Inside Mecca: A Conversation with Producer Anisa Mehdi

Interview by Ahmed Nassef

National Geographic’s “Inside Mecca” premieres on most PBS stations at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, October 22nd. Please confirm your local listings for the exact time.

Prior to producing “Inside Mecca,” Anisa Mehdi was executive producer for the 2002 PBS Frontline two-hour special, “Muslims.” Mehdi has received numerous awards in her journalism and media career, which spanned positions in Public television, CBS News (where, among other things, she served as associate producer for “CBS Reports” and “60 Minutes”), and WBZ-TV in Boston. Mehdi earned her Masters Degree in Journalism at Columbia University. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters.

MWU!: How was working with National Geographic different from your past projects?

Anisa Mehdi: Producing a National Geographic documentary, I found myself welcomed at a new level. Having worked at CBS and other media in the past, some people in the rest of the world would be a little suspicious of you. But when I explained I was with National Geographic, everyone immediately was very welcoming. So it’s great to work for an organization with a reputation for balance, fairness, beauty—that appreciates other cultures.

Also, the National Geographic staff had a great openness to the subject matter. They were really hoping to learn.

MWU!: As a woman, did you experience any hardships working on this film in Saudi Arabia?

AM: During the Hajj, it is impossible to keep women and men separate. People pray together and circumambulate together around the Ka’ba--there is no gender segregation.

As a reporter, I found myself completely free to do what I needed to do.

At the Ministry of Information, they set up a center for journalists at Mena, and they had facilities for men and women--beds, towels, food—but when prince in charge of the ministry came, only the men were allowed to dine. Had I not been tired, that would have ruffled me.

But at the Prophet’s mosque in Medina, things were completely different.

There, women and men were separated. It was shameful, reprehensible, horrible, demeaning, anti-Islamic... I became bitterly angry.

There were only two times each week that women were allowed to get in near the actual grave of the Prophet for just a few hours. Thousands of women were herded through a narrow corridor created by putting up screens. They were all forced to push forward to get as close as possible, but they were not even allowed to see the grave. They were in danger of being suffocated or trampled at any moment.

I had been privileged the night before—I had been among just two dozen others invited after hours into the Prophet’s mosque. The mosque was so beautifully serene. It was such a contrast to what I was about to see—I will never forget how demeaning the next day was.

MWU!: What were some of the toughest challenges you faced in making the film?

AM: Dealing with the challenges of entering Saudi Arabia with a crew and an ambitious plan of following three pilgrims simultaneously during the most crowded time of year—logistically, it was an ongoing nightmare.

Whatever could go wrong did go wrong. But in the end, we were able to make a film that meets the quality standards to qualify as a National Geographic Special.

But I am aware enough not to take all the credit. I saw God intervening—no way we could have completed this project otherwise.

For example, covering three pilgrims simultaneously meant having three crews, one with each pilgrim—which became a chaotic undertaking. The Saudi Ministry of Information had a lot of press people around to cover the Hajj, so they wanted me just to have one crew, but I insisted on having nine people total for the three crews. They told me I could bring only five people. In the end, I had to run the show, produce for one the teams, and audio engineer. Everyone was doing double duty.

Choosing when to shoot and when was another major challenge. On February 10, the day of Arafat, I wanted to get the sunrise and film the earliest pilgrims.

My Egyptian photographer and I went out with our Saudi escort. We worked from 6 until 11am, but then we had to find the pilgrim we were covering.

I had been told she was going to be on Road 7 near Medical Center 29, close to Jabal Rahma with a big tree nearby.

Well, on Road 7, there were trees everywhere! Cell phones didn’t work, and lines to payphones were huge. We went to the missing persons bureau, and we discovered that there were 10,000 people missing reported that day.

We went everywhere and nobody had heard of this tour group. Three hours later, we wandered back to the cameraman who had stayed to watch the gear, and he had a huge smile on his face. “What will you give me if I tell you I know where she is,” he told me.
“She is right there,” he pointed to a wall that we had been sitting against. Her tour group was right on the other side of that wall. She was right behind us the whole time.

The lady we were covering is very energetic— and she was determined to climb Jabal Rahma, so we had to do everything she was doing. And there we were following her through these impenetrable crowds, climbing with her.

