NEGOTIATING RELIGIOUS IDENTITY in the INFIDEL FILM a Thesis Submitted to Faculty of Adab and Humanities in Partial Fulfillment O

NEGOTIATING RELIGIOUS IDENTITY IN THE INFIDEL FILM

A Thesis

Submitted to Faculty of Adab and Humanities in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata One (S1)

PURNAMA SARI MAHARANI 1113026000002

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA

2017 ABSTRACT

Purnama Sari Maharani, Negotiating Religious Identity in The Infidel Film. Thesis: English Letters Department, Adab and Humanities Faculty, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, 2017. This research is intended to identify the issue of religious identity an immigrant Muslim who was born as a Jew. The unit analysis of this research is The Infidel film (2010) which is directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by David Baddiel. The methodology of this research is qualitative method with descriptive analysis. The issue of religious identity in the film begins to appear when the main character, named Mahmud Nasir, is asked to learn about Jewish culture by Rabii. This requirement aims to prepare himself how to behave like a Jew in front of his biological father. According to the issue, this research focuses on the strategy which is used by Mahmud Nasir to resolve his religious identity problem. Therefore, the researcher uses the identity concept from Stuart Hall, especially the notion that is arranged by Hall about the three potential strategies to resolve the identity problem. As a result, the researcher finds out that Mahmud is used negotiation strategy to resolve his religious identity.

Keywords: Film Analysis, Identity, Religious Identity, Negotiation strategy, Pakistani immigrant

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this submission is my work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it vontains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text.

Jakarta, August 29th 2017

Purnama Sari Maharani

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful

Alhamdulillahirabbil’alamin. The first and foremost the researcher gives her highest grateful to Allah SWT, the Lord of the universe and the thereafter, for His blessing, love, and mercy to the researcher to complete this thesis. May the peace and blessing of Allah SWT also be upon to our precious messenger the Prophet

Muhammad SAW and all of his followers, Ameen.

In this valuable chance, the researcher intends to express her gratitude and appreciation to her beloved parents, Mr. Purnomo and Mrs.Tri Ningrum, who always give their prayer, endless affection, and support to the researcher to finish this thesis. Her gratitude also goes to my two annoying brothers, Juli Kriswanto and Dwi Ananto, and also to the only one weird niece, Ziva Azarah for giving a tranquil ambience when the researcher arranges her thesis at home.

The next, the researcher is very grateful to have some close friends who always support her from the earlier semester until now. They are Lana Prismanisa,

Widya Atsmara, Danti Yaniar, Elsya Prawita Oktafiani, Dewi Sri Azizah Utami,

Tiya Intan Permata Sari, and Angelina Dyah Puspitasari. The researcher would like to say big thanks to them for being good sister who always ready to help and also thanks for being good listener for every problem she faced. Love you all.

Sincerely, the researcher also presents her great gratitude and honor to her advisor

Mrs. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum for the great patient, times, supervision, advice, and guidance from the very early stage of this research until this research is complete.

Thank you Mrs. Elve Oktafiyani, this thesis will not complete without your contribution.

The researcher also presents her great gratitude and appreciation to the following persons:

1. Prof. Dr. Sukron Kamil, M.Ag, the Dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty

2. Drs. Saefudin, M.Pd, the Head of English Letters Department

3. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum, the Secretary of English Letters Department

4. Inayatul Chusna, M.Hum and Maria Ulfa, M.A., M.Hum as the examiners of

this thesis.

5. All the lecturers of English Letters Department for their valuable knowledge

during the researcher studies at State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah

Jakarta

6. Alvisyahrin, Danti Yaniar and Elsya Prawita Oktafiani, who help the

researcher to complete this research.

7. All the researcher‘s friends, RAR, Oprec of Obeon, Apadah, geng kobim,

CROWSA and Literature‘13. She thanks for the sharing and friendship.

8. All people who help the researcher to finish this thesis that cannot be

mentioned one by one.

May Allah gives His blessing to everyone who helps the researcher to finish this thesis. Ameen

Jakarta, August 29th 2017

Purnama Sari Maharani

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT i

APPROVAL SHEET ii

LEGALIZATION iii

DECLARATION iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study 1

B. Focus of the Study 4

C. Research Question 4

D. Significance of the Research 5

E. Research Methodology 5

1. The Objectives of The Research 6

2. The Method of the Research 6

3. The Technique of Data Analysis 7

4. The Instrument of the Research 8

5. The Unit of Analysis 8

6. The Time and Place 9

CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Previous Research 10

B. Identity Concept 13

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CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDING

A. Mahmud Nasir Character 18

B. Mahmud Nasir‘s Religious Identity Strategy 30

CHAPTER IV CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusions 45

B. Suggestions 48

WORKS CITED 49

APPENDIX 52

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Year by year, amount of immigrant population in United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Northern Ireland, known as UK or Britain, increases about 3.8 million in 1993 to over 8.7 million in 2015. The capital city of United Kingdom, London, obtains the highest percentage of immigrant population at 36.8% (Vargas-Silva and Rienzo). The migration in this district happens because the prospect which is offered toward the immigrants. For instance, the city of London has plentiful opportunities for newcomers such as job, education, and many others. According to UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs) that is quoted in The

Guardian, nearly 103.000 international students study in London in 2011 to 2012

(Zeballos).

In addition, most of the immigrants come from numerous regions such as

India that occupy the highest percentage of immigrant population in London at

9.1%, followed by Poland 5.3%, Pakistan 4.03%, Nigeria 3.72%, Bangladesh

3.13%, Ireland 3.13%, Italy 2.83%, France 2.82%, Jamaica 2.73%, Romania

2.69%, and many others (Vargas-Silva and Rienzo). Based on this statistic data,

Islam adherent becomes one of the immigrants in London, known as British

Muslim immigrant, because the immigrants who come from Pakistan and

Bangladesh are majority Muslim (Pakistan Country Profile and Bangladesh

Country Profile). Moreover, this statistic data potrays that London has various

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cultures because of the diversity of cultural groups1 in each foreign country. For this phenomenon, the diversity of cultural groups can influence the identity of

British Muslim immigrants. As consequence, this circumstance makes British

Muslim immigrants confront their identity problem because the identity of the immigrants are formed by the relation and the interaction between the immigrant and the other cultural groups (Hall 597). Therefore, British Muslim immigrants should have the strategy to resolve their identity problem.

The issue of the identity problem itself contains all of the things which relate with culture, such as the custom, ethnicity, race, stereotype of sexual orientation, even the religion2 and many others (Barker 174). There are many literary works which illustrate the issue of the identity problem. One of an example is British comedy-drama film, entitled East is East (1999), which is written by Ayub Khan-Din. The movie tells about Zaheed George Khan‘s

1 Cultural group membership and identity serve two important functions for individuals. According to Will Kymlicka and Kenneth Karst, they provide means by which an individual can achieve "belonging" and self-identification, and they form the basic scaffold of values and perspectives by which one evaluates and gives meaning to experiences and actions. Religion, race, and ethnicity are types of cultural groupings and consequently are important sources of self- definition; they serve as reference points of identity for an individual and others (Yang 127 and 128)

2 Boffetti (2004) citing Paul Tillich‘s definition of religion as ―that which we designate as our symbol of ultimate concern‖. This suggests that religion relates to symbols with ultimate spiritual relevance and influence in worshippers way of life (see, Boffetti, 2004). Pecorino (2000) notes that a robust definition of religion needs to meet a number of requirements such as: involvement of the totality of life; is open to all kinds of people; deals with issues naturally in widely different activities; deals with issues in widely different notions and beliefs; exists and is practiced in both private and social milieus; is open to various opinions as to the veracity or otherwise its beliefs; and has repercussions perceived to be either harmful or beneficial to persons and groups. In view of the above requirements, he defines religion as ―the most intensive and comprehensive method of valuing that is experienced by humankind‖ (Chapter 3, Philosophy of religion). He argues that this definition is both ideal and actual. It does empower us to comprehend and explain religious phenomena in a better way. It also empowers us to comprehend the difference between religious experience and other kinds of human experiences. It also helps us to understand the relationships between religion and other forms of life such as language, among others (see, Pecorino, 2000) (Oppong 11)

children, Pakistani Muslim immigrant, who reject Pakistani custom because

Zaheed‘s children are born and raised up in Britain (Manzoor). Another film which illustrates the identity of British Muslim immigrant is The Infidel (2010) film which was directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by David Baddiel.

