Sleeper Cell
Published by Haseeb December 19th, 2006 in Entertainment, Television
Wow what a series finale…
For the record, and before I get tons of hate mail/comments - I would like to state that I do not support this show; nor do I recommend it. The show contains unnecessary scenes with quite a bit of haraam content (and i dont just mean violence and foul language - so yea… dont watch it!!!). Don’t say you werent warned!!
Aside from the haraam stuff (which i skipped through), I do, however, appreciate much of the show’s premise and many themes/storylines within it - especially relating to Islam, Muslim Identity, America’s role in the “war on terror”, how Muslims (especially converts) become attracted to extremist rhetoric, etc. As far as the show itself goes, I would say that it’s somewhat like a hybrid of the TV show 24 and the movie Syriana. There is a lot I truly like in the show. Many of the writers are Muslim, and the creators of the show went a long way keeping it as authentic as possible. Ironically enough, this not-very-muslim-friendly show brings up issues and gives references that I believe only Muslims can truly understand. I really do hope they come out with an edited version of the show - that I can recommend, lol.
And just to give a quick background, the show’s basic plot follows the lead character, Darwyn Al-Saeed, a black American convert (practicing Muslim) who is an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates Sleeper Cells made up of a diverse group of extreme muslim terrorists (mostly converts). Aside from one major issue I had a hard time looking past, (he has premarital relations), Darwyn is a devout Muslim, fluent in Arabic, and frequently quotes hadith and Quran in the show.
For those of you who have already seen the series, I’d like to hear what you think about the show, and particularly the way Season 2 has ended.
Season two is the last season! Aww man I’m sad. I love this show. I love how they show the hyprocrisy of terrorists, especially Farik. He’s always talking about fighting for God and for the cause but then he tells Darwyn to drink alcohol even if thats necessary to further the cause and sells heroine to white supremicists for the cause. My fav episode was in Season 1 with Sheik Zaid from Syria and how he used the Qur’an to change the actions of terrorists. The best scene was at the end when Darwyn tells Ray that Zaid is the type of guy thats needed to fight the war on terror, since this is a struggle within Islam.
BTW, Darwyn’s character is not a convert, he was born and raised Muslim.
too bad this series has soo many haraam scenes because I think a lot of Muslims should look at it! There really is a lot of stuff that I think only Muslims get when they look at Sleeper Cell.
(sigh)
la hawla wa la quwatta illa billah
“which I skipped through”
riiiight
lol.. is the second season better than the first? I watched the first one and thought it sucked..
that’s what Darwyn would say to himself when he felt really stressed and put in difficult situations
Am I missing something?..Ive never heard about this…when does it come on..what channel ? Or is this one of those HBO series? let me know i wanna check it out ! !
The Wire - the only TV show MR watches
Yh shows is good.. but onnly problem i have is the haram scenes astaghfirullah….
What i dont get is why the terroris are playes by converts.. in season 1 all the terrorists where non muslims the skin head guy, and the other 2.. they aint 1 arab whos the terrorists except for the leader of the group farakhan..whos an idiot… What kinda terrorists are these, they not even practising muslims, im sure the terrorist dont do all that haraam stuff….i aint seen 24, how is that similer to this show.. and syrians is long, boring and confusing film ive ever seen..
Prison break and lost is much better. dont forget pb fdans its gonna come back on in jan..cant remember the exact date….
yeah i have to agree with kal, I really don’t think terrorists behave like the guys in sleeper cell. I don’t think this show is remotely close to reality but its still pretty good.
the leader of the group is a jew (ish actor) by the way and pretends to be a jew on the show, too.
When the show first came on, it was on another channel besides showtime. And I watched one or two episode. The worst T.V show ever.
I hated the fact that these guys prayed but did haraam stuff. The worst part was when they stoned one of their own in the desert, it was disgusting and idiotic.
After that, I thought the whole thing was b.s.
Since when does someone who reads the Qur’an curse left and right and drink and fornicate.
It is following your desires, quite the opposite of self sacrifice, aint it.
I guess they are trying to show the terrorists as extremists in all aspects and probably want a wider audience.
I agree with MR, despite the rampant cursing, the Wire is a much better drama than this terrrorist cell nonsense.
The Wire, this season, I watched some of the episodes and they rock, they were about the four kids in elementary school and they probably know more about life than we do in college.
And just the whole thing is so real and written by a former cop in Baltimore that this show was so much better than any other shows(Big Love might come in as secondish place but also not a big fan, except it is about a religious community I didnt know about).
the above is my opinion.
