Performing Halal Comedy in the US: An Intra-Ummaic Form of Socio-Religious Activism

Over the last three decades, several American Muslim stand-up comedians have positioned themselves at the forefront of a halal circuit, such as Preacher Moss, Omar Regan, Yasmin Elhady and Moses the Comic. These four comedians share a commitment to clean comedy and have dedicated a considerable part of their career to connecting with their religious community/ies. Research shows how their performances broadly partake in efforts to (re)model a religious community around norms of virtuous conduct in Muslim diasporic contexts (Thonnart 2023). Following their trajectories, this paper examines what it means when comedians make propositions about religious norms to their coreligionists; and 2) argues that these ethico-religious projects constitute a form of *da‘wa*. Building upon the work of anthropologist Charles Hirschkind, this paper seeks to open and deepen the study of socioreligious activism in and through comedy, and critically engage our vocabularies in doing so.