Little Mosque on the prairie appeals to the comedy faithful

Zarqa Nawaz wanted to highlight the funny side of Muslims trying to integrate into a rural Canadian town. So she created a sitcom about it.

The fact that Nawaz’s Little Mosque On The Prairie, which premiered on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on January 9, is about a Muslim family who migrate to the fictional town of Mercy, Saskatchewan, where they try to find a balance between mosque life and their dealings with often-wary non-Muslim townsfolk.

In fact, the concept draws its inspiration from Nawaz’s own life, in which she moved from Toronto to the prairie town of Regina to work in a mosque.

The show’s aim is not so much to destroy the West’s stereotypical view of Muslims as terrorists. Rather, it brings to light the same human weaknesses, foibles, cultural issues and strengths that you find in all races and societies.

If anything, it parodies Muslim eccentricities more than anything else. The characters themselves are colorful and diverse, led by a Canadian-bred imam or prayer leader – a rare species in the West where imams are normally imported, a right-wing radio DJ, a redneck living in constant fear of a terrorist plot, a welcoming reverend and conservative Muslims battling corrupting Western influences.

The premiere attracted a whopping 2.1 million viewers and, though it dropped to 1.2 million for the next show, it is good going by Canadian standards.

By the end of February, it had dropped off Canada’s top 30 list but still averaged a decent one million viewers an episode. Viewership was limited to Canada and some northern parts of the United States

Nawaz, born in Liverpool, England and of Pakistani origin, makes no apologies for the satirical nature of the show, stressing the fact that Little Mosque is not a political vehicle.

“The best rule in comedy is to write what you know. The more serious the issue, the more fun I try to have with it,” she once said.

“It is a sitcom and not a political satire. I want people to find the hilarity in the show and recognize the similar issues that appear in all our lives.

“I simply want people to laugh with Muslims like they would laugh at anyone else and feel comfortable doing so.” The first season comprised eight episodes and its viewing figures helped to lift CBC’s standing against rivals CTV. However, it now appears that Little Mosque is playing a central role in the battle between the two Canadian networks giants. According to the Globe and Mail, CBC has poached top writers Paul Mather and Rob Sheridan from CTV’s Corner Gas sitcom to work on Little Mosque.

Corner Gas draws more than 1.5 million viewers on average and is Canada’s leading sitcom. It is Little Mosque’s direct rival and the raid on their writing team is akin to the Chicago Bears stealing quarterback Peyton Manning and coach Tony Dungy from the Indianapolis Colts on the eve of Super Bowl.

One of the reasons for hiring Mather is to give the show a harder edge. Media reaction has been largely positive and pundits consider the show to be genuinely funny.

However, one criticism has been its tendency to try too hard in exposing real or imagined cultural differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in order to gain laughs.

Mather and Sheridan will join the current writing team of Nawaz, Al Rae and Rebecca Schechter.

Little Mosque’s co-executive director Mary Darling said: “We know the show is good. It launched with very good numbers. But now we want to make the show great. And when you want to make something great, you hire the best people.”

It all makes for an intriguing second season, though it remains to be seen whether or not Little Mosque can continue the core ideals of its creator Nawaz, which is simply to make people laugh.



	Islamic Search (IQRASEARCH.COM)