Original subtitles

[upbeat music]

� We're here at the recently built Islamic center,

where a man who was peacefully protesting

was beaten within inches of his life

by a man who had recently converted to Islam.

I'm here with a member of his congregation.

Now, how does your community feel

about this gruesome attack?

� Well, right now, we're just praying for the victim.

He deserves our love and prayers

even if he's a vocal opponent of ours.

And I just want to be clear that the actions of Dennis

are so not what our crew is about.

We don't roll like that.

� Well, you're a recent convert yourself, yes?

� Well, I actually like to think of myself as a revert.

I was born Muslim, and I just found my way back.

� Well, I mean, first Jihadi John

and then your center's very own Dennis��

do you think there's a danger of white people

converting to Islam?

� Whoa, whoa, no. No bueno, madam.

� Well, well, I mean, I think that's a legitimate question.

People are scared.

� This was an isolated incident.

This guy just became a Muslim.

You know, I think, frankly, it should be harder to join.

Ameen.

� Your sheikh is really fucking hot.

� What are you doing here?

� Mom sent me. Here, kushari.

� Is she, like, freaking out or something or...

� I should probably introduce myself to your sheikh.

� No, this is a really sensitive time, Dena. Don't��

� Hey. As-salamu alaykum.

� Wa alaykumu s-salam.

� It's, like, such a sad situation,

and, um, I'm sure that my brother

had something to do with all of this,

so please let our family know if there's anything we can do.

I could give you my number or, like,

whatever's best, email or...

� Thank you.

Please give your family my salaams.

My daughter Zainab will reach out if we need anything.

� As-salamu alaykum. � Oh, wa alaykumu s-salam.

I might stop by the center, uh, sometime too.

I've just had questions about faith and stuff.

� Inshallah. DENA: Inshallah, yeah.

God willing. � Okay.

All right. As-salamu alaykum. � Yeah.

� Hey, guys, it's still not looking good in there.

� Are they accepting visitors yet?

I'd love to pray by his side.

� Right now, they're only allowing family in there.

Look, they're freaked out��

everyone coming from the mosque, people praying.

Somebody tried to give the family a shawarma.

What I could do is, I could try to talk to his brother

to get you guys in.

Just follow me.

I just want to prepare you guys, mainly Ramy,

for what you're about to see in there.

The man is essentially brain�dead.

He's on life support, a complete vegetable.

He's got lacerations all over his body,

and he's lost control of all of his motor functions.

This isn't an easy image to take in.

Look, Sheikh, I know you're spiritually strong,

and you got broad shoulders, but look at this guy.

He's not ready. We went to the movies.

We saw Toy Story 4. He cried.

It's not even the sad one. � It's��it's really sad.

� I'm sure there were emotional moments, Doctor.

But may we go inside, please?

� You cried at the previews.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

[monitor beeping, respirator hissing]

RON: Hi. SHEIKH: Good to meet you, sir.

RON: Good to meet you.

SHEIKH: Thank you for seeing us.

Ramy, Zainab, this is Ron, Nico's brother.

� It's an honor to shake your hand, son.

If it wasn't for you, that guy would have killed my brother.

� Uh, um, you're welcome, yeah.

I just, you know, um�� just had to do the right thing.

You know, just my instincts kind of kicked in, yeah.

� To be honest... [scoffs]

When I first came in here

and I saw you guys praying in the waiting room,

I got fucking mad.

I wanted to go in and say, "Look, you know,

"no matter what you do, when he wakes up,

he's not joining ISIS."

� Yeah. RON: And I came back in here,

and I saw my brother laying in that bed,

and I realized that we could use

all the prayers that we could get.

So your prayers and shit, if they work, we'll take 'em.

� You mind if I pray at his bedside?

� Knock yourself out.

Oh, God.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a pussy or anything.

� It's okay, man. � It's okay to be upset.

It's what you should be feeling.

� Your English is actually pretty good.

� Uh, why wouldn't her English be��

� Thank you, Ron, I appreciate that.

