively poses on a bed, all while singing about a special “something” Trump has that’s making her feel some type of way.
“Something about you makes me feel like a dangerous Muslim,” Mohammed sings. “Something about you makes me more in love with my religion.”
The bawdy, satirical Facebook video, published May 8, purports to be a “love letter to Trump” ― but is exactly the opposite of it. The video actually subverts stereotypes about Muslims to criticize the president.
Trump promised to be a president “for all Americans” but has steadfastly neglected the concerns of American Muslims. He’s watched silently as anti-Muslim hate crimes spiked dramatically in the U.S. and bungled his way through a backdoor Muslim ban, which sought to ban people from several Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States. The ban, which came in the form of an executive order, sparked mass protests and caused hundreds of people to be detained at airports. A U.S. appeals court is currently reviewing the executive order.
Mohammed told HuffPost that she and her co-star in the video, Krishna Kumar, came up with the idea after hearing about Trump’s executive order back in January. They attended a protest against the travel ban at Los Angeles International Airport, which cemented their drive to create the video.
The actors poked fun at the beleaguered travel ban and the profiling Muslims have often faced while traveling. Mohammed sings, “Your airport holdups they got me warmed up for your frisking.”
Mohammed and Kumar also pointed out the utter absurdity of connecting the violent ideologies of a few extremists to the faith of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims.
“Not all Muslims are like that, 1.6 billion in fact. A couple suck, but we’re not all bad,” they sang together in the video.
“We set out to use comedy to address Islamophobia ― because, like all stereotypes, it is ridiculous it to generalize all Muslims as bad due to the actions of a few,” Kumar told HuffPost in an email. “We also wanted to reclaim the fear that the current political climate perpetuates about Muslims and use that to strengthen instead of cut down.”
Watch “Dangerous Muslim” above.
This article has been updated with comments from the actors.