The researcher determines to choose The Infidel film as her corpus. The researcher chooses this film because there is the presence of two religion adherents which do not have harmonious relationship. Another reason is the issue of the film appoints about an issue of the religious identity of British Muslim immigrant. The religious identity itself appears as a cultural system. By means, the religious identity describes the identity of communities, symbolizes the identity of communities and provides a cultural value for communities (Yang 129-

130). In this film, the religious identity describes the identity of Pakistani Muslim and Israeli Jew through the symbol. For instance, Pakistani Muslim is symbolized by Muslim clothes, named kameez and taqiyah, Al-Qur‘an as the scripture,

Mosque as the place for praying and so forth, while Israeli Jew is symbolized by baptism tradition, Talmud as holly book, Shema the name of their prayer, kippah as Jewish cap, Synagogue as the place for praying, and so forth.

The Infidel film tells about the life of a British Muslim immigrant, named

Mahmud Nasir, who lives in London with his Pakistani family. Mahmud has married Saamiya, a Pakistani woman, and has two children Rashid and Nabi.

Moreover, Mahmud knows that he was born as a Jew after he found an adoption certificate about him in his deceased stepmother house. The identity problem

occurs when Mahmud accepted the requirement from Rabii to behave like a Jew if he wants to meet his biological father, Izzy Shimsillewitz.

Mahmud‘s life becomes little different because he should divide his position as a Muslim and Jew. Mahmud positions himself as a Muslim wherever he is in his Muslim communities, while Mahmud positions himself as a Jew wherever he is in Jewish communities. For instance, Mahmud learns Jewish in the Lenny‘s house, his Jewish neighbour, such as the dance, hebrew language include the accent, and greeting. However, Mahmud also follows Islamic lecturer in the

Mosque and TV.

According to the synopsis above, the researcher finds that there is a problem with Mahmud Nasir‘s religious identity. It is because Mahmud‘s religious identity is not stable. Mahmud is a Muslim, but he learns to behave like a Jew for the sake of his biological father. For this circumstance, the researcher intends to analyze how Mahmud can resolve his religious identity problem in this film.

B. Focus of the Study

According to the explanation the background of the study above, the researcher concentrates to identify Mahmud Nasir‘s strategy for resolving his religious identity problem in The Infidel film by using the identity concept of three potential strategies that is arranged by Stuart Hall.

C. Research Question

Based on the restriction of the problem above, the researcher is divided the research question into two, as follows:

1. How does Mahmud Nasir character describe in The Infidel film?

2. How does Mahmud Nasir character resolve his religious identity problem in

The Infidel film?

D. Significance of the Research

The researcher expects that this research can be useful for the readers especially they are who want to do a research about identity in literary work.

Besides, another benefit of this study is to augment the reader‘s comprehension about the relation of many religions that live in similar country. For instance, the life in British Nation which applies liberal system that everyone can liberally embrace their reliance. Besides, the researcher expects that this research can enrich the reader‘s knowledge about the symbol between Islamic and Jewish religion which is appeared in this film. For example, Jews have a ritual of baptism, Talmud as holly book, Shema the name of their prayer and so on, while

Islam is symbolized by Muslim clothes, named kameez and taqiyah, Al-Qur‘an as the scripture, prayer and many others. The last one, the researcher expects that this research can also enrich the reader‘s knowledge about the live of a Mualaf in

Great Britain that deals with the two religious identity, between Islam and Jewish.

E. Research Methodology

Research methodology is one of the crucial aspects that make fruitful the researcher to answer the question. The research methodology is divided into six;

objectives of research, method of research, technique of analysis data, instrument research, unit analysis and time and place the research, as follows:

1. The Objectives of The Research

The objective of this research is to answer the two research questions which are formulated by the researcher. The first is to explain the description of

Mahmud Nasir character in The Infidel film. The second is to elucidate Mahmud

Nasir‘s strategy for resolving his religious identity problem.

2. The Method of the Research

The qualitative methodology is a study process which develops descriptive data and it can be observed by the researcher. It is because the researcher is able to study individually, to explore the issue from the event, and to expand the researcher‘s knowledge, such as exploring about foreign culture, exploring about human behavior, and so on (Moleong 4 and Creswell 183). The tenet of qualitative methodology is similar to hermeneutics and content analysis which develop the interpretation by describing the idea and giving the evidence based on the verbal data such as the text and the image of the data (Ratna 46 and Creswell

183). Moreover, the qualitative methodology has six types and this methodology can apply for several fields of the research, such as qualitative case study, critical qualitative research, narrative analysis, phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory (Merriam 37).

Based on the elucidation of the qualitative methodology, this research has compatibility towards the criteria of the qualitative methodology. In this research, the main instrument of the research is the researcher herself because the researcher is able to study individually and the reseracher is able to explore about the issue of the research problem. Besides, this research includes as one of the six types of the qualitative methodology, narrative analysis that he data of this research is based on the story of the The Infidel film. Moreover, the method of the researcher explains the finding research by describing it and giving the strongest evidence based on the text and the image of the data. Therefore, the qualitative is appropriate as the methodology of this research.

3. The Technique of Data Analysis

The technique of data analysis in this research is descriptive analysis that the researcher explains first about the data through the sequence of events, the meaning of the actions and the resolution of a problem (Merriam 33). Then, the researcher analyzes the data and gives the strongest evidence to accentuate the result of analysis that is primarily based on the verbal data of The Infidel film

(Ratna 53). According to the escort of the technique of descriptive analysis in qualitative methodology, the first, the researcher collects and jots down about

Mahmud Nasir action, dialogue, and appearance which relate to Mahmud Nasir‘s character and Mahmud Nasir‘s religious identity problem by intensively watching

The Infidel film. The Second, the researcher analyzes the strategy that is used by

Mahmud Nasir to resolve his religious identity problem by using Stuart Hall‘s

identity concept of three potential strategies. At the final pace, the researcher explains the data and gives the strongest evidence and make a conclusion of the research finding in the end of closing chapter.

4. The Instrument of the Research

The primary instrument for the qualitative research is the researcher of the research, known as human instrument. The researcher of the research is appropriate to be the primary instrument of the research because the researcher is responsive and adaptive in collecting and analyzing the data. Besides, the researcher can develop their comprehension through the non-verbal data as well as the verbal data, the tabulation of data, the explanation and the summary of the material, and the investigation of the accuracy of the interpretation towards the respondents (Merriam 15). According to the explanation, the researcher involves herself as a central instrument in this research. So, the researcher should expand her comprehension about the issue of religious identity through The Infidel film itself, the explanation and the summary of the data in The Infidel film.

5. The Unit of Analysis

The unit of this research is The Infidel film, a comedy drama film which is directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by David Baddiel. This film is released on April 9th, 2010 in United Kingdom with running time one hundred and five minutes by Slingshot Productions and Met Film Production. This film is distributed by Revolver to 62 different countries, including Arab and Muslim

countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, Oman, Iran and Saudi Arabia (Taylor).

6. The Time and Place

The research is started in the academic year of 2017 and conducted in the

Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Islamic State University of Syarif Hidayatullah

Jakarta.

CHAPTER II

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

In this chapter, the researcher is intended to explain two crucial things that can help her to analyze The Religious Identity of Mahmud Nasir Character in The

Infidel Film. The two things are previous research and theory. For the first, the researcher elucidates four previous researches which are useful for the researcher because those are analyzing similar corpus and issue as the researcher about the identity of Muslim immigrant. Afterwards, in this chapter the researcher absolutely explains the identity concept from Stuart Hall, especially, the three potential strategies of identity. Thus, the researcher can identify the strategy which is used by Mahmud Nasir to resolve his religious identity problem in the film, whether Mahmud chooses domination, negotiation or opposition as his strategy to resolve his religious identity problem.