I was actually born here.

� You know, at the end of the day,

if Nico's time is up,

I know he died doing what he loved.

� That's��that's a good way to look at it, yeah.

� Is this shawarma spicy?

I mean, you put peppers in it or anything?

ZAINAB: Uh, I don't know. I didn't make it.

[heartbeat thumping]

RON: There's this guy at work, Sandeep.

He's always eating this shit.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[cell phone chimes]

ZAINAB: Are you ser��oh��

No.

Dad, uh...

Mr. Nabil's having second thoughts

about donating to the center.

Uh, "The recent negative attention brought to the space

has made me rethink my investment."

� I anticipated this.

I have to see him after Ramy and I visit the jail.

� The��the jail? SHEIKH: Yes.

To see brother Dennis, your friend?

� Oh, yeah, I mean, he��he's not really, like,

a close friend or anything, honestly.

We grew up a couple towns apart from each other,

so we didn't go to the same high school or anything,

so it's not, like, that intimate.

Are you sure we're�� we're allowed to visit?

I��I thought it was family only.

� We can visit, inshallah.

� Okay, yeah, yeah. yeah, inshallah.

Well, um...

how about I��I'll go, you know, and��and then

it sounds like you have a lot to��to deal with,

so��and I'll tell him you said salaam��

� I appreciate that, but I'd like to speak to him too.

Not only did that brother just become a Muslim,

but he's in a lot of pain.

He needs us now more than ever.

� Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. [cell phone chimes]

� Okay, Dad, I have to go back to the center and make calls.

� Take my car. I'll ride with Ramy.

� Uh, actually, I don't have a car right now.

Uh, I usually use my mom's, but, um,

I could call us a car, though.

Yeah, I can get us a�� like, an Uber or��or a Lyft.

I know both are morally compromised.

ZAINAB: I will call a car. RAMY: Whichever you��

� Zainab��

� He doesn't want me getting in cars with strangers.

� It's the ultimate act of faith.

[cell phone chimes] ZAINAB: Okay,

car's already here, Melissa, blue Prius.

� Wa alaykumu s-salam.

� Well, Melissa sounds like a really safe driver.

Probably very conscious, white,

so she'll probably stop at stop signs, but she'll��

Okay.

[metallic clanking]

[loud clank]

[electronic humming]

[indistinct chatter]

RAMY: Hey, man. DENNIS: As-salamu alaykum.

SHEIKH: Wa alaykumu s-salam, brother.

How you holding up?

DENNIS: Oh, man. I fucked up.

I don't know what to say.

� You don't have to say anything right now.

Would you like to make prayer together?

� Nah, I mean, yeah, I do. It just��it��

When I first told Ramy

about everything that happened over in Iraq,

he said, "Don't say nothing," but...[clears throat]

All the people that I hurt��

you know, all these people that I killed��

� Yeah, you know, I��I think, like the��the sheikh said,

you know, we don't really need to say anything right now.

I think prayer is a really good, uh, option for us.

Like a silent prayer.

Like, if anything, you could just apologize

to God privately, you know?

Kind of just keep it between you and Allah.

I think that would be, um�� be really beautiful, inshallah.

� Man, you're like a modern�day saint,

you know that?

You told me that it didn't matter how many people

that I killed, you know?

No matter what I'd done, like,

the��the people�� the kid I kidnapped��

RAMY: I don't��I don't think you��you told me about that.

� Oh, no, I definitely told you about that.

Little Omar?

� Huh. � You said it was all good.

Just��just don't say nothing to nobody,

and we're gonna pull through this.

� You know, I��I just think the past

is the past for all of us.

You know, I think we can kind of just, like,

just keep��keep on moving.

� See? He just keeps on pushing.

He just says it's okay, you know?

That's what you're always like, and I appreciate.

That's why I love you, man.

But I still fucked up. I still let you down.

I fucking��I hurt that guy bad, man.

And the worst part about it is Boomer.

Fuck!

� Boomer?

� Remember I told you about Boomer, my dog, man?

