Masjid Al-Munfaletat / مسجد المنفلتات

Masjid Al Munfaletat (2018) is an immersive Islamofuturistic performance that was conceived, written and performed in 2018. The stage is an immersive set design that borrows from the design, architecture and cultural aesthetics of mosques. The performance tells the re-imagined futures of three nonfictional and contemporary martyrs: Qandeel Baloch, Dina Ali Lasloom and Loujain Al Hathloul. These three women were defiant underdogs in systems that exploited their lower social hierarchy and were thus persecuted, detained, tortured and two of them were murdered. 

Qandeel Baloch was a Pakistani Social Media Influencer and model who ‘feared no one’ and questioned the social constructs of gender roles and bodily presentation in Pakistan. She was strangled, suffocated and murdered by her brother in July 2016 as an ‘honor killing’. 

Dina Ali Lasloom is/was a woman escaping abuse in Saudi Arabia from her family and legal guardians by seeking asylum in Australia. She was captured in the Philippines on her way to Australia and left to be abused and beaten by her male family members. Dina live streamed her situation while in the Philippines on twitter and social media which caught people’s attention worldwide. She was sent back to Saudi Arabia in a trash bag, whether she is alive or not is unknown. 

Loujain Al Hathloul is Saudi women’s activist and social media figure. In 2014, she defied the ban against women driving in Saudi by driving from the UAE to the Saudi border where she was jailed. She continues to be a prominent social media figure and activist. Because of the efforts and courage of women like Loujain, women have been legally allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia on June 24 2018. Al Hathloul was jailed days before the ban was lifted and is still currently in prison. 

Masjid Al Munfaletat borrows from the physical interior architecture and cultural practices of mosques and musallahs to reimagine a beginning to a Islamic feminine future, one that is free of male reign. In this performance, it functions as a refuge for these three women who are honored as martyrs. 

As a gender variant muslim, I conceived this performance for my Muslim and Muslim American community, to reflect within ourselves. Who do we highly respect and who do we discard? I have felt the societal burden and pain of being an outcast to my own people. This performance wants us to imagine a future where we highlight, empower and sanctify the oppressed and their untold stories. If we can heal as a community, we become stronger 

Written, Directed and Designed by Sara Bahermez. 

Devised and performed in collaboration with Divya Rayamajhi and John Patterson 

Lighting Designer: David Crandall

Sound Designer: Sara Bahermez

Documentation Photography: Zachary Handler