Ramy & Allah-carte Spiritual Meaning

 We have been watching the award-winning series, Ramy, which is about an Egyptian 
American young man in his twenties who is both earnestly and haphazardly navigating his way through living in a secular, hedonistic society and pondering what it means to be a faithful Muslim. He drinks and has premarital sex, which are haram, or forbidden, yet he believes in God -- Allah - while making sporadic attempts at attending mosque prayers and observing Ramadam. Ramy is played by comedian Ramy Youssef who cleverly describes himself as an Allah-carte Muslim, picking and choosing from the menu of observances and expectations. The show is obviously autobiographical, although who knows to what extent the storyline reflects his actual experiences. 

We have found the half-hour episodes laugh-out-loud funny at times while moving and thought-provoking at others. In one Ramy travels to Egypt to reconnect with his family roots and religion, only to find out that most of his cousins and their contemporaries are enamoured of the North American lifestyle. One though, a beautiful young woman, understands his quest and takes him to a Sufi circle which becomes an ecstatic and mystical experience for Ramy. On his return to the States he connects with a spiritual guide played by Mahershala Ali who encourages love and compassion and honesty. Overall Ramy challenges the stereotypes about Islam which too often villainize those who follow the religion. 

Ramy is quirky and unpredictable while also being the best portrayal of the search for spiritual meaning in the 21st century we've watched. It's on Starz and we subscribed for a month for this series and a couple of others.