A. Previous Research

Based on the explanation above, the researcher found four previous researches which discuss The Infidel film. The first is the research that was published by Journal of European Popular Culture (JIEPC). The title is ―Hidden:

Jewish Film in the United Kingdom, past and present”. It was written by Nathan

Abrams, a lecturer in University of Bangor. Abrams uses observation methodology to compare the representation of Jew in British film in front of and behind the camera from the beginning period to the present day of Jewish British

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film industry. The research finding in this research mentions The Infidel film as one of British films that represents Jewish identity through the term anti-

Semitism and the stereotype of Israel in Britain. Another one was published by

2014 Undergraduate Journal at The Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic

Religions of University of Wisconsin- Madison. The title of Journal is

―Abrahamic Reflections‖. This Journal was written by nine undergraduate students who discuss the representation of the Abrahamic faiths of Islam,

Judaism, and Christianity. One of undergraduate student, named Daniel Bliss, chooses The Infidel film as the second reflection for his observation object. In

Bliss observation, there is a question of suitability where is funny and offensive in the scenes of the film because of The Infidel film presents the term of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim in comedy genre. Bliss finds out that he feels there is a tention for the sense of social awareness to laugh when the audiences respond the film.

According to the elucidation above, the researcher aims to take a different focus of the research to analyze this film. The researcher is intended to analyze the strategy which is appropriate to resolve the religious identity problem of the main character in The Infidel film, named Mahmud Nasir. Mahmud confronts his religious identity problem after he agrees Rabii‘s requirement to behave like a Jew if he wants to meet his biological father, whereas he is a Muslim. Besides, the two previous researches are used to understand the relationship between Muslim and

Jew, so that it can help the researcher to finish this research.

The next previous research, the researcher takes a thesis which relates with her research about identity. The first is The Identity Construction of Najwa as A

Jordanian Muslim Woman in The Novel of Willow Trees Don’t Weep (2016) that was written by Molalita, the researcher at Islamic State University of Syarif

Hidayatullah Jakarta. Molalita uses qualitative methodology. Molalita focuses on analyzing Najwa‘s identity construction as a Jordanian Muslim who looks for her father at three countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and England. In Molalita‘s research, she is not only using the identity concept from Stuart Hall, but also she uses a concept of character and characterization and patriarchal culture to support her research. Besides, Molalita finds out the negotiation process of Najwa as the effort to construct Najwa‘s identity.

The last previous research is a master thesis of University of Indonesia that was written by Dedi Junaedi, entitled Identitas Budaya Imigran Bangladesh:

Kajian Novel White Teeth Karya Zadie Smith dan Brick Lane Karya Monica Ali

(2005) or the translation in English, Cultural Identity of Bangladeshi immigrant:

The Study of White Teeth Novel by Zadie Smith and Brick Lane Novel by Monica

Ali (2005). Junaedi‘s analysis focuses on the strategy of Bangladesh immigrants to resolve their cultural identity issue after they move to Britain by using Stuart

Hall‘s cultural identity concept. Moreover, Junaedi‘s research shows that the new culture has a power to influence the identity of immigrants, such as Samad, the main character of White Teeth, who fails to reconstruct his culture because Samad decides to adopt the lifestyle of western people, such as drinking alcohol, while in

Junaedi‘s second corpus, Nazneen, the main character of Brick Lane successes to adopt the new culture of western people. According to the data of Junaedi‘s research, Junaedi finds out that the immigrants should adapt the new culture after

they migrate as Junaedi stated in his abstract of his master thesis, “Both of novels prove Stuart Hall’s concept that an immigrant identity needs to be positioned in dominant culture because they are in diaspora within a strange land.” (Junaedi iv).

Based on the explanation above, the researcher concludes that the similarity between this research and the two previous researches are Molalita and Junaedi also use the identity concept from Stuart Hall. Moreover in Molalita‘s research, the main cause of identity problem is similar to this research. Najwa, the main character of Willow Trees Don’t Weep, gets her identity problem because she looks for her father and this cause is similar to Mahmud Nasir, the main character of The Infidel film, that he faces his religious identity problem because he wants to meet his biological father. In addition, the effect of migration also becomes the similarity between Junaedi‘s research and this research that the majority culture influences their identity as Muslim, as a result they are depicted as undeviout

Muslim. These similarities become the main reason of the researcher to choose

Molalita and Junaedi‘s research to be a previous research. Thus, two previous researches are useful for the researcher as guiding line and additional sources to understanding the identity concept of Stuart Hall.

B. Identity Concept

In reality, we know that identity is very important for someone because without identity, an individual do not know who he or she is to be. The identity is what an individual believes about all aspects of social and cultural interpreted

through signs, such as lifestyles, attitudes and so on. The identity concerns on the problem of an indivudual position on which it is influenced by self-awareness and social interaction. In other words, how an individual is positioned by himself/herself and positioned by others. Therefore, the identity is divided into two. The identity which is believed by an individual about himself/ herself and the identity that is believed by others about an individual. Therefore, Barker stated that an individual should have all the social and cultural aspects, so identity is entirely called as a result of social construction (173 and 174). Moreover, the identity of a person can be constructed and the process of transformation each individual is called as ‗subjectivity‘. Subjectivity is a process to determine what a person being for his or her identity, by means, in this context the term subjectivity purposes to explore how a person produces as subject and how a person identifies himself or herself to others, such as gender, ethnicity, religion, and etcetera

(Barker 11).

In addition, the identity issue has recently become the object of the research by the scholars of social science and humanities disciplines. In political science, we can find the concept of identity in identity politics of race, gender and sexuality discussion. By contrast with humanities, we can find this concept in the debate on multiculturalism, cultural construction of identities in Literature and

Cultural Studies (Fearon 1). Based on a book, Cultural Studies Theory and

Practice (2000), identity becomes the main topic in cultural studies in 1990s. The issue of identity itself contains all of the things which are related with culture, such as the custom, ethnicity, race, stereotype of sexual orientation, even the

religion and many others, likewise, those things are developed as politic identity and a politic of position (Barker 165).

Moreover, Hall argued that identity is a kind of unfixed point of thought and being, so that he called the identity as a process that can change (Fearon 5), as

Hall stated in his book:

[...] there are also critical points of deep and significant difference which constitute 'what we really are'; or rather - since history has intervened 'what we have become'. We cannot speak for very long, with any exactness, about 'one experience, one identity', without acknowledging its other side - the ruptures and discontinuities which constitute, precisely, the Caribbean's 'uniqueness'. Cultural identity, in this second sense, is a matter of 'becoming' as well as of 'being'. It belongs to the future as much as to the past. It is not something which already exists, transcending place, time, history and culture. (Hall 225) Hall‘s statement indicates that the identity of person can change based on the history, time and place because identity is changeable. In this issue, Hall gives two viewpoints to recognize the identity of a person or community as he stated ―a mater of ‗becoming‘ as well as of ‗being‘‖. The identity of being is a conception of ‗self subjectivity‘ which determines us as one of unity, in other words the individuals only accept a group which comes from similar ancestors, so that identity of being is kind of an essentialist. Meanwhile, identity as becoming is the process of a person or community to identify themselves. This identity is kind of non-essentialist (dynamic or changeable) (Hall 393).

Additionally, this alteration is influenced by several factors which construct origin identity to the new identity. This temporary identity Gidden called ‗identity as a project‘. Moreover, Gidden stated that ‗self-identity‘ is what we have nor an object or a thing which we can choose, so that identity is a process of thinking

about ourselves (Barker 167). In other words, identity as a project is the method of people identify themselves.

The issue of identity itself is caused of the high number of immigration that can influence the identity of the local people and also the immigrants themselves.

For confronting this circumctance, an individual should has a strategy. There are three potential strategies to resolve this circumstance, as Stuart Hall arranged:

The first hypothetical position is that of the dominant-hegemonic position. When the viewer takes the connoted meaning [...] we might say that the viewer is operating inside the dominant code. [...] The second position we would identify is that of the negotiated code or position. [...] Decoding within the negotiated version contains a mixture of adaptive and oppositional elements. [...] Finally, it is possible for a viewer perfectly to understand both the literal and the connotative inflection given by a discourse but to decode the message in a globally contrary way (During 515-517). The notion comes from Hall‘s essay which discusses about three hypothetical positions from decodings of a televisual discourse. This hypothetical potentially becomes the three strategies to resolve the identity problem because the concept of decoding is still related to social position, such as factors as class, ethnicity, nationality, education, occupation, political affiliation, age, gender, and sexuality

(Chandler 192). The three strategies consist of domination, negotiation, and opposition. Domination strategy is the immigrant who inclines to entirely accept the new culture and leave the original culture. Negotiation strategy is the immigrant who adapts between the original culture and new culture, by means, the immigrant does not accept the whole of the new culture and also does not entirely leave the original culture. The last, opposition strategy is the immigrant who

strongly rejects the new culture and strongly maintains the original culture

(Chandler 192).

