Black Islam in the Americas Series. Two Gods Free Screening

This film screening is part of our “Black Islam in the Americas” Series, presented by the Global Islamic Studies Center (GISC) at the University of Michigan! This series will explore the history of Black Islam and the experiences of Black Muslim communities in the Americas, including North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

From March 4th-18th, you will have the opportunity to watch Two Gods (2020), a film by Zeshawn Ali and Aman Ali, on demand and for free. Pre-order your free tickets now: http://watch.eventive.org/gisctwogods

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Two Gods is the story of Hanif, a Black Muslim casket maker and ritual body washer in Newark, New Jersey, who takes two young men under his wing to teach them how to live better lives, illustrating the complexities of everyday Muslim community life.

​​Year: 2020 | Run Time: 82 minutes​​ | Language: English | Director: Zeshawn Ali | Producer: Aman Ali

An intimate documentary about faith, renewal, and healing, TWO GODS follows a Muslim casket maker and ritual body washer in New Jersey, as he takes two young men under his wing to teach them how to live better lives. Inside a corner casket shop in East Orange, laboring amid the sawdust and the long pine boxes, casket makers work with mentors in the Islamic burial tradition. Hanif, a Black Muslim casket maker who finds spiritual grounding in his work, brings two boys from the local community under his tutelage; 12-year-old Furquan and 17-year-old Naz, neither of whom have fathers at home. Hanif teaches Furquan and Naz the practices of Islamic burial rituals as they assist him with his work. Having formerly served time in prison, Hanif continues to grapple with past mistakes and new challenges, while his faith and community helps him guide his young charges on their own paths toward healing and embracing life.

Shot in a striking black-and-white, TWO GODS explores the juxtaposition of grief and the rituals of death with the vibrancy and potential of adolescence. The documentary turns an empathetic lens on Muslim American stories, ultimately crafting a moving portrait of both the intimate moments and the complexities of the everyday Muslim American experience.
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On March 17th, GISC will host Two Gods filmmakers Zeshawn Ali and Aman Ali for a filmmaker Q&A. This conversation will be moderated by local Detroit filmmaker and GISC Fellow Razi Jafri. RSVP: http://bit.ly/GISCTwoGods

Join us for the rest of the 'Black Islam in the Americas' series:

On March 29that 1:00 PM ET, GISC will host Dr. Su'ad Abdul Khabeer and Dr. Rasul Miller for a lecture on Black Islam in the Americas, with a focus on the United States. Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer is a scholar, artist, activist, and author of Muslim Cool: Race, Religion, and Hip Hop in the United States (2016). She is an associate professor of American Culture and Director of the Arab and Muslim American Studies program at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Princeton University, is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and completed the Islamic Studies diploma program of the Institute at Abu Nour University (Damascus). In her most recent work, Umi’s Archive, Dr. Abdul Khabeer examines the intersections of official history and the untold stories of Black women and Black Muslims through the lens of her mother’s life. Umi means mother in Arabic, and Dr. Abdul Khabeer examines her mother’s photographic and literary archives, and so the digital exhibition series is Umi's Archive. The project sees everyday Black women as people who know things we all need to know. Dr. Rasul Miller's work looks into Black Muslim communities in the Atlantic world, Black radicalism and its impact on social and cultural movements in the twentieth-century U.S., Black internationalism, and West African intellectual history. Dr. Miller's current book project, Black Muslim Cosmopolitanism: The Global Character of New York City's Black Muslim Movements, examines the Black internationalist origins of early twentieth-century Black Sunni Muslim congregations in and around New York City, and the cultural and political orientations that characterized subsequent communities of Black Muslims in the U.S. who built robust, transnational networks as they actively engaged traditions and communities of Muslims on the African continent. RSVP: http://bit.ly/BlackIslamLect

This Black Islam in the Americas Series is brought to you by the Global Islamic Studies Center, and cosponsored by American Culture, Arab and Muslim American Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern & North African Studies, the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, the Digital Islamic Studies Curriculum, the African Studies Center, the LSA Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the International Institute all at the University of Michigan. This series is also brought to you by The Maydan at the George Mason University’s Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies, and the Muslim Studies Program at the Michigan State University. The film screening was made possible thanks to Good Docs.


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If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact islamicstudies@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.