Heavily-backed favorite Mahershala Ali won the best supporting actor Oscar on Sunday for his portrayal of a drug dealer in coming-of-age drama “Moonlight” — becoming the first Muslim film star to pick up a golden statuette.
A first-time nominee, the 43-year-old actor saw off competition from Britain’s Dev Patel, veteran US actors Jeff Bridges and Michael Shannon and newcomer Lucas Hedges.
“I want to thank my teachers, my professors,” Ali said. “One thing that they consistently told me... ‘It’s not about you. It’s about these characters. You are a servant. You’re in service to these stories and these characters’.”
He thanked his fellow cast members — and his wife, who gave birth to their first child, a girl, just days earlier.
Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” tells the life story of a young African-American struggling to find his place as he grows up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.
Muslims have won Oscars in various categories over the years — including Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and feature director Asghar Farhadi — but none has taken a statuette for acting.
“Regardless of one’s theology or how you see life or relate to worshipping God, as an artist your job is the same... to try and tell the truth,” Ali said backstage on Sunday.
He added that he did not feel an actor’s religion was relevant to his work unless it “gives you more empathy to the people you have to advocate for.”
Ali recently told Britain’s Radio Times magazine that he discovered he was on an FBI watchlist after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
“If you convert to Islam after a couple of decades of being a black man in the US, the discrimination you receive as a Muslim doesn’t feel like a shock,” he said.

Source: Arab News