In addition, the transformation of the identity of immigrant depends on the individuals themselves, whether they preserve their original culture by opposition strategy, adopt the new culture by domination strategy, or they adapt the two of choices between original culture and new culture by negotiation strategy, such as the notion of Parekh that the negotiation is very important for resolving the conflict and for applying this the individuals should leave their etnosentrism and place the other culture in one row. Therefore, each culture has an opportunity to see the strength of the other cultures and the weakness of their original culture

(Parekh 168).

In addition, as the researcher has explained in chapter I, this phenomena is obviously caused of the transmitting of cross cultural issue which makes a person able to change the identity. For instance, in The Infidel film that occurs an issue of identity of the main character, so that this concept is proper to help the researcher to answer the research question in chapter III.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH FINDING

As the researcher explains in first chapter, the unit of analysis in this research is The Infidel film which was directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by David Baddiel. The movie depicts an adoptive child, named Mahmud Nasir, who deals with two religious identities. Mahmud is a Muslim, but he should learn about Jewish culture to prepare himself how to behave like a Jew in front of his biological father. Accordingly in this chapter, the researcher explains her research finding in accordance with two research questions in chapter I that focuses on describing Mahmud Nasir character in The Infidel film and explaining the strategy which is used by Mahmud Nasir to resolve his religious identity problem through the dialogue and the scene in the film.

A. Mahmud Nasir Character

In this sub-chapter, the description of Mahmud Nasir character in The

Infidel film aims to show Mahmud Nasir character and the main cause of his religious identity problem. According to this film, Mahmud is described as a

Pakistani Muslim immigrant who lives in London with his Pakistani family.

Mahmud has married a Pakistani woman, named Saamiya, and has two children, named Rashid and Nabi. In addition, this film also draws Mahmud‘s appearance as the two pictures below:

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Picture 1 Picture 2 [00:03:37] [00:21:20]

Based on picture 1 and 2, Mahmud‘s physical appearance is obviously different with white people, even though he also has white skin. It is because his face looks a lot like Middle Eastern people, especially, Pakistan. As a Pakistani immigrant,

Mahmud is described as a short and heavy man and characteristically has big eyes. Besides, he has bald head and has big pointed nose. However, as a Pakistani

Muslim immigrant, Mahmud‘s manner of dress in his routine activity is rarely depicted as a man who wears kameez3 and taqiyah4. Mahmud‘s manner of dress is usually depicted as a man who wears t-shirt or polo shirt with jeans and nude jacket.

In his family, Mahmud is known as an undevout Muslim because he does not pray and fast in every of Ramadhan. Mahmud also drinks alcohol on which the drink is one of the lifestyle of white people and the drink is prohibited in

Islamic rules. Additionally, the researcher also claims that he is a person who does not have sufficient knowledge about his religion scripture, Al-Qur‘an. It is because Mahmud indirectly said that the information of the decrease of prophet

3 The essential unit of Pakistani dress for both men and women across the country and also with the neighbors to the west and east is the tunic or upper garment (kamees, with all its variations in texture, color, and tailoring (Malik 119)

4 The taqiyah, sometimes called simply the topi (―cap‖), is a style of short, rounded hat commonly worn by Muslim men in Pakistan with shalwar or kurta. (Condra 573)

Muhammad‘s father has written in Al-Qur‘an, as the evidence below:

Mahmud : I love this one. Never knew what it meant. Rashid : ―he who looks after an orphan shall be in paradise.‖ Mahmud : Ah. Yep. Yep, of course. Rashid : Because the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was an orphan. Mahmud : I knew that, Rashid. His father died before he was born. You know, I‘ve read my Qur‘an. Rashid : Yeah, well, the Qur‘an never actually mentions his parents. [00:09:46- 00:10:16]

In this matter Mahmud‘s word is true that Muhammad‘s father, Abdullah ibn

Abdul-Muttalib, had passed away before Prophet Muhammad was born (Emerick

22 and 23). However, that occurance is only mentioned in the biography of

Prophet Muhmmad not in Al-Qur‘an. So, the evidence above shows that Mahmud does not have sufficient knowledge about everything which is written in Al-

Qur‘an, but he speaks haphazardly as if he reads his Al-Qur‘an.

Furthermore, Mahmud is depicted as a person who completely rejects radical Islamic groups. Mahmud‘s rejection is described through Mahmud's attitude and opinion towards Arshad Al-Masri, as the evidence below:

Reporter: Voices was raised in protest today at the home office decision to allow militant Egyptian cleric Arshad Al-Masri into the U.K for a lecture tour. Al-Masri seen here preaching in Pakistan is a controversial figure both at home and abroad and has been linked to extremist Islamic group. The reaction of the British Muslim community has been mixed with some saying. Mahmud: Oh, fuck off. [00:44:00 – 00:01:06]

Picture 3 [00:01:06]

Mahmud‘s response “Oh, fuck off” at picture 3 shows that Mahmud feels disgusted towards the news. It is because the news informs about the arrival of a controversial Egyptian cleric, Arshad Al-Masri, to his country for an Islamic lecture tour. Based on this evidence, the researcher assumes that Mahmud dislikes

Arshad Al-Masri because of Arshad links into a radical5 Islamic group.

Picture 4 Picture 5 [00:06:48] [00:07:19]

Another evidence which supports the researcher‘s statement can be found in the event at picture 4 above when Rashid points his index finger towards Arshad

Al-Masri poster to notify Mahmud that his dad-in-law is Arshad Al-Masri.

Mahmud‘s response, ―No!‖, supports the researcher statement about Mahmud‘s feeling towards Arshad. Mahmud disagrees Arshad Al-Masri becomes Rashid‘s dad-in-law because of Arshad is a radical Muslim, as the dialogue below:

Rashid : And he wants to meet us then..yeah..me, mum, you. Mahmud : Okay, no problems. So, who is he?. Rashid : [point toward Arshad Al-Masri poster] Mahmud : No. Rashid : Yeah.

5 According to Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Khadr, the first loyalty of radicals is to Islam [...] (Ibrahim, “Radical" vs. "Moderate" Islam: A Muslim View). Radical adherents of religion may interpret their faith in an extreme way [...]. Wahhabism, the state sect of Saudi Arabia, and Salafism, a popular sect in North Africa and the Middle East, are examples of radical interpretations of Islam. These ideologies are not accepted by mainstream Muslims, who view these perspectives as extreme and inaccurate according to Islam and to principles of human rights. Both sects played a part in influencing the violent ideology of Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden (Lake, ―Radical Islam Beliefs‖).

Mahmud : No. Rashid : Yes. Mahmud : No!. Rashid : That‘s fair enough, you know, given the— Mahmud : Shut it! Get in here! Have you gone completely mental?!. Rashid : Um, did you put a parking permit in the car?. Mahmud : Don‘t change the subject! God, isn‘t it enough that you and I put on a rucksack. We get a whole fucking tube carriage to ourselves? Rashid : Dad. Mahmud : Uh, wait a minute. I know this is in here. Rashid : Dad, come on. Mahmud : Look at this. Do you know why mum kept that?. I wrote to this paper once. Explaining why people like us have to stand up to Wahhabi nutters like your would-be dad-in-law. [00:06:38 – 00:07:21]

Moreover, the reason of Mahmud rejects radical Muslim can be found through the aspiration letters which Mahmud has written to the newspaper, as the picture 5 and the dialogue above. Mahmud considers the faith of Islam that is believed by

Arshad is similar to the Wahhabi6.

Based on this explanation, the researcher asserts that Mahmud has his own belief that Muslims should not necessarily follow a dogma like Wahhabi because

Muslims should live according to their conscience, as if Mahmud. Mahmud is a

Muslim but he does not follow a radical Muslim group. Mahmud thinks that by loving his God, Allah, is enough for showing that he is a Muslim. It can be proven through Mahmud‘s dialogue to Rashid when Rashid asks him to be more deviout

Muslim in front of Arshad Al-Masri, as follows:

Mahmud: Rashid, listen. Look, I may not say my namaz five times a day, Okay? I may not even, you know, fast every day of ramadhan, you know? And, now and again, a small sip of the ld pale ale

6 The term Salafi and Wahhabi is a label which is addressed to the group or individual who advocate ―purification‖ of Islam to the Al-Qur‘an and hadith, so that the adherents are spared from acts that are not teach in the Qur‘an such as bid‘ah wherein it refers to the activity that is never instructed by Prophet Muhammad (Affan).

passes my lips. But in here, in here, by the name of prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Allah lives, okay?‖. [00:10:34- 00:10:55]

In addition, Mahmud is depicted as an anti-semitic7 person. Mahmud rejects everything which relates with Jewish people. For instance, Mahmud does not have harmonious relationship with his Jewish neighbour, named Lenny Goldberg.

