Ramy – Little Omar

By: Ariba Bhuvad

A news bulletin pops up with the anchorwoman (Lauren Collier) talking about Dennis (Jared Abrahamson) and how he beat up a protester outside of the Sufi center. She interviews Michael (Micahel Chernus) who shares that they are praying for the victim, even though he was an opponent of the mosque. Their crew is simply not about the violence. Michael is asked about being a convert, but he states he thinks of himself as a revert because he feels he was born Muslim and has found his way back. The anchorwoman asks Michael if there is a danger of white people converting to Islam and feels that it’s a legitimate question because people are scared. 

Members of the mosque, including Ramy (Ramy Youssef) and the Sheikh (Mahershala Ali), are praying for Nico (George B. Colucci Jr.). Dena (May Calamawy) shows up to bring Ramy some kushari (Egyptian dish) and tells him she thinks the Sheikh is hot. She then proceeds to introduce herself and even offers to give her number or email if the Sheikh needs her help with anything. She’ll stop by the center soon as well to learn more about faith, but the Sheikh says she can talk to his daughter, Zainab (MaameYa Boafo), whenever she’s ready. 

Ahmed (Dave Merheje) is working at the hospital so they ask him if Nico is taking visitors yet, but as of now they’re only allowing family. The family has been freaked out by everyone coming from the center with someone even offered them a shawarma sandwich. Ahmed guides them to the room, but tells Ramy he should be prepared for Nico’s state. He’s brain-dead and has lost all motor functions. Considering Ramy cried during the previews for Toy Story 4, he’s not sure he can handle this. The Sheikh just wants to go in instead of wasting time,and once inside they meet Nico’s brother, Ron (Mark Borkowski). He’s honored to meet Ramy and shake his hand because he saved Nico’s life. Ron admits he was reluctant to let anyone in because he automatically assumed that they would want Nico to join a radical group. But he realized they need all the prayers they can get, so the Sheikh asks for permission to pray by Nico’s bedside. 

Ron continues to make misinformed comments about them as he states that Zainab’s English is pretty good. Ramy starts to get offended, but Zainab chimes in to say thank you and inform him that she was born in the United States. Ron’s comforted with the fact that if Nico passes away he will have died doing what he loves. Ramy’s reaction to this is one of shock, so he just silently leaves the room as Zainab and the Sheikh follow. 

Zainab is distressed because one of their donors, Mr. Nabil, doesn’t want to be associated with the center anymore after the incident with Dennis. If he pulls his funding it’ll be difficult for the center to stay open. While Zainab works on that, the Sheikh wants to go with Ramy to visit Dennis in prison. Ramy is flustered by the idea of doing that and suggests that he go alone so he can convey any messages to Dennis from the Sheikh. But the Sheikh insists that he will join because Dennis just converted to Islam and on top of that he’s in pain. The plan is to have Ramy drive his car, but since he doesn’t have one they take the Sheikh’s car while Zainab catches an Uber back to the center. 

The Sheikh and Ramy arrive at the prison with coffees for Dennis and ask him how he is feeling. The Sheikh suggests doing a prayer, but Dennis isn’t feeling it at that moment. He then proceeds to share the things he told Ramy, but Ramy didn’t tell the Sheikh. Dennis begins talking about Iraq and how he killed people there. While Ramy tries to stop him, it doesn’t quite work. All the secrets Ramy was keeping from the Sheikh spill out as Dennis tells Ramy he appreciates him for accepting him despite the horrible things he’s done. But what has Dennis even more upset is that he left his dog Boomer (Mika) locked in his car somewhere and he can’t remember where it is. The Sheikh promises that they will find Boomer, even though all they have to go off of is a tent city somewhere in Newark. 

Ramy and the Sheikh make their way to an area that sounds similar to what Dennis described. The Sheikh wants Ramy to pray for the dog, but Ramy is confused because he thought dogs were haram (forbidden) in Islam. The Sheikh isn’t sure who told him that, but there is a verse in the Quran that mentions dogs. The one thing their ummah (community) doesn’t understand is the difference between what is haram and what is not. The Sheikh says nothing in and of itself is haram. It’s how they choose to engage with it. For example, alcohol isn’t haram, but drinking it is. The rules in their faith are important, but for the reasons Ramy might think. This was something the Sheikh reveals that he was once confused about as well, but he found a teacher that explained Islam in terms of an orange–the inner and outer part. If someone was to only look at the rules and rituals, they might think Islam is bitter and tough like the outside of an orange, but inside there is a juicy flesh, the divine intimacy and the spiritual experience. The rind without the flesh is bitter and useless and the flesh without the rind would quickly rot.

Even though they are unlucky with finding Boomer at this point, the Sheikh says they will keep looking for him even if it takes all night. Ramy points out that Dennis might have made up the dog, especially if was not on his medications, but this won’t stop the Sheikh from looking. However, they took a break for Isha (the nighttime prayer) despite the fact that Ramy tries to get out of it since he thinks they don’t have everything they need. However, the Sheikh points out that Ramy needs to see the blessings in the curses and that searching for Boomer isn’t the burden he may think it is. 

As they begin prayer, a faint dog bark is heard in the distance so the Sheikh breaks out of prayer to run towards it–and it leads them to Boomer! They think the car is locked, but right after the Sheikh says a small verse he opens the back door, which was actually just unlocked. 

The entire experience with Ramy that day has made the Sheikh realize that maybe their student/teacher relationship won’t work after all. Ramy was supposed to be honest with him, which is a part of the bay’ah they took. Perhaps it was too soon to move into this together and Ramy is not ready for the commitment. While they are still connected, he wants Ramy to study with someone else. In fact, he thinks Ramy should think of Boomer as his teacher because the dog has true love and compassion and is pure. If Ramy could be more like Boomer, he’ll be on the path. 

Ramy takes Boomer home, but Farouk (Amr Waked) and Maysa (Hiam Abbass) aren’t too pleased to see him there. Dena supports the fact that the Sheikh told Ramy to bring Boomer home and is certain that he had some wisdom behind it. While Maysa can’t stop thinking about Boomer in terms of Air Bud, Farouk is livid that Ramy is blindly following the Sheikh. But Ramy won’t budge with the decision and says he will take care of the dog himself. In the grief of losing the Sheikh as his mentor, Ramy goes right back to his ways as he opens his laptop to watch porn and masturbate.