Takfiri Terrorists read the Quran and then drink and fornicate, in real life I mean.
I really like the show (even though there definitely are haraam scenes in there unfortunately). The whole point of making these terrorists drink and do all these haraam things is to show that terrorism and islam is not synonymous. One of the goals of the show was to show that although these people claim to be killing innocent people “for the sake of Allah
swt”, they’re going completely against islam. A terrorist is not a mujaahid. A mujaahid goes to war in order to defend muslims and their right to live and practice islam. A mujaahid is a practicing muslim, who follows the specific rules of jihad. These terrorists make up their own reasons for attacking, and go completely beyond the bounds of islam. That’s what the show portrays, and that’s why i like it.
My biggest problem with the show though, is that they show darwyn fornicating. Darwyn is supposed to be the good, practicing muslim, but in season 1, he fornicates with the woman…that was the annoying part to me, but then again, it’s showtime, they have to have some silly soap opera stuff in there to get people to watch.
by the way, i watched michael ealy (the guy who plays darwyn) on that talkshow (with karen from Will and Grace), and she asked him if there was anything he wanted people to get out of the show…and he said,(summed up in my own words): “i want people to know that islam is a peaceful religion. And what these terrorists are doing, has nothing to do with islam. And i want for people to understand why the terrorists act the way they do, what their mentality is, because as long as we keep thinking about it from our own perspectives, we won’t get it.”
I’ve watched the Wire through the seasons; absolutely love it..probably my favorite show cuz I’m so addicted to it. But for those of you who feel Sleeper Cell is unrealistic, I have to disagree. That stuff is real, the ppl’s personalities and characters are real. I’ve met a Farik or two, and an Elia for that matter. I come across muslims like them all the time. The fornicating happens, whether ppl admit or not; the drinking is being done by the same people attending friday prayer, and there are many quiet extremists among us (some of the extremism comes out from time to time, which I’m sure you guys may notice). I love to quote verses and hadith that I feel relevant but am far from perfect, and that’s what I think we can relate to when we see Darwyn; just that some of us may not be doing something as bad. Overall, I loved the first season; I think the characters in the second season weren’t developed enough: we jumped right into the next terror plot. Feel free to disagree with me.
Damn after reading Haseeb’s post, i was gunna check out sleeper cell, but after reading the comments, im probably not gunna check it out anymore haha.
yeah the wire is very realistic, becuase if you look at real life baltimore news as recent as Dec. 2006, you will see that the drug dealing and the murders still happen. it’s really crazy wat goes out down there. the wire is very underated.
im not a TV guy though. as i said before it’s the ONLY tv show i watch thus far.
THE WIRE rules much better than any other show and I would say MR: DONT WATCH SLEEPER CELL
Even The WIRE has innumerable curses but at least it tells stories and makes you sympathize with some of the characters.
DONT waste your time.
It is unfortunate that Inaam has come across characters as such, I wouldnt know but I was thinking that the series and characters were a big fat lie and fake. only God knows for real.
wait why’d u take them down?!? i wanted ot watch them.. can you give me the links please?? or email or soemthign
You can watch them here.
I had some issues about putting the links up since they had explicity haraam scenes. The website that has the links to all these episode is here: http://quicksilverscreen.com/
Again watch at your own discretion. I dont want any onus on me for any1 else’s potential sins.
if you want to watch a real show. Watch Smallville. It follows the early adventures of Clark Kent before he becomes Superman.
‘Nuff Said
Hasseb I am sorry but I live in Egypt , from you talk this series wasn’t attacking the Muslims in general like you were referring
coz our media is attacking it day and night
Please tell exactly does it help you as Muslim community to interact more with the americans??
Does it show the Arabs mad terrorists or what ?? coz that’s what is sad
about the haram scene , well they are not problem too me already I am an adult plus I am reading now The Original Text of One thousand and one nights , and the poetry there are much more worst especially in Arabic than these sinful acts
Optimum Online (cablevision) is offering the first 7 episodes of season one EDITED (no curses!) on its free on demand service. Im watching episode 8 now on that site you linked… and Im like man all this cursing is a major drag. The end of episode 7 was shocking.
Salaam,
When one watches this series, they must remember this is a work of fiction. After watching this mini-series in order to erase the lmpact on your sub-conscious you should watch this PBS Frontline documentary so you can put your thoughts and feelings back in perspective in relationship to reality:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/enemywithin/view/