Mahmud usually mocks Lenny by insinuating Lenny about the issue of territorial seizure in Gaza, Palestine, as the dialogue below:

Mahmud : Yeah, it‘s a bit like the occupied territories, isn‘t it?. Lenny : Oh, here it is! Here it comes! The anti-semitic stuff!. [00:29:56 – 00:30:01]

Additionally, there is another example that shows Mahmud as an anti- semitic person. The example is when Mahmud rejects his religious identity as a

Jew. Mahmud finds an adoption certificate about him in his decreased adoptive parents house, as the picture 6 below:

Picture 6 [00:00:20]

According to adoption certificate at the picture 6, Mahmud is adopted at the age of two weeks and it is confirmed through Mrs.Keyes, the orphanage staff, as follows:

7 Anti-semitic (adj), having or showing a strong dislike of Jewish people, or treating them in a cruel and unfair way (Cambridge Dictionary-―anti-semitic‖)

Mrs. Keyes: You were adopted at the age of 2 weeks. From the Whitechapel branch of the waifs and strays society. [00:12:46 - 00:12:49]

Based on the confirmation of the orphanage staff, Mahmud originates from

Whitechapel. According to the information, the researcher points out that

Mahmud is a part of Jew because Mahmud's homeland is in the Eastern End of

London where it is predominantly occupied by immigrants and where Jewish community in London is formed (Cloake and Tudore 14).

Evidently, Mahmud is shocked that he was born as a Jew. It can be found through the dialogue between Mahmud and the orphanage staff, as follows:

Mrs.Keyes : Solly. Mahmud : Solly? Solly?. No, there‘s got to be some mistake in the records. Can I just look at that, please?. Mrs.Keyes : No, you said you‘d go. Mahmud : Come on, please. That‘s before I knew my name was Solly. Now, see here just have quick look. Please, please, please Mrs. Keyes, please. Mrs.Keyes : Mr.Nasir, I will call security. Mahmud : I need to look at it. I need to look at it. I need to look at it, please. Thank you. Mrs.Keyes : Excuse me. Thank you. Mahmud : Shimshiz—. Mrs.Keyes : I think it‘s pronounced ―shimshileewitz‖. Security. Mahmud : Solly Shimshileewitz. Mrs.Keyes : Yes. Mahmud : No, but that would mean I was—I-I-I was—. Mrs.Keyes : Yes, Mr.Nasir, as, indeed, it goes on to confirm later in the document. In common with many people living in this area at the time. You are, by birth, Jewish. Mahmud : [laugh] No. No but I can‘t be. I mean, look at me. I‘m so obviously not. [00:14:37 – 00:15:38]

According to the dialogue, Mahmud can not accept Jewish as his religious identity because Mahmud is a Muslim and even he is an anti-semitic person. So, Mahmud obviously rejects the religious identity of Jewish people to become his religious identity. It can be proven through Mahmud‘s attitude who does not strongly believe Mrs.Keyes‘s explanation. Mahmud seizes the file that belongs to

Mrs.Keyes and re-checks the data of the file.

Besides, Mahmud keeps questioning how a person like him was born as a

Jew because Mahmud thinks that there is not a smallest piece of him showing that he is a Jew. As a consequence, Mahmud murmurs, he says, ―I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I drank some beer. I’m sorry I fancied that pram-faced tart in tesco.

Please just make it not true—please‖ [00:17:01-00:17:09]. The researcher argues that this is also indirectly as a sign of Mahmud‘s rejection towards his Jewish religious identity. Mahmud considers that this fact is a form of punishment from his God towards him because he has done several things which are prohibited in

Islamic rules. One of them is drinking beer, so that Mahmud apologizes to God, in order that the fact of his birth religious identity becomes false.

Afterwards, Mahmud comes to the Mosque to pray Zuhr, as the picture 7 below:

Picture 7 [00:17:57]

This rarely happens, remembering that Mahmud is not a good Muslim. So, it indicates that Mahmud‘s demeanor is done because Mahmud still can not receive his religious identity as a Jew. This is similar to the previous occurrence that

Mahmud apologizes to Allah and hopes his religious identity as a Jew is a mistake.

After Mahmud prays Zuhr, Mahmud falls asleep and dreams that his wife, son, and daughter interject a word ‗Jew‘ in their dialogue, as the proof below:

Saamiya : Morning Jew. Mahmud: Morning. Saamiya : What would you like for breakfast?. Mahmud : Crunchy bread. Sorry, did you just say— Nabi : Daddy? . Mahmud : Yes, darling?. Nabi : Can you do up my Jews?. Mahmud : What are you talking about?. Rashid : Mmm. There‘s too much Jew in this tea. Sorry, did I say ‗tea‘? I meant ‗Jew‘. Saamiya : Ah-Jew [sneeze]. Rashid : Ah-Jew [sneeze]. [00:18:08- 00:18:35]

Picture 8 Picture 9 [00:18:30] [00:44:52]

This dream is as a form of his rejection because based on Mahmud‘s expression and response above, Mahmud feels confused when his family members interject word ‗Jew‘ and even his wife speaks hebrew when she gives Al-Qur‘an to

Mahmud. Besides, the picture 8 and picture 9 above also capture that he is

confused because in his dream, he is overshadowed by Jewish attributes such as

Jewish uniform when they want to go to Synagogue and Star of David symbol.

Moreover, when Mahmud is given Al-Qur‘an by his wife, he said ―Yes, good. I need to study this‖. The dualogue designates that Mahmud wants to seek refuge in

Al-Qur‘an, in order that he can calm himself down from his illusion about Jewish.

Therefore, the researcher points out that in his dream Mahmud still can not accept the reality about his birth religious identity as a Jew.

The last evidence, Mahmud appears in front of Rashid wearing his kameez and taqiyah as the picture 10 below:

Picture 10 [00:23:35]

Mahmud‘s demeanor surprises Rashid to see Mahmud who suddenly changes his manner of dress because as the researcher has explained, he wears his t-shirt or polo shirt with jeans and nude jacket in Mahmud‘s routine activity. However,

Rashid does not assume that his father faces religious identity problem because

Rashid considers that the transformation of Mahmud is for his covenant with

Rashid in which Mahmud should become a deviout Muslim. Therefore, Rashid does not know that the transformation of Mahmud‘s manner of dress is truthfully a form of Mahmud's rejection towards his religious identity as a Jew. Mahmud‘s

demeanor aims to prove that he is a true Muslim by wearing the identical outfit of

Islamic religion.

In this film, the researcher also claims that he is a son who loves his parents.

The researcher‘s statement can be proven through Mahmud‘s demeanor. Mahmud immediatelly looks for his biological father in Jewish old age house, after Lenny mentions a person name which is simmilar to Mahmud‘s last name. Izzy

Shimshillewitz, a person who is possibly as Mahmud‘s biological father.

Picture 11 [00:32:36] Mahmud : Is Izzy Shimshillewitz in there?. Rabii : Yes. Mahmud : Can i go in, please?. Rabii : Yeah, I-I-I‘m afraid not. Mahmud : No, you don‘t understand. I‘m his son...I think. Rabii : Do you some sort of syndrome?. Mahmud : No, no, no, no. My real parents are Jews. I was adopted. I‘ve just found out, my birth name is Shimshillewitz. Rabii : Really? What, and you‘re definitely Isaac‘s son, are you?. Mahmud : Yes, yes. Well, I mean, I must be. Rabii : Look, I‘m sorry, but as Mr. Shimshillewitz‘s Rabii, I have to think of his walfare first. He‘s a really sick man now. Mahmud : Well, then, you have to let me in. Rabii : Look at you. A muslim son?. He‘s an observant jew. It would kill him stone dead. Mahmud : [sighs] What do I do?. Rabii : What do you know about Jews?. Mahmud : They‘ve got big noses. They like money. Oh, they do. Rabii : Okay, so, the answer is ―nothing‖. Look, what you need to do, and quickly, is think about what it means to be a jew. An then...We‘ll think about letting you in. [00:32:36- 00:34:03]

As the picture 11 above, Mahmud wears his kameez and taqiyah when he goes to the Jewish old age house. Mahmud‘s manner of dress surprises Rabii because his dress shows that he is a Muslim. Rabii‘s said, ―Look at you. A muslim son?. He’s an observant Jew. It would kill him stone dead‖ [00:33:34]. This dialogue indicates that Mahmud is hesitated by Rabii. Mahmud does not allow to let in Izzy‘s room because the belief of the religious identity between Mahmud and Izzy are contradictory. Thus, Mahmud is suggested to learn about Jewish culture if he wants to meet Izzy before Izzy dies.

