American Muslim

Saying Goodbye to Family Guy

Asalaam Alaikum (Peace be with you),

I've been a fan of Family Guy for a long time. Some of my old roommates and I would spend hours watching it and we memorized numerous lines, especially Peter's laugh and Quagmire's cheesy,"Awwwwwriiiiight." But, there have definitely been times when I seriously wondered whether I should be watching the show because of the raunchy humor and the issues they touch that are still definitely shocking. And I believe they - the creators and producers - have finally crossed the line, or at least my line of tolerance.

In a recent episode, they showed Jesus - Isa in Arabic and a beloved Muslim prophet - arguing with Joseph (Yusuf). When Joseph says no to one of Jesus's request, the latter says, "Fine, you're not my real dad anyway," and promptly picks up the phone (an interesting anachronism) and calls his "real father" aka Allah (SWT). This is where it becomes absolutely loathsome. Not only do the creators of Family Guy depict Allah (SWT) as a man, but they show Him in bed with a woman and having an argument over wearing a condom.

I mean, I'm having trouble just writing these words because the act depicted above is so terrifying, so awful, just so haraam (forbidden) that when I initially saw it, I literally turned off the TV and had to ask myself about what I just seen.

By depecting Allah (SWT) as a man, the Family Guy people have committed a sin known as tajseem or anthropomorphism or displaying something or someone with human characteristics. There are some references in Qur'an and hadith to Allah (SWT) possessing the equivalent of some human anatomy, but we don't know what exactly or how it looks. So, to draw Allah (SWT) in human form is not only impossible, but also absolutely forbidden.

This is something I have thought about for awhile - man's desire to see God and imagine what He looks like. Two movies and two actors come to mind when I think about this dilemma - Alanis Morissette in Dogma and Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty. I remember watching both movies at separate occasions and being queasy, as if I have been guilty about what I was watching. And subhanallah, it was Allah (SWT) that put the feeling in my heart of guilt so even then, when I was not Muslim, did I know that depicting God as a man was wrong.