We Are A Muslim, Please

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Comments

20100809

For Zaiba Malik, growing up in Bradford in the '70s and '80s certainly has its moments - staying up all night during Ramadan with her father; watching mad Mr Aziz searching for his goat during Eid; dancing along to Top of the Pops (as long as no-one's watching). And, of course, there's her mother - whether she's writing another ingratiating letter to the Queen or referring to Tom Jones as 'Thumb Jone'.

But Zaiba's story is also one of anxiety and seemingly irreconcilable opposites. Growing up she is constantly torn between two identities: 'British' and 'Muslim'. Alienated at school and confused at home, the racism she encounters as a child mirrors the horrors she experiences at the hands of Bangladeshi interrogators as a journalist years later.

Five years after the 7/7 attacks galvanized debates about Muslim-British identity, we see, through Zaiba's childhood eyes, the poignancy of growing up in a world whose prejudices, contradictions and ambiguities are at once distressing and yet utterly captivating.

Zaiba Malik is an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked on some of the BBC and Channel 4's most acclaimed radio and TV documentaries, including 'Sleepers: Undercover with the Racists', 'Dispatches: Trouble at the Mosque' and 'Killing for Honour'. She writes for newspapers including the Guardian, and was recently named as one of the twenty most influential black and Asian women in the UK.

Read by Nisha Nayar.

Zaiba is constantly torn between being British and Muslim.

We Are A Muslim, Please

20100810

Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'.

It's the festival of Eid, one of the most holy days in the Muslim calendar, but the sacrificial goat has disappeared.

Read by Nisha Nayar.

Producer: Joanna Green

It's the holy festival of Eid, but the sacrificial goat has disappeared.

20100811

Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'.

Zaiba is finding her double life as a British-Muslim teenager all too confusing. So she begins her Year of Silence.

Read by Nisha Nayar.

Producer: Joanna Green

It's 1984 and Zaiba begins her Year of Silence.

20100812

Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'.

In an attempt to bond with the girls at school, Zaiba goes clubbing in Bradford and discovers a whole new world.

Read by Nisha Nayar.

Producer: Joanna Green

05 LAST

20100813

Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'.

Now working as a journalist, Zaiba returns to her home town of Bradford to see how things have changed.

Read by Nisha Nayar.

Producer: Joanna Green

Now a journalist, Zaiba returns to her home town of Bradford.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
01		20100809	For Zaiba Malik, growing up in Bradford in the '70s and '80s certainly has its moments - staying up all night during Ramadan with her father; watching mad Mr Aziz searching for his goat during Eid; dancing along to Top of the Pops (as long as no-one's watching). And, of course, there's her mother - whether she's writing another ingratiating letter to the Queen or referring to Tom Jones as 'Thumb Jone'. But Zaiba's story is also one of anxiety and seemingly irreconcilable opposites. Growing up she is constantly torn between two identities: 'British' and 'Muslim'. Alienated at school and confused at home, the racism she encounters as a child mirrors the horrors she experiences at the hands of Bangladeshi interrogators as a journalist years later. Five years after the 7/7 attacks galvanized debates about Muslim-British identity, we see, through Zaiba's childhood eyes, the poignancy of growing up in a world whose prejudices, contradictions and ambiguities are at once distressing and yet utterly captivating. Zaiba Malik is an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked on some of the BBC and Channel 4's most acclaimed radio and TV documentaries, including 'Sleepers: Undercover with the Racists', 'Dispatches: Trouble at the Mosque' and 'Killing for Honour'. She writes for newspapers including the Guardian, and was recently named as one of the twenty most influential black and Asian women in the UK. Read by Nisha Nayar. Zaiba is constantly torn between being British and Muslim.
02	We Are A Muslim, Please	20100810	Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'. It's the festival of Eid, one of the most holy days in the Muslim calendar, but the sacrificial goat has disappeared. Read by Nisha Nayar. Producer: Joanna Green It's the holy festival of Eid, but the sacrificial goat has disappeared.
03		20100811	Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'. Zaiba is finding her double life as a British-Muslim teenager all too confusing. So she begins her Year of Silence. Read by Nisha Nayar. Producer: Joanna Green It's 1984 and Zaiba begins her Year of Silence.
04		20100812	Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'. In an attempt to bond with the girls at school, Zaiba goes clubbing in Bradford and discovers a whole new world. Read by Nisha Nayar. Producer: Joanna Green
05 LAST		20100813	Award-winning investigative journalist Zaiba Malik's memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s, torn between being 'British' and 'Muslim'. Now working as a journalist, Zaiba returns to her home town of Bradford to see how things have changed. Read by Nisha Nayar. Producer: Joanna Green Now a journalist, Zaiba returns to her home town of Bradford.