The occurance above appears a problem towards Mahmud‘s religious identity because Mahmud knows that learning another religion culture is contradictory with Islamic rules and also reputes as the infidel. However,

Mahmud‘s decision proves the researcher‘s statement that claims Mahmud is a son who loves his parent. Mahmud agrees to do Rabii‘s suggestion for the sake of his biological father. Mahmud comes to the Lenny‘s house to learn about Jewish culture such as Jewish manner of dress, greeting, language and accent, music, dance, and meal. Even, Mahmud also offers himself that he will accompany

Lenny to attend Jewish baptism tradition in Bar Mitzvah. Consequently, Mahmud has two lifes because he should divide his position as a Muslim and a Jew. In other words, Mahmud is a Muslim when he is in the environment of his Muslim community, but when he is in Jewish environment, Mahmud will show that he is a

Jew.

As a final point and as a purpose of this description, it can be summarized that Mahmud Nasir is depicted as a Muslim who is not religious person. It is

because he does not have sufficient knowledge about his scripture and he does not fulfill his duty as a Muslim such as praying and fasting. Instead. Mahmud adopts the lifestyle of white people in which he drinks alcohol. Moreover, Mahmud hates radical Islamic groups. It is because he thinks that to be a good Muslim, he does not need to be an extremist, but he needs to love his God. The next, Mahmud is described as an anti-semitic that he is hostile with his Jewish neighbour and he rejects his birth religious identity as a Jew. The last, Mahmud is depicted as a son who loves his parents because he agrees Rabii suggestion to behave like a Jew for the sake of his biological father.

In addition, the researcher finds the main cause of Mahmud‘s religious identity problem. Mahmud deals his problem because Rabii needs a proof that

Mahmud is appropriate to be Izzy‘s Jewish son by learning Jewish culture. It is really difficult to do for him because he is a Muslim and even he is an anti-semitic person. However, if Mahmud can convince Rabii, he can meet his biological father, so that he strives hard to fulfill that requirement by negotiating it.

Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy is explained in the next sub-chapter that the researcher explains more detail about the negotiation strategy that is applied by

Mahmud to resolve his identity problem.

B. Mahmud Nasir’s Religious Identity Strategy

In this sub-chapter, the researcher explains Mahmud strategy to resolve his religious identity problem. The strategy itself is arranged by Stuart Hall. Hall has classified the strategy into three strategies, domination, negotiation, and

opposition. Domination strategy is the immigrant who inclines to entirely accept the new culture and leave the original culture. Negotiation strategy is the immigrant who adapts between the original culture and new culture, by means, the immigrant does not accept the whole of the new culture and also does not entirely leave the original culture. The last, opposition strategy is the immigrant who strongly rejects the new culture and strongly maintains the original culture

(Chandler 192). Based on three potential strategies that are arranged by Hall,

Mahmud strategy is categorized in negotiation strategy because Mahmud does not entirely leave his original culture as a Muslim and Mahmud does not accept the whole of Jewish culture as his religious identity.

Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy begins to apply since Mahmud accepts the requirement from Rabii who protects his biological father in Jewish old age house. According to the researcher‘s explanation in sub-chapter before, Rabii said, ―Is think about what it means to be a jew” [00:32:26]. This dialogue indicates that Rabii gives Mahmud an alternative option to meet Izzy by changing himself into a Jew. In this situation, Mahmud agrees Rabii‘s requirement for the sake of his biological father. Mahmud‘s agreement towards Rabii‘s requirement is also categorized in negotiation strategy. It is because as the researcher has explaind in sub-chapter before that Mahmud rejects his religious identity as a Jew before he accepts Rabii‘s requirement by seizing the file from the orphanage staff, apologizing and praying to God, changing his manner of dress, and dreaming about Jewish.

As a result, Mahmud asks Lenny to give him a lesson about Jewish culture and even Mahmud offers himself to accompany Lenny to the baptism of two

Jewish twins at Bar Mitzvah, as follows:

Picture 12 [00:41:51]

Based on the picture 12 above, when Mahmud will attend the baptism tradition at

Bar Mitzvah, Mahmud shows his negotiation strategy. Mahmud looks at the mirror at his home to wear kippah8, whereas Mahmud has rejected it when Lenny put kippah over his head, as the picture 13 below:

Picture 13 [00:41:21]

Mahmud refuses to wear kippah when Lenny tried to put it on Mahmud‘s head.

Mahmud refuses it because there is a symbol of Jewish that is called Magen David or commonly known as the Star of David.

8 The kippah (in Yiddish, yarmulke) is worn during prayer services by men, and has become optional for women as well in Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist congregations. (In some Reform congregations, the kippah is also optional for men.) Jewish tradition does not require any specific type of head covering (Mjl Staff)

Moreover, Mahmud‘s negotiation also appears when he eats Jewish chicken soup, known as Jewish penicillin, as follows:

Picture 14 Picture 15 [00:40:18] [00:40:35]

In the picture 14 and 15, Mahmud refuses to eat the chicken soup, and then at that time he eats the chicken soup. However, when the chicken soup has passed in

Mahmud‘s mouth, Mahmud spews the chicken soup out of his mouth. Mahmud‘s demeanor is done because he has already acquainted towards Jewish culture.

Mahmud thinks that the composition of this food contains pork on which it is forbidden in Islamic rules. Mahmud does not know that Jewish people are forbidden to eat pork because pork is not kosher (Crumpacker 18).

However, there is an evidence which claims that Mahmud eats Jewish chikecn soup. The evidence can be found through Lenny‘s dialogue with Rabii,

Lenny said: ―My friend has drunk my chicken soup‖ [01:00:59]. Besides, there is no a denial from Mahmud to deny Lenny‘s word to Rabii. So, the evidence indicates that there is Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy. It is because in Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy there are a rejection and an acceptance towards Jewish chicken soup. At the beginning Mahmud refuses to eat the chicken soup and then

Mahmud accepts to eat the chicken soup.

In addition, on the day of the event, Mahmud has the basic knowledge of

Jewish culture and he has applied them well enough in front of Jewish attendants, so that they believe that Mahmud is one of them. For instance, Monty, a father of the twins whom are to be baptized, asked Lenny to give a speech by telling one of

Jewish folklore, Rabii Akiba. But, Lenny turns his duty to Mahmud, so that

Mahmud perforce tells Rabii Akiba folklore with some of Yidish language, as the words that are underlined in the dialogue below:

Mahmud : So.. There was a tale of , uh, rabbi.. akiba who lived in.. Hotep and he always observed his fedeyezyez flahot. Uh.. then, in the syn—no, no, I know this one. The—the—the shul. Shul. That‘s it shul. Shul. The Shul. In the shul came fischel, the village idiot. Well, what an idiot he was and he went up to the rabbi, and he said, ―rabbi, rabbi! My foreskin has grown back.‖. Um, he did. He said that. No, he didn‘t. He did, and the rabbi looked at him and said, ―you what?‖ and fischel said, ―it‘s true. What do I do?‖ about his foreskin and... it was that point—Can you help me with this one, please? [00:52:15 – 01:53:15]

According to the dialogue, Mahmud‘s effort in his speech is categorized as his negotiation strategy because Mahmud should memorize the language that is not his obligation, Yidish language, and even he should articulate it correctly. Not only that, but Mahmud should also adjust his attitude as if a Jew in front of Jewish audiences when he gives his speech. Subsequently, this negotiation strategy successfully makes the audiences to give their applause very loudly because they are happy with the speech that is given by Mahmud. Spontaneously, Mahmud is also surprised by the response that is given by the audiences in Bar Mitzvah.

