The Muslims Who Aren’t Celebrating Mahershala Ali’s Oscar Win
Mahershala Ali made history on Sunday night by becoming the first Muslim actor to win an Academy Award. But as the internet exploded with the significance of the moment—a black Muslim accepting an Oscar for his supporting role in Moonlight, a film about gay men—one tweet disappeared.
“That’s a first,” wrote Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi, in reply to a tweet noting Ali’s win as a Muslim. Lodhi’s tweet was then deleted (though it lives on as a screenshot). The reason? According to Pakistani law, Ali isn’t a Muslim.
Ali follows the Ahmadiyya In that country, adherents of the Ahmadiyya faith—Ahmadis—cannot practice it without or . Although Ali’s faith and win are now making headlines, Ahmadis usually appear in the news in Pakistan when they become the victims of mass killings. Even then, the word “Muslim” . Ali’s win was described as the first by an “Ahmadi” actor.
