Embedded with Sheik Hilaly (ATOM Study Guide)

This study guide to accompany Embedded with Sheik Hilaly, a documentary by Red Ithaka Productions, has been written for secondary students. It provides information and suggestions for learning activities in English, International Studies, Media, Religion, SOSE and curriculum projects exploring cultural identity.

Given the need for curriculum to be culturally inclusive, Embedded with Sheik Hilaly provides students with the opportunity to understand and value the Australian-Muslim community.

Embedded with Sheik Hilaly is one of three episodes from the Embedded series, where young Australians from a variety of backgrounds are placed into very different cultures in an attempt to bridge racial divides.

Synopsis

'Is Islam really a threat to the Australian way of life? Dave is about to find out ... '

Dave Zwolenski is twenty-six years old and white. He likes girls, drinking beer and eating bacon. Raised a Catholic, these days Dave prefers to stay away from religion altogether. Sheik Taj el-din al Hilaly is sixty-six, Egyptian-born and very Muslim. He likes praying and drinking 'man tea' (his own special blend). Together, Dave and the Sheik form an odd couple, but for the next few weeks they are going to be inseparable.

Arriving at Sheik Hilaly's house in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba, Dave is a little apprehensive about what the next few weeks may have in store. Sheik Hilaly is, after all, the ex-Mufti of Australia who made national headlines for his comments comparing scantily-dressed women to uncovered meat. But Dave is determined to uncover the man behind the controversy, and attempt to better understand Islam and Australian–Muslim culture in the process. To make Dave's experience more authentic, Sheik Hilaly insists that he observe all Muslim practices. This includes praying five times a day, attending mosque and not eating his usual breakfast of bacon and eggs. Dave is also expected to follow Sheik Hilaly's rules when it comes to hygiene. It doesn't take long for Dave to realize that his immersion experience is not going to be without some very personal challenges.

To gain a better understanding of the Islamic community in Australia, Dave speaks to Sheik Hilaly's good friend, boxer Anthony Mundine, about his conversion. He also speaks to a newly married couple about relationships and to a young woman about freedom of choice. In a bid to find out why some Australians are so afraid of Islam, Dave travels to Camden in south-west Sydney where earlier this year, locals rejected a plan to build a Muslim school. There, Dave meets with anti-Islamic activist Katie McCullough, a woman who caused a bit of a stir of her own when she voiced her strong opposition to Muslims living in her community.

Back in Lakemba, Dave and the Sheik's unconventional relationship blossoms and it seems the pair are becoming unlikely friends. But all this could end when, over a cup of 'man tea', Dave decides to confront Sheik Hilaly about the comments that made him infamous.

Embedded with Sheik Hilaly is an observational documentary that relies on the comical moments created by a clash of cultures to examine some of the bigger issues that have divided, and continue to divide, the Muslim community from the rest of Australia.