Thereafter, Julie and Monty invite Mahmud to dance the Jewish dance together. The picture 16 below describes Mahmud is very shrewd in dancing

Jewish dance even he looks familiar with some of Jewish audiences in that event.

Picture 16 [00:54:46]

So, the picture above demonstrates that Mahmud successfully applies what he has learnt with Lenny. Besides, Lenny considers that Mahmud has succeeded in becoming a part of Jew as Lenny‘s dialogue with Rabii: ―He’s danced like a cossack inmy living room. He told a funny story at a bar mitzvah and by the way he got a big laugh. I’m a jew, and my friend here is jewish enough for me.‖

[01:01:02- 01:01:11].

However, in Bar Mitzvah, Mahmud seems uncomfortable in front of

Lenny's two friends because they ask Mahmud to sign a petition. In this occasion

Mahmud indirectly rejects this demand, so Mahmud looks for a way to reject it by pretending that his right eye is twitch.

Picture 17 [00:49:13]

This demeanor is done because the petition aims to support Israel to obtain their justice in which it has been condemned by various media in the UK and they want those are who condemn their nation to be democratic, as follows:

Denise : So, we were wondering—So, we wondered if you might sign our latest petition. Mahmud : I‘d be delighted. Denise : ―we, the undersigned, believe that the state of Israel—―. Mahmud : ―Israel is unfairly demonized by BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and all other forms of the U.K. News Media—―. Denise : ―despite being a shining—―. Mahmud : ―a shining example of democracy and fairness, which simply wants to live in—―. Denise : ―in peace‖. Mahmud : ―in peace with its neighbors‖. [00:48:32- 00:48:57]

This indicates that Mahmud is still as an anti-semitic person who does not like anything that relates to Jewish, especially, a support for Israel where Jews are from. Besides, this petition very contradicts with his belief as a Muslim. Mahmud avoids that demand by a manner that does not make his disguise as a Jew disclosed. Moreover, Mahmud‘s rejection is still ongoing that Mahmud struggles to divert his hearing by mumbling because Jews in Bar Mitzvah are praying with their language, as the image below:

Picture 18 [00:49:45]

Despite of Mahmud awfully focuses on Rabii requirement, Mahmud also remembers an agreement with Rashid about to be a devout Muslim for getting a bless from Arshad, so that Mahmud obviously fulfill this by following Muslim agenda such as the three pictures below:

Muslim Gathering in the Mosque Picture 19 [00:39:40]

Public Lectures on TV Picture 20 [00:41:00]

A Movement to Defend Palestine Picture 21 [00:44:58]

Based on the tertiary pictures, Mahmud follows a movement to defend Palestine from an Israeli‘s attack. Besides, Mahmud also becomes a participant of a Muslim

gathering activity in the mosque and watching public lectures on TV that is talking about Islam. According to the criteria of negotiation strategy that is arranged by Stuart Hall, those demeanors are categorized as Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy because during Mahmud accepts several Jewish culture,

Mahmud does not leave his original culture as a Muslim.

In addition, Mahmud strives hard to divide his position as a Jew and

Muslim. Mahmud does not leave his original culture that is part of his religious identity as a Muslim, but Mahmud still can continue to interfere his little practices of Jewish greeting and language without detected by his Muslim community. For example, as the evidence at picture 22, Saamiya nearly catches him when

Mahmud wears kippah in his home, but Mahmud rapidly conceals it by covering his kippah over his head with his taqiyah, in order that Saamiya does not know that Mahmud wears kippah to attend Jewish baptism. Mahmud decides to conceal his kippah behind his taqiyah because before Mahmud attends Jewish baptism,

Mahmud will become a participant who supports a movement for Palestine, so that he automatically covers that kippah with his taqiyah.

Picture 22 Picture 23 [00:41:51] [00:42:05]

Besides, Saamiya says that Mahmud appearance looks like a smart person when he wears the identical outfit of Jew as the picture 23 above. But, Mahmud also

rapidly conceals it by covering his outfit with his coat and he gives an explanation to his wife that he wears it because he wants to celebrate his colleague‘s birthday, whereas Mahmud wants to attend the Jewish baptism tradition in Bar Mitzvah.

Another example, when he participates to a movement for Palestine as the evidence of the image below:

Picture 24 [00:45:08]

Mahmud unintentionally takes off his taqiyah, so that all Muslim participants in that area automatically stare what is behind Mahmud‘s taqiyah, while Mahmud is shocked when Muslim participants keep staring at him. Mahmud forgets that before Mahmud attends in the agenda, Mahmud has worn his kippah on his head because the day coincides with baptism tradition at Bar Mitzvah. Nevertheless,

Mahmud quickly finds another reason that the purpose of he wears kippah is a form of condemning Israeli for their attack on Palestine. So, Mahmud burns the kippah and tramples it in front of all Muslim participants. The researcher claims the two examples as Mahmud‘s negotiation. It is because Mahmud wants to show that he is still a Muslim even though he is learning to behave like a Jew.

In the final of this film, Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy still continues after his biological father dies. Mahmud confesses that he was born as a Jew and

adopted by Muslim in front of all of Muslim audiences in Arshad Al-Masri‘s lecture, as Mahmud said in the dialogue below:

Arshad : And what is your name, Solly?. Mahmud : My name is Mahmud Nasir. And for once, yes, for a very short period, it was Solly Shimshileewitz and of that, I am no longer ashamed. A good man. A good Muslim should not just never lie about who he is. He should also never lie about who he was. [01:34:05 - 01:34:31]

Mahmud feels that somehow he should admit his religious identity as a Jew and

should not be ashamed at all. It is because basically his birth identity will attach

to him and for him as a good Muslim, he does not need to lie about his religious

identity as a Jew. Besides, he also thinks that the dogma between Jewish and

Islam have several similarities, as his expression of what he has learnt from both

scriptures:

Mahmud : I believe my shahada, because it‘s my lord‘s prayer. And you know what else I learned recently?. The jews have their own lord‘s prayer. You know what it‘s called? The Shema. Rashid : What is he talking about?. Mahmud : Do you know what Moses called God in the original hebrew?. Alah – Allah, Alah – Because it‘s the same God. [01:31:26 -01:32:04]

In spite of Mahmud has rejected his birth religious identity as a Jew,

Mahmud changes his mind after he reads the scripture of Islam and Jewish, so that he decides to admit his birth religious identity as a Jew. This negotiation strategy is surely because Mahmud is honoring his biological father who has died and also he thinks that both of his religious identities truthfully have similar point as

Mahmud has explained in the dialogue above. Besides, Mahmud‘s dialogue with

Lenny also shows that Mahmud accepts his Jewish religious identity, as follows:

Lenny : Hey, Muslim enough for you? Mahmud : Actually wasn‘t that bad, you know?. I quite enjoyed it, being a Jew. [01:40:18- 01:40:22]

Moreover, Mahmud still behaves like a Jew in front of Lenny such as interjecting

Yidish language at his coversation with Lenny, as Mahmud‘s word that is underlined below:

[telephone rings] Lenny : Yeah Mahmud : Yeah, I‘d like a car to lancaster, please. Lenny : Mahmud, where are you? You-- you give me this job. And then you don‘t show up yourself, you schmuck Mahmud : In fact, I‘d like three cars. Like you‘re supposed to have sorted? It‘s today, Lenny! Today! You schmucking twat. [01:38:32 - 01:38:52]

Mahmud also invites Lenny and a woman in Jewish old-age house to his son wedding as the picture bellow:

Picture 25 Picture 26 [01:38:57] [01:39:33]

However, Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy is still shows that there is a rejection by Mahmud towards his religious identity as a Jew because Mahmud does not accept the whole of Jewish culture as his religious identity, as the evidence below:

Lenny : You know, if you‘re gonna be anti-semitic, at least stop sounding so jewish. Mahmud : Ha! There you go again!.

Lenny : What?. Mahmud : There you go again!. Lenny : What?. Mahmud : You—what is it with you people? I don‘t understand.

Lenny : I don‘t understand. You are ―you people‖ that‘s why you have a big nose. Mahmud : That‘s—no, there‘s nature and there‘s nurture. This nose—big, yes, but it was made in pakistan. It‘s not jewish. [01:41:08- 01:41:27]

The dialogue above asserts that Mahmud still thinks that there is no smallest piece of him showing he is a Jew. So, Mahmud claims that his big nose is not

Jewish.

