“Slutty,” isn’t the first word that springs to my mind when thinking of the Islamic hijab — the headscarf worn by some Muslim women both as a sign of Islam and of womanhood — but that’s how Tissa Hami describes it.  And people love her for it.  

Iranian-American Tissa Hami, who performs wearing the traditional Islamic hijab, has been invited to perform as a guest comic on the Boston leg of the Allah Made Me Funny “Official Muslim comedy tour,” the purpose of which is “to make a comprehensive effort to provide effective, significant, and appropriate comedy with an Islamic perspective, which is both mainstream and cross-cultural.”

Preacher Mos, who has written for Saturday Night Life and for the comedian Damon Wayans, is the master of ceremonies of the tour, and he explains that “the purpose of my comedy reflects my Islamic beliefs that say we, as Muslims, cannot be isolationist. My choice of dialogue is laughter, with a message of overall commitment to improving society as a whole.”

Likewise, Hami’s aim seems to be education wrapped in the palatable form of stand-up comedy — she wants to show that “we’re not all terrorists, we’re not all fanatics. That not all Muslim women are oppressed and voiceless.” Hami (whose pre-comedy resume is littered with the Ivy League schools and Wall Street firms) absorbs the religious intolerance and cultural mistrust that has blossomed in post 9/11 America, reconfigures it, and ultimately forces her audience to confront both the humor and tragedy of the current socio-political climate. Her website warns: “People who  disapprove of her act will be taken hostage.”

Mimi Hanaoka