She's locked up in my car. She's been there for two days.

If��if she doesn't make it, man, something happens to her,

I'm gonna go fucking crazy, man.

I'm not gonna make it out of here, man.

� She's in your car right now? � We'll find your dog, brother.

It's okay. Just tell us where it is.

DENNIS: I don't even know. You know, I wasn't on my meds.

I been leaving my car in this tent city in Newark.

We been out in the swamplands in��in Green Village.

You know, we were driving up these dirt roads.

I don't even know where the fuck we're going anym��

SHEIKH: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, brother, calm down.

It's all right.

We'll find your dog, inshallah.

Just take some tea.

Details will come back to you.

� Thank you, Sheikh.

[exhales heavily]

I'm so glad I joined Muslim before I came to prison.

You know, we look out for each other.

We got our own community.

I ain't gonna get raped because of Islam, inshallah.

� Wow, yeah, inshallah, man. That's, um...

that's a really��that's a really good point, I think.

That's a beautiful part of the faith��like,

we always say that, right?

� Astaghfirullah.

� Sheikh, you know, a��all that stuff

that Dennis said about murder and everything,

I��I really didn't know about any of that.

So I'm��I'm��I'm sorry. I just��it was��

� Uh�uh.

� What?

� It's not our time.

� Oh, it's just, there��there's no cars,

so I thought that�� that we could��

� It's not our time.

Discipline, Ramy.

It's a muscle.

� Yeah, I��look,

Dennis is�� he's just a complex guy��

� It's green.

RAMY: Uh, I, uh�� I think this is the spot.

He said it would either be here or by Rutt's Hut,

and, um, I called them

and they said they didn't see a car.

SHEIKH: [exhales, groans]

RAMY: You��you sure we should get out?

Maybe we should keep driving.

It feels a little dangerous around here.

SHEIKH: Bismillah.

� Hey, Sheikh, do you, uh��

do you want some of my mom's kushari?

Uh, I��I know we haven't really eaten all day,

and it's still kind of warm.

� It's best to move on a light stomach.

We eat after we find the car, inshallah.

Please pray, Ramy.

Make a dua for this dog.

� Are we��are we supposed to pray for dogs?

I��I thought dogs were haram.

� Who told you that? � My parents.

But they also told me that Pokémon cards are haram,

and I'm pretty sure Pokémon aren't in the Koran.

SHEIKH: [speaking Arabic]

RAMY: Wait, it mentions Pokémon?

SHEIKH: It mentions a dog.

RAMY: Right.

SHEIKH: Our ummah often doesn't understand

what is haram and what isn't.

Nothing in and of itself is haram.

It's a matter of how we choose to engage with it.

Alcohol, for example, isn't haram.

Drinking it is.

The rules are very important in our faith.

Not for the reasons you might think.

I was confused about this once too.

By the grace of Allah, I found my teacher.

She taught me that Islam was like an orange.

There's an outer part and an inner part.

If someone only got the rules and rituals,

they might think Islam was tough and bitter

like the outside of an orange.

But there's an inside, a juicy flesh,

the divine intimacy, the spiritual experience.

The rind without the flesh is bitter and useless.

The flesh without the rind would quickly rot.

The outer Sharia protects the inner spirituality.

And the inner spirituality gives the outer Sharia

its purpose and meaning.

My teacher helped me understand that I needed both.

RAMY: Yeah, I don't think we're gonna find anything out here.

[sighs] I don't know, none of these look like his car.

He said he had a Land Cruiser, and I don't��

[sighs] I don't know. Maybe it's by those tracks?

SHEIKH: We keep looking, even if it takes all night.

� I'm sorry, I feel like this all my fault.

Like, all the bad attention to the center and��

and this whole day, it's just...

Maybe we should just go back.

I��I don't think we're gonna find anything on this track.

� What about the dog, Ramy?

� Look, how do we even know the dog's real?

All right, Den��Dennis hasn't been on his meds.

He just talks about a bunch of stuff,

and I've never even seen it.