Based on the explanation in this sub-chapter, the researcher concludes that according to Stuart Hall‘s concept about three potential strategies, Mahmud‘s startegy is categorized as negotiation strategy. Mahmud uses negotiation strategy to resolve his religious identity problem as Parekh states that the negotiation is very important for resolving the conflict and for applying this the individuals should leave their etnosentrism and place of the other culture in one row, so that each culture has an opportunity to see the strength of the other cultures and the weakness of their original culture (Parekh 168).

Mahmud's negotiation strategy is done because of his biological father.

Mahmud accepts a requirement from Rabii to behave like a Jew if Mahmud wants to meet his biological father. Mahmud fulfills Rabii‘s requirement by learning

Jewish culture in the Lenny‘s house, his Jewish neighbour and Mahmud also offers himself to accompany Lenny to attend Jewish baptism tradition in Bar

Mitzvah. Mahmud negotiation strategy consists of the acceptance of several tradition of Jewish culture such as dressing up like Jewish, eating Jewish chicken

soup, giving a speech by using Yidish word, and dancing Jewish dance. However, there are several rejections which are done by Mahmud before Mahmud accepts several tradition of Jewish culture, such as rejecting to eat Jewish chicken soup, rejecting to wear kippah, and rejecting to sign a petition for supporting. Mahmud rejects these because Mahmud is a Muslim and he is an anti-semitic person.

Moreover, in Stuart Hall concept, negotiation strategy is the immigrants who does not leave their original culture. This negotiation concept can be found in

Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy that Mahmud does not leave his original culture as a Muslim even though Mahmud concerns to fulfill Rabii requirement. Mahmud still follows several Muslim agendas such as participating for a movement to defend Palestinian Muslim from an Israeli‘s attack, participating for a Muslim gathering activity in the mosque and watching public lectures on TV that is talking about Islam.

Besides, the title of the film, The Infidel, which means the unbeliever reflects Mahmud negotiation strategy in dealing with his religious identity. It is because Mahmud does not take side with his two religious identities. Besides,

Arshad‘s dialogue also supports the researcher‘s statement, as follows:

Arshad : The holy Qur‘an Al-Baqarah ayah 221, do not marry your girls to unbelievers Mahmud : Until they believe Arshad : I beg your pardon? Mahmud : Well, that‘s how the ayah continues, an islamic woman can marry any man who believes in Allah. And my son believes in Allah Arshad : And how can I believe in the son when I cannot believe in the father, hmm? [01:30:35 – 01:30:58]

The dialogue above indicates that Mahmud is reputed as the unbeliever by

Arshad because Mahmud is a Muslim, but Mahmud is not a religious Muslim and even Mahmud is born as a Jew. Mahmud‘s response also does not deny Arshad‘s statement. It is because Mahmud realizes that his demeanor truthfully reputes as the infidel. Mahmud is a Muslim, but Mahmud learns Jewish language, Jewish dance, Jewish manner, and even Mahmud follows Jewish baptism tradition in Bar

Mitzvah. Based on the evidence, it indicates that Mahmud accepts that he is the infidel. Therefore, the researcher claims that the infidel becomes one of

Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy because Mahmud is a Muslim in which he believes his God. But, Mahmud has his own statement that as a Muslim he still can learn another religion without changing his religious identity into Jewish

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclucions

The rising number of immigrant population causes London has various cultures because of the diversity of cultural groups in each foreign country. For this phenomenon, the diversity of cultural groups can influence the identity of

British Muslim immigrants, so that British Muslim immigrants should have the strategy to resolve their identity problem. This circumstance is similar to the issue in The Infidel (2010) film which was directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by

David Baddiel. The issue itself is about the religious identity problem of the main character in the film, named Mahmud Nasir. The researcher intends to analyze the strategy that is used by Mahmud Nasir to resolve his religious identity. For finishing this research, the researcher uses qualitative methodology and the identity concept from Stuart Hall, especially the notion that arranged by Hall about the three potential strategy to deal and resolve the identity problem.

Stuart Hall has classified the strategy into three strategies, domination, negotiation, and opposition. Domination strategy is the immigrant who inclines to entirely accept the new culture and leave the original culture. Negotiation strategy is the immigrant who adapts between the original culture and new culture, by means, the immigrant does not accept the whole of the new culture and also does not entirely leave the original culture. The last, opposition strategy is the

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immigrant who strongly rejects the new culture and strongly maintains the original culture (Chandler 192).

Based on the research finding in chapter III, the researcher finds that

Mahmud Nasir is depicted as undevout Muslim because he does not have sufficient knowledge about Al-Qur‘an, he does not praying and fasting. Moreover,

Mahmud is a person who hates radical Islamic groups because he thinks that to be a good Muslim, he does not need to be an extremist Muslim. Besides, Mahmud is also described as an anti-semitic that he does not have harmonious relationship with his Jewish neighbour and he rejects his birth religious identity as a Jew.

In addition, the researcher finds the main cause of Mahmud‘s religious identity problem. Mahmud deals with his problem because Rabii needs a proof that Mahmud is appropriate to be Izzy‘s Jewish son. Mahmud fulfills Rabii‘s requirement by negotiation strategy even though his decision is called as the infidel. Mahmud negotiation strategy consists of the acceptance of several traditions of Jewish culture such as dressing up like Jewish, eating Jewish food, giving a speech by using Yidish word, and dancing Jewish dance. Besides, there are two rejections which are done by Mahmud before Mahmud accepts two traditions of Jewish culture, such as rejecting to eat Jewish food and rejecting to wear kippah. This rejection is done because Mahmud is anti-semitic and Mahmud has already acquainted towards Jewish culture, so that he still adapts the situation to accept it. As a result, Mahmud‘s two rejections are finally accept by himself, so that Mahmud‘s demeanor is as a process of his negotiation strategy. Moreover, another rejection is signing a petition for supporting Israel. Mahmud‘s rejection is

done because it is contradictory with Mahmud‘s believe as Muslim community in which Muslim community dislikes Israel. Mahmud‘s rejection does not change until the end of the event in Bar Mitzvah. So, the only one Mahmud‘s rejection which does not accept by him is signing a petition for supporting Israel. Besides, in Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy, Mahmud does not leave his original culture as a Muslim even though Mahmud concerns to fulfill Rabii requirement. Mahmud still follows several Muslim agendas such as participating for a movement to defend Palestinian Muslim from an Israeli‘s attack, participating for a Muslim gathering activity in the mosque and watching public lectures on TV that is talking about Islam.

In accordance with the short explanation of the research finding, Mahmud

Nasir‘s strategy is categorized in negotiation strategy that Mahmud does not accept the whole of his religious identity as a Jew because there is one thing that can not accept by Mahmud. Mahmud can not sign a petition for supporting Israel because it is contradictory with Mahmud‘s belief as a Muslim community.

Mahmud only accepts several Jewish cultures which do not break his belief as a

Muslim such as Jewish manner of dress, Jewish food, Jewish language, and

Jewish dance. Moreover, Mahmud strategy is categorized in negotiation strategy because he does not leave his religious identity as Muslim in which he is still a

Muslim and he still wants to follow several Muslim agendas even though he thinks that following the agenda is one of extremist activity. Additionally, the researcher finds that Mahmud‘s reputation as the infidel becomes one of

Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy because Mahmud does not take side of his two

religious identities, Islam and Jewish. Mahmud is a Muslim that he believes his

God, but Mahmud has his own statement that as a Muslim he still can learn another religion without changing his religious identity into Jewish. Besides,

Mahmud‘s negotiation strategy is done for the sake of his biological father.

B. Suggestions

The researcher hopes that this study can be useful for the readers especially they are who want to do a similar research about identity that focuses on the religious identity of a character. Albeit this research has achieved, it does not mean that this research is end. The researcher will give her suggestion for another researcher who are interested in analyzing this film. The researcher advocates the others to analyze this film by concerning the relation between the title of the film, the story line of the film, and the soundtrack in the end of the film because tertiary of them are have a correlation which discuss about the faith.

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APPENDIX

The Infidel film directed by Josh Appignanesi, released on April 9th, 2010 in United Kingdom with running time one hundred and five minutes by Slingshot Productions and Met Film Production.