Hasan Minhaj uses a comedic angle to cover social and political issues from all over the world in his Netflix show, Patriot Act. In the “Saudi Arabia” episode of this show, the focus is generally placed upon Muhammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As a result of these topics being discussed, multiple tropes of Islam are touched upon and discussed by Minhaj throughout the duration of the episode.
The trope which argues that Islam is “inherently violent” is touched upon when the discussion of journalist Jamal Khashoggi arises. This journalist was reported to have been killed in a very violent way by men which Muhammad bin Salman had hired to carry out this assassination. The original cover up story by the Saudi government stated that Khashoggi had suffered an “accident after a fist fight”, which stands alone as a violent cover up story as it is. Minhaj uses satire in stating that “this is the most unbelievable cover story since Blake Shelton won sexiest man alive”, poking fun at something from a completely different type of cover story. He uses this comedic, relatable and understandable comparison to effectively represent how unreal the Saudi cover story is. Another topic discussed in this episode which plays into the trope of Islam being “inherently violent” is Muhammad bin Salman being confused about the outrage surrounding the killing of this single Washington Post journalist. Not only does this show how cold-blooded Muhammad bin Salman is, but it paints a bad picture over the rest of Islam, as people may see this major islamic leader holding these views and believe that all muslims must think like him, and are inherently violent. The discussion about Muhammad bin Salman’s confusion over the outrage caused by the killing of Jamal Khashoggi also plays into another common trope which states that “the muslim mind is irrational”. For most people, to hear someone sound so unapologetic and surprised over the outrage caused by a killing would believe that this person must have an irrational mind. Again, when a major muslim leader such as Muhammad bin Salman represents something like this, many people may tend to believe that other muslims have the same thoughts. One final idea discussed by Minhaj which plays into the trope of the “irrational” muslim mind is when he states that the muslim world saw in advance that Muhammad bin Salman would not bring the change that the muslim world needed even when many in the west expected him to, and one must have a rational mind in order to see through a fallacy such as this one.
Minhaj does a good job at discussing important topics which relate to many tropes about Islam, while also using a satirical take on the discussions he holds to better spread his ideas and message about the topics at hand. His use of comedy and satire are effective, as large audiences will tend to relate more to pop-culture references and comedy than anything else, and when using these methods to hold social and political discussions, the message often has an easier time reaching the viewer.