MWU!: How did you select the three pilgrims that are profile in the film?

AM: I wanted to show diversity, that Muslims are from all over the world.

I wanted someone from Asia—at first we looked at Afghanistan, but we weren’t coming up with someone fluent in English who could afford the Hajj. I had contacts in Malaysia, and we found our “Muslim WASP,” a business executive with a house and kids who plays golf and volunteers—he was WASP who happens to be a Malaysian. It was a cathartic moment.

In Africa—I needed someone with black skin—so many Muslims with black skin. I had been to Senegal and was searching through people I had already known. I found one, but he could not get a visa. So I started communicating by email with folks in South Africa, and this imam was suggested to me. He knows seven languages and was a hafiz at the age of ten. His father was a slave in Zanzibar, and he got his freedom by learning the Qur’an. Unlike out Malaysian businessman, Khalil came from a poor, rural environment, and life was not easy. He had to save for years to afford the pilgrimage, and he struggled and suffered.

Finding our third pilgrim was the hardest—I wanted a white American woman. I had many people from whom to select. Through someone I knew, I heard about Fidelma O’Leary. I got her story about embracing Islam—she was charming and articulate… nobody would have a problem understanding her. She shatters all the stereotypes.

MWU!: As a media professional, what do you see as the biggest challenges facing American Muslims?

AM: Turning on their TV at 8pm on October 22nd.

But seriously, our strength is also our biggest weakness: the diversity of this community. The diversity is as much a hurdle as a stepping-stone. Will we stop, or climb the rock? My guess—we are going to climb. The environment here—although there is a draught now—encourages growth.

Discussion is essential—it is a reflection of the great intellectual quest that Islam represents. After faithfulness to Allah comes the intellectual quest: how to further understand the universe. This has to include debate and discussion. Voices should not be squelched or extinguished. My understanding of Islam is that of a great, tolerant, open, independent, decentralized faith journey for believers, without dogmatism. There is a lot of the opposite too, so there is a long way to go.

In my international travel, a lot of people are looking west to America to get a sense of where Islam is going. Here we have political freedom, or at least there is greater political freedom than in other places. We are living in a permanent Hajj, as Aziza Al Hibri has said, so we can begin to distinguish between what is faith, and what is culture.

MWU!: Do you feel that there is a disconnect between the establishment Muslim leadership and the majority of Muslims here?

AM: I know many of the people who run these organizations, and I don’t feel that they have tapped into what I have to offer. The American Muslim Alliance had me speak at several of their sessions, and CAIR has invited me.

We have a growing body of talent in our community and we need to be better at giving them opportunities.

I participate the most at the Warith Research and Cultural Center in Irvington, New Jersey. The imam there, W. Deen Shareef, is brilliant, an up and coming talent who should be in the public eye frequently.

It’s an American space where I feel completely welcomed. I don’t cover my hair – and nobody looks at me twice. No fussing about shaking hands or kissing on both cheeks. We’re there to worship and grow together. It’s not culturally somewhere else.

MWU!: What’s your dream project?

AM: I want to write a book and make a film about the life and contributions of my father, the late Dr. M. T. Mehdi. He was a pioneer in raising the issue of Palestine in this nation (beginning in the 1950s), as well as in educating Americans about Islam (including Malcolm X, whom he assisted in getting a visa to make the hajj). An immigrant like so many Arabs and Muslims here, he came for his education and stayed, but was denied citizenship for over 30 years due to Zionist pressure on the INS. His life story is a reflection of the lives of many of us ... and is simultaneously the unique story of an individual with an iron will and indefatigable optimism with regard to two of the 20th centuries thorniest subjects.

MWU!: What’s your advice to American progressives, Muslim and non-Muslim, in these tough times?

AM: All Americans need to take advantage of their rights and privileges as citizens of this nation—let the elected leadership know whether they are or not representing us. And we need to vote, and if we don’t, then we get what we deserve. How can we talk about the great American democracy when less that 40% of us vote?

In Iran, 80% of the population votes. This is a wakeup call – Americans need to wake up! I’d love to say that I’m optimistic, but it depends on action.