� Do you have to see something in order for it to be real?

RAMY: [stammers]

[cell phone ringtone playing] SINGER: ♪ Allahu Akbar�� ♪

� Let's make isha.

� Um, like��like, right now?

Just��uh, just 'cause we don't have, like, a mat or anything��

� Which way is the qibla?

� Um, it's��

qibla is that way.

Oh, yeah.

Okay, the thing is, I just��

I��I don't have any water to make wudu,

and, uh, I��I farted back there when we were walking.

So I don't even have wudu 'cause of the fart.

� You look at everything as a blessing or a curse, Ramy.

The truth is, everything is both.

We have to see the blessings in the curses

and be wary of the curses in the blessings.

Both are from God. Both are an opportunity.

What if this search for Boomer

isn't the burden you think it is?

What if it's a chance?

A chance to take responsibility for your actions

instead of making excuses.

Tayammum.

We don't need water.

Say bismillah.

Mm.

[speaks in Arabic]

RAMY: Oh, you�� you want me to...

Okay, um...

[clears throat]

[praying in Arabic]

SHEIK: [speaking Arabic]

[singing in Arabic]

[dog barking faintly]

[speaking Arabic]

[barking continues]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[barking continues]

� This is it! � Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

RAMY: It's��it's locked? � Yes.

RAMY: Oh, she's, like, covered in shit.

Oh, what if we, uh... as-salamu alaykum.

What if we break open in the window with this?

� No, no, no, no, no, no. RAMY: No?

� No. [breathing heavily]

♪ ♪

[speaking Arabic]

♪ ♪

� How��how'd you do that?

� [chuckles] It was unlocked.

RAMY: Oh. SHEIKH: Stay, stay, stay, stay.

As-salamu alaykum. [clicking tongue]

Come on. Whoa.

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah.

Let's get her cleaned up. Come on, come on.

Come on.

� Ramy, the most important part of the bay'ah

is that the murid must always

be honest with the teacher.

RAMY: I��I know. I��I'm sorry��

SHEIKH: It's an essential part of this relationship,

this partnership.

Perhaps we moved into this too soon.

� W�what do you mean, too soon?

SHEIKH: It's clear you're not ready to make this commitment.

All I asked of you was not to lie.

To always tell me the truth.

� I��I know, and I'm��I'm sorry.

I was trying to impress you.

I��I should've told you everything I knew about Dennis.

I just��I just wanted to�� � Look, Ramy,

it's not even you.

It's my fault for giving you too much too soon.

� No, it is me. I��I know it's me.

And��and wallahi I��I won't lie to you again.

I know I can be better.

� I don't think this is gonna work.

� W�what you mean, like��

like, this bay'ah, like, you��you being my teacher?

SHEIKH: Mm. No, I'm still bound.

I just think you should study with someone else.

� But I don't want another sheikh.

I��I want you.

I��I don't want this to be, like, an open thing.

� I want Boomer to be your teacher.

I want you to learn from this dog.

Look into her eyes.

All you see is purity, truth,

compassion,

true love.

If you could become more like this dog,

I think you'd be on the path.

Follow her wherever she goes.

As-salamu alaykum.

� Are you doing one of those dog walking apps now?

� No, no, guys, uh,

my sheikh gave me this dog to take care of.

� Take care of her?

� Dad, I'm sure the sheikh

has some sort of wisdom behind us.

He's, like, a really, like, profound guy.

� Wisdom? [speaking Arabic]

� Everything Ramy does is haram.

At least we get to play this with one.

� The last time you wanted a dog,

it was when you were in the fourth grade.

Remember when you were watching that movie, what's it called?

Air Buddy, yeah, Air Buddy,

you know, the dog that, uh,

makes the basketball with his nose��

� Mom, look, having a dog isn't haram, okay?

I��I'm telling you, I spoke about it with the sheikh.

� Wallahi?

Okay?

� She doesn't seem to know how to play basketball.

� [stammers]

� She speaks Arabic.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

SINGER: [singing in Arabic]

♪ ♪